Continuous vs intermittent supplementation of urea to beef cows on range during winter (Short communication)

Two groups of cows had either free and continuous access to a urea supplement or access to the same supplement for only four days per week. Cows from both projects overwintered on rested summer range while all the cows received equal quantities of a daily supplement of Eragrostis curvula hay during the latter part of the winter. Neither body mass change of the cows, sex-corrected birth and 205-day weaning mass of the calves nor reconception of the cows were affected detrimentally when cows had access to a urea supplement for four days per week only, compared to those that had continuous access.