3 Simple Ways To Monitor Livestock Preformance
Part of any good grazing management plan is knowing how to monitor livestock performance. Below are 3 very simple things we can do as farmers to monitor our livestock. As we adjust the grazing program with these tips the livestock will start showing great benefits.
Fresh Water
Fresh water is one of the easiest things to supply our livestock with. It's absolutely a major contributor to livestock health. If your livestock are not getting clean water daily it will effect their overall performance. I am a firm believer than we as the farmer should be able to drink what we are giving our animals. If you would not drink it, don't force your animals to do so. Go out in your pasture with your herd, watch them as they drink. Do they smell the water before drinking? Do they lick at the water? Or do they just simple drink it down without hesitation? If they are drinking without hesitation they are telling you the water is good. But if you noticed them doing any of the other things mentioned, there maybe issues with their water.
Keeping trough clean...Observe the water trough for dirt or algae. Sometimes even mosquito larva can even be a problem. I carry a stiff scrub brush with me on my ATV. Twice a month I will scrub the water trough and rinse it out. As water sits in a water trough it will sometimes leave a slimy film. Over time it will damper the quality of the water. A couple minutes of scrubbing will make a huge difference on their water. Bleach can be used to wash trough and kill algae, just rinse well before returning to livestock. The rumen requires certain bacteria levels, bleach will alter these levels this is why rinsing is important.
Gut Fill
Have you ever wondered how to tell if your cattle are getting full day to day? Well today you are going to learn how to tell. The answer is on the side of your cattle. First you must know which side of the cattle to check. Let's imagine you are riding one of the cows like a horse. This is the easiest way to figure out which side is the left side. Now don't try ride your cows you will get hurt. So it's the left side of the cattle that will tell us how full they are. On the left side it's the area between the last rib
and the hip. When it's not full it will be sucked in and be shaped like a triangle and when it's full you should not see an indent at all. Some ranchers refer to this area as the triangle of death. If this triangle is seen days in a row the cows health is declining and most likely take to breeding. If intensive/rotational grazing is practiced this is a way to tell day to day if our paddocks are big enough. Stand so as they pass you walking into their new area you will be on their left side. Adjust accordingly.
Checking Rumen PH
As cattle ferment the protein in their food, naturally ammonia is produced. In most cases the
ammonia passes through the animal without issues. But when cattle graze more than the top 1/3 of grass they get over loaded with protein. This can cause an over load of ammonia therefore the excess ammonia is absorbed into their bloodstream. Which in turn can cause alkalosis in the rumen, oxygen uptake restriction in the lungs, plus they will not usually breed. This is more of a concern during the spring and fall when the cattle eat more than the top 1/3 of the lush green grass. This is because the bottom 2/3 of grass is high in protein. Luckily, there is a way to monitor the rumen and know what's going on in there.
First you must purchase some PH strips. I ordered mine from Amazon but you can purchase them most anywhere pool supplies are sold. Just make sure they cover a PH range from 6-9. After you acquire your strips go to the pasture and wait for one of the cows to urinate. I have noticed the best time to catch them peeing is after they get up from laying down. You want to get the cow urine sample off of a plant/ blade of grass. Do not take samples from soil, it will alter the PH reading. Simply run the test strip across the urine. Remember not to touch the soil. Then match the color on the PH strip to the diagram on package. Normal PH is 7.0 higher reading mean they need more dry forage in their diet. You can offer a bale of hay. Or if intensive/ rotational grazing is practiced they can be moved faster. This only allows the herd time to eat the tip of the plant. This being the highest energy of the plant. A PH reading of 8-8.6 is reason to be concerned. A reading of 8.6 or higher you risk females not conceiving a calf. PH reading lower than 7 the cattle need protein.
Here is a video showing how to do PH test. https://youtu.be/wq1nDVT8IEo
Fresh Water
Fresh water is one of the easiest things to supply our livestock with. It's absolutely a major contributor to livestock health. If your livestock are not getting clean water daily it will effect their overall performance. I am a firm believer than we as the farmer should be able to drink what we are giving our animals. If you would not drink it, don't force your animals to do so. Go out in your pasture with your herd, watch them as they drink. Do they smell the water before drinking? Do they lick at the water? Or do they just simple drink it down without hesitation? If they are drinking without hesitation they are telling you the water is good. But if you noticed them doing any of the other things mentioned, there maybe issues with their water.Keeping trough clean...Observe the water trough for dirt or algae. Sometimes even mosquito larva can even be a problem. I carry a stiff scrub brush with me on my ATV. Twice a month I will scrub the water trough and rinse it out. As water sits in a water trough it will sometimes leave a slimy film. Over time it will damper the quality of the water. A couple minutes of scrubbing will make a huge difference on their water. Bleach can be used to wash trough and kill algae, just rinse well before returning to livestock. The rumen requires certain bacteria levels, bleach will alter these levels this is why rinsing is important.
Gut Fill
Have you ever wondered how to tell if your cattle are getting full day to day? Well today you are going to learn how to tell. The answer is on the side of your cattle. First you must know which side of the cattle to check. Let's imagine you are riding one of the cows like a horse. This is the easiest way to figure out which side is the left side. Now don't try ride your cows you will get hurt. So it's the left side of the cattle that will tell us how full they are. On the left side it's the area between the last rib
and the hip. When it's not full it will be sucked in and be shaped like a triangle and when it's full you should not see an indent at all. Some ranchers refer to this area as the triangle of death. If this triangle is seen days in a row the cows health is declining and most likely take to breeding. If intensive/rotational grazing is practiced this is a way to tell day to day if our paddocks are big enough. Stand so as they pass you walking into their new area you will be on their left side. Adjust accordingly.Checking Rumen PH
As cattle ferment the protein in their food, naturally ammonia is produced. In most cases the
First you must purchase some PH strips. I ordered mine from Amazon but you can purchase them most anywhere pool supplies are sold. Just make sure they cover a PH range from 6-9. After you acquire your strips go to the pasture and wait for one of the cows to urinate. I have noticed the best time to catch them peeing is after they get up from laying down. You want to get the cow urine sample off of a plant/ blade of grass. Do not take samples from soil, it will alter the PH reading. Simply run the test strip across the urine. Remember not to touch the soil. Then match the color on the PH strip to the diagram on package. Normal PH is 7.0 higher reading mean they need more dry forage in their diet. You can offer a bale of hay. Or if intensive/ rotational grazing is practiced they can be moved faster. This only allows the herd time to eat the tip of the plant. This being the highest energy of the plant. A PH reading of 8-8.6 is reason to be concerned. A reading of 8.6 or higher you risk females not conceiving a calf. PH reading lower than 7 the cattle need protein.
Here is a video showing how to do PH test. https://youtu.be/wq1nDVT8IEo
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