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Texas A&M researchers recently reported results of winter feeding on four native range locations of the same weekly total of protein supplement either daily (7X), three times a week (3X), or once a week (1X), compared to unsupplemented controls (C). Cows in the 7X group received 2 lb/day of cottonseed meal (not cubes) in troughs, so 3X cows got approximately 4.7 lb/feeding and 1X got 14 lb/feeding. Cows in the C group lost more weight and body condition than supplemented cows. Differences between treatments varied slightly depending on the location. Overall, feeding frequency had little effect, except there was considerably more turbulence in feeding behavior and more variation in individual consumption in the 7X group. So, feeding such supplements three times or once a week saves labor and improves feed distribution.
A new extension publication is available, L-5335 "Controlling Brown Stomach Worms in Cattle by Management", written by Extension Veterinary Program Leader F. C. (Buddy) Faries. This is available: from local County Extension Agents; by mail from Texas Ag. Ext. Serv. Distribution and Supplies, PO Box 1209, Bryan, TX 77896.
Colorado workers have studied relationships between scrotal circumference (SC) in bulls and pregnancy rate (PR) in heifer mates. PR generally is reported to be lowly heritable, while SC is highly heritable. Also, SC is related to age at puberty in heifer mates. But is SC in bulls related to PR in heifer mates? In this study, PR was more highly heritable (about 0.2) than sometimes reported. SC was confirmed to be highly heritable (about 0.75). Unfortunately, the genetic correlation between SC and PR was essentially zero. There was a tendency for low SC to be associated with somewhat lower PR, but high SC was not related to higher PR. This confirms that SC should be selected as a threshold characteristic (low SC bulls being culled but high SC given no priority) to increase settling ability in bulls and decrease age at puberty in heifers. But genetic improvement in pregnancy rate may have to come from direct selection for that trait.