Page 18 - Dairy Dimenison Aug-Sep24

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to 8 kg dry matter from fodder category Thumb rule for compound cattle feed quantity
Out of the 8 kg dry matter from fodder category, For body maintenance, provide around 1 kg to 1.5 kg of
quantity of green fodder required is 2/3rd or 66.67% good quality balanced compound cattle feed per cow per
which equals to 5.33 kg dry matter from green fodder day (24 hours). Additionally, for milk production, provide
which is equal to 26.65 kg of green fodder (both grass 400 gm of good quality balanced compound cattle feed
and legume) with around 20% moisture. per kg of milk yield per day per cow. For pregnant
Out of the 8 kg dry matter from fodder, quantity of dry animals, provide an additional 1.5 kg to 2 kg of good
fodder required is 1/3rd or 33.33% which is equal to 2.66 quality balanced compound cattle feed per cow per day
kg dry matter from dry fodder which is equal to 2.95 kg from the 7th month of pregnancy to calving
of dry fodder with around 10 % moisture. Apart from that, it is important to give good quality dairy
Quantity of compound cattle feed required feed supplement containing calcium, phosphorous,
other macro minerals and micro minerals including Zinc,
1/3rd or 33.33 % of 12 kg overall total dry matter equals
to 4 kg dry matter which is equal to 4.44 kg of good Copper and Manganese in highly bioavailable form,
quality balanced compound cattle feed (in pellet or mash rumen specific yeast culture & rumen specific enzymes
form) with around10% moisture. to dairy cows daily throughout their life cycle from calf
stage to culling of cows.
Final feed quantity required: dry fodder around 3 kg +
green fodder around 27 kg+ balanced compound cattle Conclusions
feed around 4.50 kg per cow / day. The potential of cows and buffaloes are more in India.
Examples of green fodder include grass, legume fodder, per day / cow can be provided as green fodder, dry Kindly note that the abovementioned suggestions are They are underperforming mostly due to under feeding.
silages & tree leaves etc. fodder, or silage. If sufficient fodder is not available, then given as general guidelines only. Focus on quality and quantity of feeds with necessary feed
Feed requirements of dairy cows maximum 50 % of dry matter (DM)required per day per supplements would help them to unleash their potential.
cow can be given in the form of balanced compound
Dry fodder has very poor nutritive value and it mainly
just satisfies appetite and provides feeling of fullness cattle feed and 20% of dry matter (DM) can be given
(bulk) to the dairy cow. Green fodder consisting of through dry fodder and balance 30% of dry matter (DM)
can be given through green fodder or silage. Dry matter
Napier Bajra hybrid grass, Berseem, Lucerne (legume content of compound cattle feed and dry fodder is
fodder), Agathi, Subabul, mulberry (tree leaves) etc., approximately 90%. Dry matter content of green fodder
provide energy, protein, fibre, vitamins, and minerals in is approximately 20%.
bioavailable form. Adequate green fodder (around 40 to
50 kg per cow / day) helps to reduce the total feed cost Thumb rule for total cattle feed calculation
per litre of milk and the overall cost of dairying. As an example: consider body weight of a crossbred cow
as 400 kg, and its milk yield as 10 kg / day /cow & milk fat
Dairy cows' requirement for feed is divided into the
maintenance requirement and the production as 4% (Not pregnant).
requirement. Maintenance requirement takes care of Total dry matter (DM) required at the rate of 3% of body
the normal basic metabolic functions of the dairy cow. weight of the cow = 400*0.03 = 12 kg dry matter per day.
Production requirement is for milk production (quantity If adequate quantity of green fodder and dry fodder is
of milk and fat % of milk), growth of animal and growth available, then 2/3rd quantity of the overall total dry
of its fetus (in case of pregnant cows). matter required per day per cow can be given as fodder
and 1/3rd quantity of overall total dry matter required
Practical feeding of dairy cows
per cow per day can be given as compound cattle feed
Feeds given to dairy cows should contain the right (concentrate mixture).
amount (quantity) and right proportion (ratio) of all
nutrients (> 47) required for body maintenance, body Out of the total dry matter from fodder category, 1/3rd
quantity of dry matter can be given as dry fodder and
growth, milk production, milk quality, health, immunity, 2/3rd quantity of the dry matter can be given as green
and growth of unborn calf (in pregnant cows) on daily fodder.
basis.
Dry matter requirement of cows Based on this assumption of adequate availability of
green and dry fodder we can work out the quantity of
In general, crossbred dairy cows consume around 2.5 kg each category of cattle feed as follows:
to 4.5 kg of dry matter (DM) for every 100 kg of their live Quantity of fodder required
body weight per day (in 24 hours). If green fodder is
available in plenty, then 60% of the dry matter required 2/3rd or 66.67 % of 12 kg overall total dry matter equals

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