1. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Chapter 9

2. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Unit 9 Objectives:
Discuss life-cycle feeding programs for dairy
Identify nutrient needs and additives used
Understand nutrition related diseases/disorders

3. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Feeding for Milk Production
General
What types of systems are in use for milk production in today’s industry?
What influences which system is utilized?
Feeding is often the determining factor in productivity of lactating dairy cows
Represents 50% of the total cost of production
Nutrient requirements for lactation are several times that of maintenance requirement

4. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Things to remember:
There is more variation in protein content and quality and energy in forages & concentrates
Primarily concerned with NEl, CP, DP, RUP, & AA contents of the ration
Mineral content and interactions are becoming much more important and manipulated
Forage Consumption
Estimated daily intake of forages is based on body weight and forage quality
What does forage quality have to do with it?

5. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Forage intake must be restricted somewhat to allow for sufficient grain supplementation to support milk production
Silage can replace hay at a ratio of 3:1
Pasture intake will usually exceed silage intake
Some evidence that increased feeding times can increase total forage consumption
Increasing forage variety can also help increase consumption

6. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Concentrates for Dairy Cattle
Concentrate mixture
Grains, milled feeds, protein supplements, min/vit
Mixture will vary with the forage program
Consider availability and cost of nutrients
Level of concentrate fed depends:
Amount of forage consumed
Milk production
Milk fat composition
NEVER feed over 60% concentrate in the diet – drastically changes VFA composition in the rumen – what health problems does it cause?

7. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Intake is affected by:
Palatability
Time they have access to feed
How has feed access changes over the years?
How did we used to offer feeds?
Concentrate feeding levels should be appropriate for each operation
No book-value is very accurate
Can underfeed the high producer and overfeed the low producer

8. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Steps in Ration Balancing for Lactating Dairy Cattle
Establish needs
Maintenance plus milk production & reproductive needs
Determine feeds available
Forages
Kind & quality
Concentrate Mix
Kind & amount
Establish feeding levels
Forage
Appropriate for quality and production

9. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Concentrate
Supply additional nutritional needs
Balance
Make sure protein & energy needs are met
Evaluate forage : concentrate ratio
Check protein sources and amino acid levels
Ensure proper min/vit supplementation
Feeding Guidelines
Groups can be separated based on:
Stage of lactation
Age
Dry period
What groups can/should we have?

10. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Early Lactation or Post-fresh Group
0 – 60 or 70 DIM
Milk production increases rapidly, peaks 6-8wks post-calving
Avoid excessive levels of grain
Encourage forage intake
Keep it palatable
High dietary protein
Limit urea content
Increase energy density (increase fat content)

12. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Peak Milk
Highest DMI’s
60 – 140 DIM
Maximal DMI during peak milk increases total milk production – each 1# peak milk = 300#’s milk in lactation
Feed several times/d
Maximize ration forage content without compromising energy, protein, and amino acids
Mid to Late Lactation
140 DIM to dry period
Milk production declines, cow is pregnant

13. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Match grain intake to milk production – be careful not to waste feed and over-condition cows
Dry period (Far-Off)
21 – 60d prepartum
High forage content
Maintain body condition – don’t lose weight, maybe slight weight gain
Enough grain and supplement to support CP, energy, and min/vit requirements
Drop Ca supplementation levels

14. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Dry Period (Pre-fresh)
0 – 21d prepartum
Increase ration energy & protein content
Make ration more energy dense
DMI’s reduced greatly prior to calving
Manipulate ration min/vit concentrations to help with post-calving problems – what are the target problems
DCAD
Increase feed palatability
Decrease stocking rate
Maintain pen cleanliness

16. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Things to Remember
Feed young growing cows for growth, as well as, milk production
What about a separate first calf heifer group?
More cows are usually underfed on energy than protein
Balancing for amino acid content can help minimize overfeeding of protein
Limit finely ground feedstuffs (except for grain) to prevent drop in milk fat test
Inclusion of hay is recommended

17. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Have water available at all times
3-5 lbs of water/lb milk/d
Adding fat
Adding fat helps in early lactation to improve energy density
Avoid excessive fat levels due to unpalatability and feed freshness problems
bST use
Begin at 9th week of lactation
Increases milk production by 8-10lbs/d
Does increase DMI

18. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Feed for Dairy Calves
Common Feed for Calves
Colostrum
Remove calf from cow immediately
Try to get 2 quarts on colostrum in within 30 min to 1 hr
Milk replacer
Various programs
20/20
Accelerated growth
Antibiotics usually included

19. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Calf Starters
Usually 16-20% CP
Must be extremely palatable
Antibiotic is recommended to help w/ respiratory and scour problems
Encourage starter intake ASAP
Wean when they eat 3 lbs/d for 3 consecutive days
Calves with growth faster and more efficiently on dry feed
Do not feed hay

20. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Heifers 4-12 mos of Age
Need to supplement grain to help meet energy needs
Rumen capacity isn’t sufficient to get all needs from forages alone
Include an ionophore for improved rate of gain & feed efficiency
DO NOT let them get over conditioned
Decreases reproductive performance
Decreases milk production capability

21. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Heifers 12 mos to calving
Forage should be able to support their nutritional requirements
Supplement enough grain to include min/vit and ionophores
Target breeding weight is 800 lbs
550 for Jerseys
Heifers must gain 1.75lbs/d to reach target wt by 15 mos
Breed by weight
Goal should be to have average first calving <24 mos
Avoid over conditioning
Some producers include straw or other high fiber components to slow down growth

22. Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
Mix with dry cow 60d prior to calving
Minimum of 21d in a pre-fresh group
Keep DMI and energy levels up
Adjust to higher grain content and better quality forages