U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska
Date of this Version
2014
Document Type
Article
Citation
Livestock Science 162 (2014) 252–258; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2014.01.033
Abstract
Fluctuating feed resources to beef cows across the production cycle is a proven method for decreasing input costs; however, limiting nutrients during late gestation have been demonstrated to decrease ovarian follicle numbers in female offspring in some studies. We hypothesize that limiting nutrients to mature (≥3 yr) cross bred beef cows during the second and third trimesters would result in daughters that would have decreased follicle numbers detectable by ultrasonography as yearlings. Over four breeding seasons, pregnant beef cows (n=397) were assigned to either Low (L), Moderate (M) or High (H) nutrient intake during the second or third trimester, resulting in four dietary treatment groups(L–H, L–L, M–H, and M–M).