monitor your cattles energy balance

[chalice]

HT it is good to get to know you too. I agree with you on that. A cows body heat is generated by the activity in her rumen, so anything to preserve the heat that she is generating such as bedding, wind breaks, bluffs and backfat. I liken these things to the insulation in your house and the more insulation the less it takes to heat the house.
GF makes a good point about the silage. I use it every year because I never wean my first calf heifers early enough. I barely have enough cows to package up my calves as it is let alone weaning twice so I strain my heifers and I want to pick them up as fast as I can(before Jan 1 when the deep freeze sets in)and silage is the most consistent product in our area as well as you can give them a TMR. I find with pellets or grain if your feeding 6-8 lbs to replace lost weight some get 2lbs and some get 12lbs. And it isn't always cows that are weaker or poorer they may just be shy and less agressive. For example one I have what I think is a picture perfect blue roan cow she is quiet, has a nice bag, raises a good calf, breeds back early. However, when you cut a water hole she is the first there and the last to drink because she won't put up with the pushing and shoving. In a bale grazing with OLS tubs or a TMR winter feeding program she is in the middle of the pack but when she is in a feed everyday situation where she has to compete she falls behind.

[per]

I have a soft spot for Blue Roans but having said that if she did not do well in my system I would not change the system for her. She would be culled. That is not to say I wouldn't try to find a home for her that she would do well in. As far as silage goes, I came from that back ground and found the forage based program that I use now to be more cost effective. GF, you point out the 100k baler tractor etc but fail to point to the cost of the silage units. Both can be hired as well. Neither beat stockpiled forage and swath grazing except in the one in eight winter like last year. I am just heading back to the swath grazing fields now but quality has been compromised.

[chalice]

Per we cull our cows as well and we don't change our system to suit one cow. It is simply an observation that when we do change to a more hands off winter feeding program that fits my off farm job, I noticed that there is less of a spread between the bottom and top cows. I may be wrong but I think my less agressive cows are full 6 out of 7 days instead of not quite full everyday.
In an everyday feeding system there will always be the less agressive cows that get pushed to the bottom. I will cull them and create a new bottom. Am I culling actual poor doers or am I dropping efficient cows that aren't as dominant as their herd mates? I am not sure.
In environments where there is more grazing, cattle don't have to push one another off of grass to get a mouth full, so competition for food isn't as big an issue as a bale that has been rolled out or pellets in a trough.

[kato]

That less dominant observation is a good one. I wonder if, over a period of years and a few generations if a herd that has been raised in a style that rewarded the dominant cows with more feed would become a herd of more generally aggressive cattle?

It would be interesting to know just what a role dominance plays in deciding who gets fat and who gets leftovers. I know it's been proven that docile cattle produce more tender beef as well, so would that come in to play over time?

How closely is dominant behaviour connected to aggressive behaviour...

[grassfarmer]

Per, you are right I was not making a fair comparison with only highlighting the cost of baling equipment, of course silage making equipment is way more expensive. Probably close to a million$ of equipment pulls in here when we make silage. I still find it is cheaper getting silage made custom than getting hay made custom - if you take the cash costs and apply it to the dry matter tonnage the hay always pencils dearer for me - and that's before allowing for the weather risk.
I agree also that a system where the cow harvests her own feed is always cheaper than a mechanical system. We will be going to swaths next winter for the first time. Once we decided to grow our own winter feed rather than buy it all it's a no-brainer for me to swath-graze.