PSXII-7 - Evaluation of Winter Hair Coat Shedding on Cow and Calf Performance in Crossbred Angus Cattle in Arkansas

Abstract: The objective of this study was to assess the effect of winter hair coat shedding for crossbred Angus dams (n = 544) on calf birth weights, calf weaning weights (WW), calf adjusted 205-day weaning weights (d205wt), artificial insemination (AI) pregnancy rates, overall pregnancy rates, cow pre-breeding body weights (PBW), cow pre-breeding body condition scores (PBCS) over a two-year collection period. Hair shedding data were collected on fall-calving crossbred cows from March to July using a visual hair shedding score of 1 to 5 was assigned to each cow, with 1 exhibiting 100% shedding of winter coat to 5 exhibiting 0% shedding of winter coat. Month of first shedding (MFS) was determined once a female reached a hair shedding score of ≤ 3 for any given month. Artificial insemination pregnancy and overall pregnancy was determined by rectal ultrasound. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS for calf performance, cow BW, and cow BCS, and the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS for AI pregnancy and overall pregnancy analyses. Statistical significance was declared at P ≤ 0.05 and tendencies declared at 0.05 < P ≤ 0.1. There was no effect of MFS on calf birth weights (P = 0.79), WW (P = 0.12), d205wt (P = 0.28), AI pregnancy (P = 0.76), overall pregnancy (P = 0.80), PBW (P = 0.11), and BCS (P = 0.69). The findings reported in this study indicate that MFS had no effect on cowherd performance during this two-year study in Arkansas; however, there is a need for continuing research to be performed to evaluate the effects of winter hair coat shedding in other environments.