Unit 9: Dairy Cattle
Feeding
Chapter 9
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
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Unit 9 Objectives:
Discuss life-cycle feeding programs for dairy
 Identify nutrient needs and additives used
 Understand nutrition related
diseases/disorders
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Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
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Feeding for Milk Production
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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
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
 Things
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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?
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
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Increasing forage variety can also help increase
consumption
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
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Concentrates for Dairy Cattle
 Concentrate
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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?
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
 Intake
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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
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No book-value is very accurate
Can underfeed the high producer and overfeed the low
producer
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
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Steps in Ration Balancing for Lactating Dairy
Cattle
 Establish

needs
Maintenance plus milk production & reproductive needs
 Determine
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Forages
 Kind & quality
Concentrate Mix
 Kind & amount
 Establish
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feeds available
feeding levels
Forage
 Appropriate for quality and production
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
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Concentrate
 Supply additional nutritional needs
 Balance
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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
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can be separated based on:
Stage of lactation
Age
Dry period
What groups can/should we have?
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
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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)
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
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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
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
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Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
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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
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
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Things to Remember
 Feed
young growing cows for growth, as well as,
milk production
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What about a separate first calf heifer group?
 More
cows are usually underfed on energy than
protein
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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
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
 Have
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water available at all times
3-5 lbs of water/lb milk/d
 Adding
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Adding fat helps in early lactation to improve energy
density
Avoid excessive fat levels due to unpalatability and feed
freshness problems
 bST
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fat
use
Begin at 9th week of lactation
Increases milk production by 8-10lbs/d
Does increase DMI
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
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Feed for Dairy Calves
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Common Feed for Calves
 Colostrum
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Remove calf from cow immediately
Try to get 2 quarts on colostrum in within 30 min to 1 hr
 Milk
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replacer
Various programs
 20/20
 Accelerated growth
 Antibiotics usually included
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
 Calf
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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
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
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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

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Decreases reproductive performance
Decreases milk production capability
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
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Heifers 12 mos to calving
 Forage
should be able to support their nutritional
requirements
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Supplement enough grain to include min/vit and
ionophores
 Target
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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
Unit 9: Dairy Cattle Feeding
 Mix
with dry cow 60d prior to calving
 Minimum of 21d in a pre-fresh group
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Keep DMI and energy levels up
Adjust to higher grain content and better quality forages