Playing the Weight-guessing Game? Here's The Scale Necessities.

Key Takeaways

• Accurate livestock weights are critical for profitability, starting at birth, as birth weights influence calving ease data, EPD accuracy and bull selection decisions.
• Digital scales are valuable tools for youth livestock programs, helping 4H and FFA exhibitors place animals in the correct weight classes.
• Treating livestock without exact body weights can lead to underdosing antibiotics, reduced treatment success and increased labor and relapse costs.
• Overdosing medications raises the risk of violative residues, while overdosing dewormers contributes to parasite resistance.
• Using digital scales or weight tapes and following label dosing recommendations helps ensure effective treatments and better long term herd health.

There are several excellent reasons to have scales on hand, even as early as when calves are first born. For instance, did you know having an exact birth weight for newborn calves is one of the most profit-generating factors on a cattle operation? It's true. Knowing a calf's birth weight is key for accurate calculation of birth weight EPD and evaluating calving ease. It's also a key component when selecting a bull.

If you have children showing in 4H or FFA, digital scales can quickly determine which class their animal will be showing in. But, even more so? Scales are crucial when it comes to treating livestock.

When dosing antibiotics and parasite control products to inaccurate weights, there can be consequences, especially when “eyeballing.”

Antibiotic doses vary greatly given differences in body weight. When administering antibiotics without capturing accurate, individual bodyweights, animals may be under-dosed, decreasing antibiotic efficacy and creating a poor treatment response. Overall, this can result in increased treatment and labor costs because of disease relapse. Alternatively, overdosing can increase risk of violative residues.

Underdosing dewormers can contribute to resistance issues. When deworming livestock and horses without dosing to accurate bodyweights, their risk for parasite resistance can increase, impacting how easily parasites can be controlled in the future.

Follow these easy steps to capture accurate weights for effective treatments:

• • Follow more effective practices; discontinue eyeballing
  • Capture individual weights with a digital scale (or estimate with a weight tape)
  • Follow product labels for accurate dosage per individual bodyweight

To help you capture accurate bodyweights, we recommend the following products.

• • S3 Weigh Scale Indicator System
  • AP600 Alleyway Platform
  • XR5000 Bluetooth Indicator

Whether for horse, livestock, or pet, Valley Vet Supply is your one-stop shop for trusted care. Explore more of our farm equipment category at ValleyVet.com