FEEDING OF DAIRY COWS
Introduction
In Goa, the dairy farmers mostly keep cows (indigenous and crossbred) along with few buffaloes for milk production. However, the genetic potential of the dairy animals is exploited fully, when they are fed with well balanced ration. Further, as feed cost is around 75% of the total cost of production, the success of the dairy farming depends not only on the quality of the ration, but also on the economy of the ration. Therefore, knowledge on the feeds and feeding of dairy animals is highly essential.
BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARD (BIS) SPECIFICATIONS FOR COMPOUNDED CATTLE FEED
| Nutrients (%) | Type-I | Type-II | Calf Starter | Calf Grower |
| Moisture (Max) | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| Crude Protein (Min) | 22 | 20 | 23-26 | 22-25 |
| Ether Extract (Min) | 3.0 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Crude Fiber (Max) | 07 | 12 | 07 | 10 |
| Acid Insoluble Ash (Max) | 3.0 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
| Salt as NaCl (Max) | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | |
| Calcium (Min) | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | |
| Available Phosphorus | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | |
| Vit A (IU/kg) | 5000 | 5000 | — | |
COMPOSITION OF CALF STARTER
Calf starter is a balanced concentrate mixture, which is fed to the calves from 10th day of age to supplement the nutrients, when they are raised on limited milk intake.
Composition of calf starter
| Ingredients | Parts (kg/100 kg) |
| Maize/ wheat shorts/ barley/ oats | 50 |
| Groundnut cake/ soybean meal | 30 |
| Skimmed milk powder | 07 |
| Wheat bran/ rice bran | 10 |
| Mineral mixture | 02 |
| Common salt | 01 |
| Vitamin A and D supplement (g/q) | 10 |
| Available Phosphorus | 0.5 |
COMPOSITION OF CONCENTRATE MIXTURE
It is a mixture of different concentrate feed ingredients like cereal grains (maize, rice kani etc), cereal grain byproducts (rice polish, brewers’ dried grains etc), oil cakes (soybean meal, groundnut cake, cotton seed cake etc), mineral mixture and common salt in different ratios as per the requirement.
Examples of Concentrate Mixture
| Feed Ingredients | Parts by Weight (kg) | ||||
| Ex-1 | Ex-2 | Ex-3 | Ex-4 | Ex-5 | |
| Maize grain (ground) | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 |
| Soybean meal | 15 | 20 | — | 10 | 10 |
| Groundnut cake | 15 | — | 24 | — | 15 |
| Cotton seed cake | — | 12 | 24 | 27 | 14 |
| Rice polish | 32 | 30 | 14 | — | 23 |
| Brewers’ dried grains | — | — | — | 25 | — |
| Mineral mixture | 02 | 02 | 02 | 02 | 02 |
| Common salt | 01 | 01 | 01 | 01 | 01 |
The concentrate mixture may be either in Mash Form or Pellet Form.
Mash Form
Pellet Form
FEEDING SCHEDULE FOR CALVES, HEIFERS, PREGNANT AND LACTATING COWS
Feeding schedule for calves (per day)
| Age | Whole milk (liters) | Calf starter (kg) | Legume (Cow pea) green fodder (kg) |
| 1-3 days | 3.0 (colostrums) | — | — |
| 4-15 days | 3.0 | — | — |
| 16-30 days | 3.5 | Ad lib. | Ad lib. |
| 1-2 months | 2.5 | 0.25 | Ad lib. |
| 2-3 months | 2.0 | 0.50 | 2-3 |
| 3-4 months | 1.0 | 0.75 | 5-7 |
Feeding schedule for heifers (per day)
| Age | Diet (kg) | |
| Maize/ CO-3/ CO-4 Fodder | Concentrate Mixture | |
| 4-6 months | 6-7 | 1.5 |
| 6-12 months | 12-15 | 1.5 |
| 12-18 months | 20-25 | 1.0 |
| 18-30 months | 25-30 | 1.0 |
| Pregnant (last quarter) | 30-35 | 2.0 |
Feeding schedule for pregnant animals 8-10 weeks before calving
| Feeds | Quantity (kg/ day) |
| Maize/ CO-3/ CO-4 fodder | 30-35 |
| Paddy straw/ Maize stover/ Kadaba Kutti/ Dry karad grass | 5 |
| Concentrate mixture | 2-3 |
Feeding schedule for lactating animals
Rations for lactating animals (for cows producing up to 7 kg milk and buffaloes producing up to 5 kg milk per day)
| Feeds | Quantity (kg/ day) |
| Maize/ CO-3/ CO-4 green fodder | 10-20 |
| Paddy straw/ Maize stover/ Kadaba Kutti/ Dry karad grass | 7-8 |
| Concentrate mixture | 3-4 |
Rations for lactating animals (for cows producing more than 7 kg milk and buffaloes producing more than 5 kg milk per day)
(i) If the dairy animal i.e. cows producing more than 7 kg milk and buffaloes producing more than 5 kg milk per day, then provide extra concentrate mixture @ 400g per kg increase in cow milk and 500 g per kg increase in buffalo milk.
(ii) If the dairy animal is pregnant, then besides the maintenance and production requirement, one kg concentrate mixture as pregnancy allowance should be offered extra only in the last three months of the pregnancy.
Feeding of high producing animals
The high yielding dairy animals need very special feeding strategies. Low quality roughages like straw or stovers should not be offered to high producing animas. The concentrate mixture of high yielders must contain energy and protein rich ingredients like soybean meal, roasted soybeans, by pass nutrients etc. Buffers like sodium bicarbonate, magnesium oxide and vitamin mixture should be added in the diet for better utilization of the feedstuffs. The composition of concentrate mixture for high yielders is presented in Table 11.
Concentrate mixture for high yielding animals
| Ingredients | kg |
| Maize | 40 |
| Mustard cake | 20 |
| Soybean meal | 10 |
| Roasted soybean | 05 |
| Rice bran | 15 |
| Wheat bran/ Deoiled rice bran | 07 |
| Mineral and vitamin mixture | 02 |
| Common salt | 01 |
IMPORTANT TIPS ON FEEDING OF DAIRY COWS
(i) The green fodder must be chopped before feeding to the dairy cows for better utilization.
(ii) If possible, soak the concentrate mixture in water for 6-8 hours and then feed to the animals.
(iii) The required concentrate mixture, green fodder and straw may be offered either separately or mixing together as total mixed ration (TMR).
(iv) The total ration to be offered daily should be divided and offered twice (morning and afternoon) for better utilization.
(v) Do not feed calcium rich feed ingredients or mineral mixture to the dairy cows 15 days before parturition, as high calcium intake during this period increases the chances of milk fever.
(vi) Provide clean fresh water free of choice to the dairy cows. For easy accessibility, a cemented water tank should be constructed near to the cow shed and the tank should be painted with lime at frequent intervals to make the water clean.
