A good mineral program is the first priority in developing a good nutrition program for the pregnant cow. Preparing the cow for calving with good nutrition, immunity boosts and bacteria, virus and parasitic management are all part of fetal programming, a concept where the calf's performance can be affected while still in the uterus, said Campbell. That is the time when the concentration of bacteria and viruses are at the highest and the stress of younger calves mixed with older calves is also high, said Campbell. He recommends ranchers adapt their calving program to the Sand Hills Calving System, which focuses on removing the concentration of bacteria and segregating calves by age to reduce calving stress on cows and calves. In the Sand Hills Calving System, which was developed in the sand hills of Nebraska, ranchers move the pregnant cows to a new, clean calving pasture every one to two weeks. read more

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