ASCI 001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Feedlot, Milking Shorthorn, Working Animal
Document Summary
About 2/3 of their feed is forage, remainder grain. Heifer: a female that has not yet produced a calve (young cows often called first- calf heifers) Dry cow: cow no longer producing milk. Freshen: cow has a calf & begins to produce milk. Birth weaning (6-8 weeks) puberty (12-15 months) Average dairy cow is about 5 years old. Average dairy cow only lives to be about 7-8 years old until they are retired and usually go to slaughter. Slaughtered for lesser quality meat served at fast food restaurants. Annual lactation cycle with goal to calve once a year. Highest about 4 weeks after delivering calf. 93% of u. s. dairy cows produce 22,000 lbs milk/year. 5. 5% of u. s. dairy cows produce 16,000 lbs milk/year. Milk yield per cow has increased substantially with each new generation. 30 to >30,000 cows continual trend towards fewer, larger herds. 200 milking cows, 60 dry cows, 60 heifers, and 50 calves.
