Shaye Koester 0:08
Hey, hey, it's Shaye Koester and I'm your host for The Casual Cattle Conversations Podcast where we foster innovation and enthusiasm in the ranching industry through sharing the stories and practices of different ranchers and beef industry leaders. Be sure to be a greater part of this podcast and become involved on my social media pages. Follow @cattleconvos on Instagram, Facebook and tik tok or Shaye Koester on LinkedIn to join the conversations around the challenges we face as ranchers and how we can overcome them. You can also find more information about this podcast, all my episodes and how to partner with me on this show, by going to my website, casualcattleconversations.com. With that, thanks for tuning in. And let's see who our guest is today.
Alrighty, folks, thank you for tuning in to another episode. It is great to have you on here. Today, I am excited to share with you the story and knowledge of Dr. Shelby Roberts. Now, Shelby works for Alltech and comes from a cow calf background but is very passionate about gut health in cattle as well as nutrition. So today, Shelby is going to share with us what impacts gut health and how to keep a healthy gut in our calves after weaning, during backgrounding, what that looks like and what steps to take to ensure that you're doing all that you can do to keep your calves healthy from that standpoint. So with that, thanks for tuning in, and let's get on with the episode.
Alrighty, so thanks for joining me, Shelby. And just to start off, do you want to talk about what your background is in the beef industry?
Shelby Roberts 2:03
Sure. And Shaye, thanks for having me today. I'm really excited to get to talk to you today. So my background, I actually grew up on a cow calf ranch in West Texas, a little town called Gail. I grew up on the cow calf ranch and grew up showing steers as well. So really I have been in it in my whole life and I'm just really passionate about helping the beef industry improve. Then I went to grad school. I went to undergrad at West Texas A&M in Canyon and then had an internship at a feedlot and decided man, I really want to know more about this. So I decided to go to grad school at Oklahoma State. So I went and got a degree in ruminant nutrition, and then decided, hey, let's keep going and came back to West Texas a&m to get a PhD in agriculture, but with an emphasis in ruminant health and Immunology. So I kind of have a unique background of I have nutrition and some immune experience as well.
Shaye Koester 3:06
Well, that's that's a pretty neat combination and always love to see a cow calf background on the show.
Shelby Roberts 3:12
Yeah.
Shaye Koester 3:13
So what do you do today then with all that experience and education that you possess.
Shelby Roberts 3:19
So today, I actually work for Alltech. I am the beef technical service manager. So I kind of get to marry the best of both worlds, I get to look at research and see all the newest things coming out, but I also get to take that and interpret it and take it and apply it to cow calf guys. So I think it's a really unique channel where I get to use both my scientific background, but also the ability that I have to talk to cow calf guys as well. And it's what it's my favorite part of the job.
Well, I think it's always great to build that connection. That's kind of my favorite part of this, too.
Yeah.
Shaye Koester 3:56
So when we're looking at Alltech and your role and your education, what I really wanted to kind of talk about today was gut health in calves. So could you talk about what a healthy gut is for a calf?
Shelby Roberts 4:11
I think a healthy gut in a calf and when you think about it, it's really one of the most essential things that we need to establish that calf for a healthy future. Right? So the immune system, about 70% of the calf's immune system actually resides in the gut, which a lot of people wouldn't think about that. Because when we think of the gut, we typically just think about it as being a digestive organ, right? Like we don't think of it as having two goals. We don't think of it as having an ability to help the animal stay healthy. So I think it really is essential not only for good animal health, but it's also good for nutrition. If you want those animals performing and reaching their genetic potentials, they have to be able to have a healthy gut and absorb those nutrients that you're giving them. So I think to me, it's just essential for a healthy calf.
Shaye Koester 5:01
So then, does that healthy gut come from, you know, the feeds that are there? Or where does that healthy gut come from? I mean, part of its natural, but what helps develop a healthy gut.
Shelby Roberts 5:14
So a lot of it is having the gut microbial populations, which is a growing topic within the industry and also in human health as well. It's talking about those gut microbial populations, making sure that we are controlling those pathogenic bacteria, right, because that's when it gets unhealthy is when we have an overpopulation of E. coli or salmonella or something that is attaching to the wall and causing damage. So one aspect of a healthy gut is making sure we have the right microbial populations that are diverse, that are healthy, and we have minimal pathogenic bacteria, but also part of it is are we feeding that animal correctly? We want to make sure that we're not feeding things that are causing damage to the gut wall. So, it's a combination of effects really.
