Q: We make our own liquid feed with molasses and blood meal. at 30% CP, is this a good feed to use to supplement cattle during the winter months that only have dried grass and hay? (January 9, 2010)
Q: On prairie hay, how much dried distillers can you feed bred heifers? We are running out of shelled corn and have distillers but don't want to run into large birth weight on the calves. (January 9, 2010)
Q: How much urea can be consumed daily by range cattle on low quality pasture grass before urea toxicity becomes a concern? (January 21, 2010)
A: Urea supplies part of the protein equivalent in many of the commercial supplements formulated for beef cattle today. Urea is a non-protein nitrogen (NPN) compound. The urea used in livestock feeds is a synthetic compound. Urea is also used in the fertilizer industry and when nitrogen fertilizer goes up, so does the price of urea.
Q: If we breed pure Angus with a pure Ankole Watusi cattle, does the offspring retain the the gene for horns? (February 1, 2010)
A: Assuming that the presence of horns in Ankole Watusi are controlled by a single gene that is recessive in nature (i.e. must have two copies of the allele to have horns) then when mating them to homozygous polled Angus, the corresponding calves would be polled but carry the horned allele (i.e. heterozygous).