Installation/Program
Questions
Nutrition/Production
Questions
Installation/Program Questions
Nutrition/Production Questions
When you start Cowculator there will be a long pause in which the menu bars and a blank screen appears. This pause is normal and can take up to 3-4 minutes on slower machines. To a new user it will seem as if something is wrong or "locked up". Be patient and wait for the first screen with the heading "Conditions" to show. Once in the program, there is little evidence of the speed of your computer.
No. Cowculator was designed to run on Windows 95.
If you get a message that reads "Macro Execution Error" when you try to print, go to thr Printer Setup in the File Menu and select the correct printer. Click OK if the correct printer is selected and try the print command again.
When you start Cowculator there will be a long pause in which the menu bars and a blank screen appears. This pause is normal and can take up to 3-4 minutes on slower machines. To a new user it will seem as if something is wrong or "locked up". Be patient and wait for the first screen with the heading "Conditions" to show. Once in the program, there is little evidence of the speed of your computer.
After running a scenerio, the program indicates that I need to feed much more protein supplement than I traditionally do, yet my cows seem to perform well with the lower level of supplement. Should I change my program or stick with what I know works?
Previous experience and common sense are an important
part of making any business decision. Cowculator was designed as a tool
to assist decision making and should not be used to make decisions
independant of other considerations.
In this case, protein composition of the forage is probably too low in
the feed list. Make certain you are confident in this number. For harvested
forages, you should have a commercial laboratory conduct a nutrient analyses.
In the case of grazed forages, you may need to rely on your and other's
experience to adjust forage crude protein content. Remember that cattle
always select a better quality diet compared to hand clipped samples.
How
do I handle first calf heifers in Cowculator?
Cowculator does not currently adjust nutrient
requirements for cow age. When evaluating diets for 1st calf heifers, we
suggest using a minimum body condition score of 6.0 as the desired BCS
at the end of mid and late gestation. This should ensure that the feeding
program is designed to provide adequate energy for heifers to calve in
good body condition, which, in turn, will improve the chance of getting
heifers bred back early the following breeding season. The nutrition program
during early lactation should be designed to achieve a minimum BCS of 5.5
by the end of the period.
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Does
Cowculator consider the effects of weather and other
environmental stress on nutrient requirments?
Cowculator does not give the user an opportunity to adjust requirements based on weather effects, such as cold, wind and rain. Guidlines on how to handle the effects of weather are included in the instructions (Current Report CR-3280). Cowculator does adjust maintenance energy requirements based on body condition or fleshiness during the feeding period.
My cows are in very good condition (an approximate body condition score of 6.5). Should I enter their current weight in the Cow Weight input cell?
No. It is very important to enter a weight in the cow weight input cell that reflects the cow's weight when she is in average body condition (Body condition score of 5.0) and when she is open, or in early or mid-gestation. Both body condition and stage of gestation can dramatically influence her weight. The program needs a number that is standardized for body condition and stage of gestation to accurately determine nutrient requirements.
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Questions, Comments, Suggestions... brendaj@okway.okstate.edu
& 
Author: Brenda Johnson.
Copyright © Oklahoma Board of Regents for A&M Colleges. All rights
reserved.
Revised: February
28, 1998.