Does feeding time influence the time of calving? To answer this question, SDSU Extension Cow/Calf Field Specialists Adele Harty and Taylor Grussing look to research data.
"Yes, feeding affects time of calving," Harty said. "Feeding cows later in the day and evening will increase the number of calves born during daylight hours, when it is easier for livestock producers to watch them more closely."
Gus Konefal, a rancher from Manitoba, Canada first developed this feeding method after he discovered 80 percent of his cows calved between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. when they were fed later in the day.
Konefal's method included a twice a day feeding, with first feeding between 11 a.m. and noon and second feeding between 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Supporting Research
Similar research was conducted at Iowa State University.
"This research used the Konefal feeding system, but only feeding one time per day at 4 p.m., starting two weeks prior to the expected start of calving," Grussing said.
The result? Eighty-two percent cows calved between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. with 91 percent of the calves born before 11 p.m.
"Only 9 percent of calves were born outside the window when traditional calf checks are performed," Harty said.
When heifers were separated from the data set and analyzed, 90 percent calved in this same time frame.
A survey collected from 15 beef producers in Iowa and Missouri also reported that when they fed once daily between, 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., the result was 85 percent of cows calving between 5 a.m. and midnight.
Compare this data to cows from herds not on the Konefel feeding system. That data showed an equal distribution of cows calving during the night as during the day, a 50/50 split.
Researchers at USDA-ARS at Miles City, Montana completed at three-year study evaluating differences in feeding time on calving time.
"The numbers were not as dramatic as Konefel and Iowa State data," Grussing said. "However, there was a consistent 10 to 20 percent decrease in the number of cows calving between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the late fed cows compared to the early fed cows."
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