How does a healthy gut impact a calf's overall performance as it continues through its lifecycle?
Oh, thanks, Shaye, I think it's a really important thing to consider how a healthy gut is gonna impact a calf's overall performance, right? Because we know that the number one cause of calf sickness and maybe morbidity is scours, right? So that's a gut health issue. So when those animals start off and they get sick, that makes it harder for those animals to recover and have the same performance as those calves that stayed healthy. So I think it's really important that we look at how we establish a healthy gut, so those animals can make it through the system and maintain that performance throughout the system. Because I mean, as an industry, we're getting our genetics where we have really spectacular cattle, right? We're getting better performances, better conversions and we want we want to make sure we're giving those animals enough true nutrients but also, are we making sure that they're healthy enough so that they can actually absorb and utilize those nutrients so that can reach that genetic potential. And I think a cornerstone to that is making sure that those animals have a healthy gut from when they're a calf all the way through the system.
Shaye Koester 7:27
So when you look at how gut health impacts of beef animal over its total life, where does that start?
Shelby Roberts 7:37
In my opinion, it starts at cow calf, because I think the cow calf guys are the gatekeepers to health and longevity of not only their cows, but also those calves, right? So it starts as soon as that calf hits the ground, or maybe even before that, when we're feeding the mama cow. Are we making sure she is having the right enough energy for immune responses, right? So that colostrum quality is really important to a newborn calf. Well, if we're not feeding the mama cow enough, or she doesn't have enough energy for antibody production, then she's gonna have lower quality colostrum, which is gonna lead to maybe a less healthy calf. So I think it starts back at the cow calf guy. And that's really encouraging because they have the ability to improve health for that animal on the long run, right? Because the number one cause of calf sickness is scours. Right? And scours is essentially a gut health problem, those animals aren't able to absorb nutrients, and it's just leaving the backside. So if we can improve gut health in those calves early, we're going to improve their performance throughout their lifetime, because it's really hard to get over a bad start, right? So if those calves are already handicapped at the starting line, right, so those calves that were healthier are going and they're performing, but those calves that got sick, have a handicap and have further to come. So the likely not never recover that loss performance they had as a calf.
Shaye Koester 9:08
Alright, well, awesome. Thank you for that explanation. So we've talked about gut health. And you know how it starts with that cow calf segment, or even making sure that that bred cow is being fed, right, and is up to the nutritional requirements that she needs to support this calf. But as we move past cow calf, and we get into weaning, what are the main points producers need to understand about gut health as it relates to the backgrounding industry?
Shelby Roberts 9:37
So I think this is a really another important part where producers can have an impact. So we know that stressors are part of our system, right? Because we're so segmented, we know that there going to be periods of where the animal experiences stress. So I think some of the main impacts we can have in gut health is recognizing where those periods are and preparing those animals for those periods of stress. So gut health challenges occur when those animals are stressed, because stress decreases the immune response. So if they have gut health challenges, it's going to be harder to respond because they have depressed immunity. And so it's really important that we make sure those animals are prepared for those stressors along the way. So making sure we slowly introduced those calves to grain if we're feeding them grain, if you eat too much grain too fast, we're going to cause massive problems within the gut not only in the rumen, but you'll have some challenges in the gut as well. Slowly commingling, so we minimize the pathogenic challenge that those animals are having. And then maybe feeding something like a moss product that helps improve or promote gut health before those animals actually enter that that period of stress. I think it's really about just, if we want to have a healthier cow herd that's going to enter the field healthier, we need to build a resilient herd that can challenge and can handle those stressors, because we know where they are. And we know the periods of when we can kind of have a tipping point and help them be healthier going into those challenges.
Shaye Koester 11:19
So would you explain a little bit more I know, I got this background in my nutrition classes and just a little bit growing up. But would you expand a little more on why you can't just drastically switch calves from you know, say, milk and grass or milk and hay straight to grain? Why is it important that that's a slow transition.
Shelby Roberts 11:38
It's really important for a slow transition, because that's when so we're talking about the microbial population in the gut, right? Well, the rumen also has a bug population or micro bacteria that are in that rumen. So what happens is when you you switch those animals quickly from grass, or from grass or milk to a starch or corn based diet, then those bugs aren't prepared for that switch in feed stuff, right? So each bugs have specific feedstuffs that they use. So you'll have bugs that are specifically for fiber digestion and bugs that are specific to corn digestion. Well, sometimes what happens is when we we switch those animals quickly, those starch bacteria, they overpopulate and then we get acidosis which is not good for those calves. So it's really just allowing those microbial populations to slowly adjust to the feedstuff that they're being given.
