No abstract

Trace minerals serve an essential role in regulating reproduction. Free-choice trace mineral supplementation is often provided to grazing beef cattle. An injectable tracemineral solution used with free-choice trace minerals may be beneficial before breeding to improve mineral status. Therefore, Red Angus-based, May-born heifers were utilized to determine the effects of an injectable trace mineral on reproductive performance. Pregnancy rates did not differ between heifers injected with a trace mineral and heifers that received no injection. Injectable trace mineral at CIDR insertion 33 d before artificial insemination did not influence reproductive performance in heifers with adequate trace mineral status.

Pneumonia is a leading cause of sickness and death in beef calves prior to feedlot entry. The objective of this study was to test the effect of pre-calving vaccination of beef cows and other factors on the subsequent incidence of calf pneumonia on a ranch with a history of incidence of calf pneumonia > 10%.