Nutritional management of dairy animals
Y. Ramana Reddy
Milk IT Project
Nainital, Uttarakhand, India
06-07 November, 2014
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Physiological stages- Dairy cattle
• Calf
• Heifer
• Pregnancy
• Lactation
Calf feeding
Colostrum feeding
• Give with in 30-60 mts
• 2.0 kg with in few hours
• 10% of B. wt.
• for 30 kg calf - 3 l/d
Why colostrum feeding
At birth
A calf has no defense
against infectious agents
Colostrum feeding increases
the chances of survival.
Effects of amounts of colostrum fed and time of
feeding relative to birth on the transfer of IgG
Colostrum composition
Item
Protein
Minerals
Energy
Vitamins
Immunogl
Colostrum
4X
3X
2X
10X
6X
Colostrum and calf diseases (first 12 h of birth)
Amount fed
(kg)
Mortality
(%)*
2 to 4
5 to 8
15.3
9.9
8 to 10
6.5
* Average mortality from 1 wk to 6 m of age
Liquid feeding program for dairy calves
Milk temperature
37o C
Pneumonia in calves
Individual housing (floor pens or hutches) helps
keep the calf healthy
Calf starter
• Offer at one week of age
• Contains high level of
coarse grains
Development of ruminant stomach
Milk fed up to 12 wks
Calf starter fed
Composition of grain starter
Ingredient
% of total
ration
Maize
Soybean meal
Wheat bran
50.0
12.8
10.0
Linseed meal
10.0
Distillers grain
Molasses
Limestone
10.0
5.0
1.9
Trace mineral premix
0.20
Vitamin supplement
0.05
Others (Coccidiostat,
buffer)
As needed
Nutrient composition of calf starter
Nutrient
Crude protein
TDN
% in the ration
20.7
80.0
Ca
P
0.94
0.52
Trace minerals
0.28
Water
Offer at 4 days of age
Limit water for calves <3 wks of age
Calf - forage feeding
When can we feed forage (hay)
At 1 month of age
What type of forage
• Avoid high quality hay (bloat)
•
Quality hay when consuming 3-5 lb calf
starter
• Avoid high moisture forages/grains for calves < 3
months old
Feeding of a palatable grain starter and water allows rapid
development of the rumen and early weaning
When would I wean my calf from
milk/milk replacer?
> 700 g of calf starter
in addition to hay and milk replacer
Growth trend in calves
Feed conversion in calves
Planned heifer rearing
Breed
HF
Jersey
Calving
Birth Breeding
wt
Wt
Age
Wt
Age
(kg)
(kg) (mo.) (kg) (mo.)
ADG
(kg)
Adult
Wt
(kg)
40-45
360400
14-16
544620
23-25
0.74
650725
25-30
225260
13-15
360425
22-24
0.50
425500
Concentrate mixture for young calves
Ingredient
Proportion
Maize
38
GNC
32
Wheat bran
20
Molasses
7
Mineral Mix.
2
Salt
1
Housing heifers
Age of calving – milk production
Feeding during pregnancy
 Last 2 months of
pregnancy critical
 Follow challenge feeding
 Start with 0.5kg grain
and increase
gradually to 1.5-2.0kg/d
Body condition score
BCS 1.5
BCS 3.0
BCS 4.5
Recommended body condition scores at
various stages of lactation
Calving
Breeding
3.0 to 3.5
2.5
Late lactation
3.0 to 3.5
Dry period
3.0 to 3.5
Effect of body condition score (BCS) losses in
early lactation on conception rate
Loss in BCS
Less than 1 unit
Conception rate
50%
From 1 to 2 units
34%
More than 2 units
21%
Feeding during lactation
Energy gap in dairy cows
Impact of negative energy balance
% pregnant
Days open
NEB
Cyst
Serv/conc.
Clin.
ketosis
Mastitis
Lameness
Cull
Effects of a cow’s condition on conception rate
Cow’s
Total No. of Total No. of
condition
services
pregnant
Gaining
weight
1368
911
Services/
conception
1.50
Loosing
weight
544
234
2.32
Conception
rate (%)
44
67
Feeding program for high yielding dairy cows
Total Daily Ration
Feeding Program
15 kg silage
4 kg hay
3 kg brewers grain
2.7 kg sugar beet pulp
1.8 kg barley
3.6 kg dairy compound
5.00 a.m. Dairy compound feed while
milking
6.00 a.m. SBP and Hay in yards
10.00 a.m. Barley and silage in yards
4.30 a.m. Dairy compound feed while
milking
5.00 p.m. Brewers grain in yards
9.00 p.m. Dairy compound feed and hay
in yards
Concentrate feeding for various milk production levels by dairy
cows fed Forages of low medium and high quality (500 kg cow)
Milk production when forage quality is Conc. Mix
(BF 4%)
Poor
Medium
High
--
4
13
--
--
6
15
0.5
--
8
17
1.3
2
10
19
2.2
4
12
21
3.0
6
14
23
3.9
8
16
25
4.7
10
18
27
5.6
Thank you