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Keywords

Cattlemen's Day, 2003; Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station contribution; no. 03-272-S; Report of progress (Kansas State University. Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service); 908; Beef; Castration; Preconditioned weights; Weaning weights

Abstract

Crossbred Angus calves (n=141) were used to determine the effect of castration age and implant on weaning and preconditioned weights. Calf treatments consisted of: early castration at 90 days of age with no growth implant, early castration with a growth implant (Synovex C) at 90 days of age, or late castration at weaning (226 days of age). All calves completed a preconditioning program that consisted of timely vaccinations (21 days prior and at weaning) and a 28-day, post-weaning feeding period. Steers that were early castrated/implanted had weaning weights similar to those of bull calves, and both groups weighed 15 lb more than their early castrated/no implant contemporaries. However, 28 days after weaning the early castrated/ implanted steers weighed 20 lb more than either the early castrate/no implant or late castrated steers. Our data indicate that early castration in combination with a suckling phase implant produces the greatest amount of saleable weight along with the most flexibility in marketing options.

First page

69

Last page

71

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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