How to increase milk yield from your dairy farming;find out if your feeding is right

Dairy Feeding Management I

Successful dairy farming solely depends on management 70% and breeding 30%. Dairy Management starts from feeding to housing. How and what do you feed your dairy cows? What is in the feeds you feed your cows with? Does the feeds help the cow anyway? What are the right quantities to feed your cows? Are there any imbalances and how do they affect growth and development of your cows?

What are the dairy feeds comprised of?

• Fodder/forage 70%
• Concentrates 25%
• Supplements 5%
• Clean Water 100-120litres

Water intake is majorly affected by weather, water cleanliness and water content of the feeds

A cow should have clean water access all through the day.

All Feed stuff i.e Fodder/concentrates, contain dry matter DM. Dry matter is the percentage that remains in particular feeds after all water is removed.

Dry matter entails energy, proteins, vitamins and minerals.

Read :No milk increase after feeding maize silage,find out why

These is the Dry matter DM content of various feeds

• Silage -30-35%
• Boma rodhes hay 80-85%
• Maize stovers 90-95%
• Banana stems and leafs 5-10%
• Dairy meal 85-89%
• Napier at 60cm high -20-24%
• Napier at more than 120cm –above 26%
• Lucerne –fresh -20-25%
• Lucerne –hay-80-85%

Inhabitants of dry matter Dm uptake

• Age of the animal
• Health of the animal
• Quality of feeds and fodder
• Availability of feeds
• Neutral detergent fiber NDF
• Size of animal
• Stage of lactation i.e. early lactation, middle stage lactation, late lactation and dry stage

Key nutritional components

N/B

• Feeding should always be based on weight and not production
• A cow should grow both in height, length and weight
• In balance of energy and proteins leads to imbalance between weight and height growth

Common protein fodders

Lucerne

• Best protein source
• Crude protein estimated to about 15-25% /KgDm
• When fresh has an estimated crude protein of about 18-25%/kgDm
• When hay has crude protein of about 85% /KgDm
• Lucerne has a metabolizable energy of about 8-9.5% MJ/KgDm

Find out why How to get profit in your farming?

Bracharia grass

• Crude protein estimated to about 11-12% /KgDm
• When fresh has an estimated crude protein of about 18-25%/kgDm
• When Hay has crude protein of about 85% /KgDm
• Bracharia has a metabolizable energy of about 8-9% MJ/KgDm

Napier Grass

• Crude protein estimated to about 14-15% /KgDm
• When fresh has an estimated crude protein of about 18-20%/kgDm

Kikuyu grass

• Crude protein estimated to about 18-21% /KgDm
• When fresh has an estimated crude protein of about 20-25%/kgDm
• When Hay has a crude protein of about 80-85% /KgDm
• Kikuyu grass has a metabolizable energy of about 8-9% MJ/KgDm

Fodder energy solution

Maize silage

• Dry matter content DM 30-35%
• Metabolizable energy ME of 10-11Mj/KgDm
• Crude protein CP of 6-8%/KgDm
• Neutral Detergent Fiber NDF of 440g/KgDM

Sorghum

• Dry matter content DM 30-35%
• Metabolizable energy ME of 10-11Mj/KgDm
• Crude protein CP 7.8%/KgDm
• Neutral Detergent Fiber NDF 560g/KgDM

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