In ruminant production systems, maternal nutrient intake and supplementation practices vary widely throughout the industry. Adequate maternal nutrient supply is critical for fetal development and subsequent offspring performance and health. Therefore, determining strategic supplementation of specific nutrients during critical developmental windows is crucial to fetal growth during early gestation will positively impact beef cattle production systems. In this dissertation, two experiments using beef heifers were conducted to test the hypothesis that differing maternal rate of gain (achieved through differing intake) during the first 63 d of pregnancy would compromise indices of maternal and fetal development; and that strategic nutrient supplementation would mitigate any negative responses to lower rates of maternal gain. Supplemental nutrients were methionine, choline, folate, and vitamin B12 and gain targets were 0.45 kg/heifer daily vs. -0.23 kg/heifer daily. Response variables used included heifer growth and carcass data, maternal oxidative stress, fetal organ weights, and differential expression genes in fetal muscle and liver. It was found that heifers with lower gains were negatively impacted and critical fetal organs during development were affected by maternal rate of gain and one-carbon metabolite supplementation. Furthermore, measures of maternal oxidative stress were affected by gain and supplementation. Many genes in fetal muscle and liver were differentially expressed due to levels of gain and supplementation. For instance, genes important for cell signaling and death were upregulated when there was one-carbon metabolite supplementation. In conclusion, providing the correct nutrients and amount during early gestation can have an effect on fetal development that may be seen in the offspring’s production life. A positive impact during early gestation will result in an increase in the offspring’s production capabilities.