Management of Pregnant Heifers in the Feedlot

Ryan D Rademacher; Brian N Warr; Calvin W Booker

doi:10.1016/j.cvfa.2015.03.003

Management of Pregnant Heifers in the Feedlot

Vet Clin North Am Food Anim Pract. 2015 Jul;31(2):209-28. doi: 10.1016/j.cvfa.2015.03.003.

Authors

Ryan D Rademacher¹, Brian N Warr¹, Calvin W Booker²

Affiliations

¹ Feedlot Health Management Services Ltd, PO Box 140, Okotoks, Alberta T1S 2A2, Canada.
² Feedlot Health Management Services Ltd, PO Box 140, Okotoks, Alberta T1S 2A2, Canada. Electronic address: calvinb@feedlothealth.com.

PMID: 26139188
DOI: 10.1016/j.cvfa.2015.03.003

Abstract

Pregnant heifers in the feedlot pose many economic and management issues to the producer. Heifers that enter the feedlot pregnant will have increased costs associated with them regardless of the management strategy implemented. It is imperative that practitioners be aware of management concerns associated with pregnant heifers in order to provide sound recommendations for their clients. The purpose of this article is to provide the bovine practitioner with a summary of current literature and present common options for managing pregnant heifers in a feedlot setting.

Keywords: Abortifacients; Feedlot; Pregnant heifer.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animal Feed / standards*
Animal Husbandry / methods
Animals
Cattle / physiology*
Female
Pregnancy
Pregnancy, Animal / physiology*