How much can feeding in the evening increase daytime calving?
A British study involving 162 cattle from 4 different farms compared the percentages of calves born from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. with cows being fed in the morning versus feeding in the evening. 57% of the calves born during the day were from cattle fed at 9:00 am versus 79% born during the day when cows were fed at 10:00 p.m. A study done in Iowa with 1331 cows from 15 farms showed that 85% of the calves were born between 6:00 am and 6:00 p.m. when fed once daily at dusk. What about large cattle operations? For larger operations it may be physically impossible to feed all the cows after 5:00 p.m. With operations of this size it would be important to feed the first and second calf heifers in the evening, as they are the animals in need of the most attention during calving. The mature cows could then be fed earlier in the day.