Shaye Koester 12:42
Okay, awesome. Thank you for that explanation. Now, as we look at mistakes producers make so these listeners can maybe look at their management practices and see if they need to change anything. What would you say? Are some of the these management mistakes that would be made during the pre-weaning phase as they relate gut health?
Shelby Roberts 13:03
Yes, so I think that mistakes are hard to judge because you're going to have a difference between producers and the ability that they have, depending on their facilities or where they are with their weather. So I think it's really hard to say specific ones, because each producer is going to be different. But I think one is we are moving cattle too quickly through the system, right? So we're weaning them and maybe sending them directly to a marketing. And so I think that could be really hard for calves. I think we're not preparing those calves for the weaning period. So right, so say we have calves that have been raised on a pasture, they only know how to drink from a water tank, and they only know how to either drink milk or eat grass from Mama, I think one thing and then one of the problems we have is when we remove those calves, and then directly move them to a pen setting like that. The problem with that is those calves don't know how to, one eat from a feeder or eat anything other than hay. Then, we're also asking them to learn how to use a feeder right on top of the stress of Hey, where's my mom, go, I need to find her. So I think one thing that producers can do if they have the ability and facilities is to slowly introduce those calves with their mother to the places where they're going to be weaned, right. So say you have a lot that you know you're going to background and maybe open the gate if you have the ability for about a two to three days before you wean those calves. So they're familiar with the areas and that's less of a shock for those calves when they get removed from mom and get moved to to a weaning facility.
Shaye Koester 14:42
Well awesome and thank you for that insight. So what about mistakes made during the backgrounding period?
Shelby Roberts 14:51
Yes, so again, they would be pretty similar to we pre-weaning ones, but one could be commingling calves too quickly or too too many of them from different sources. That could be really hard. Maybe if you if you are grouping cattles from various sources, I would suggest maybe keeping those groups separate for a couple weeks, make sure they're healthy and then take bringing those groups together. I would say that introducing those animals to starch diets to quickly is also a very is a major thing. And then I think that we should also be looking at maybe some gut health management, like a lot of times we're not focusing on nutrition or how that is. And I think that's something where, as an industry, we could maybe improve.
Shaye Koester 15:40
Okay, so we've talked about, you know, what good gut health is, where it starts and some mistakes that could be made. But where can producers go for help in these areas or to fix some of these mistakes?
Shelby Roberts 15:55
Yes, so I think part of it is just finding someone who someone like say, you have an Alltech rep in your area, finding them and we can look into and evaluate your production system and see where we can implement some changes that would maybe benefit your animals. I think looking at online resources is another option. There are a lot of online resources where you can look at better ways to manage cattle or slowly move those animals through the system and Alltech has a lot of resources on their website as well that can be useful. So Alltech, we are a feed ingredient company. But we also try and focus on how we can help the producers better themselves and find a better way to feed. We also have some analytical services that that producers can take advantage of as well.
Shaye Koester 16:45
Awesome. So is there anything else you'd really like to share today, whether that regards to your story, or the Alltech story, or just gut health in general?
Shelby Roberts 16:55
Yeah, I think that I would just like to emphasize that I think that if we're going to produce a healthy gut or a healthy calf, it really is looking at the beef system as a whole. So how are we feeding those animals so that they have a better health effect? And then how are we managing these animals so that we're bettering them for the finishing period, right, because we all want to have a healthy beef system. So if we can start early and see how we can affect overall beef performance, I think that's a really essential thing to work on as an industry and not as individual segments.
Well, thank you very much for hopping on today. I appreciate that.
Thank you for having me, Shaye. I'm really glad I got to talk with you.
Shaye Koester 17:38
And that's a wrap on that one. Thanks for tuning in for this episode. Please be sure to go check out that Alltech website and see what they have to offer and how they can help your operation as well as go to my website, casualcattleconversations.com., to find all my episodes, and sign up for my newsletter. I hope to see your name come into that subscribe box so you never have to miss another episode and you can get a reminder of my blogs and episode updates and look back into the past about episodes that I did about a year ago. But with that, thanks for tuning in, and I hope to catch you on the next one.
Resources: https://www.alltech.com/animal-nutrition/beef-cattle-health-and-nutrition
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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