Introduction
This brochure highlights important practices for farmers to
improve feed and ration formulation for cattle and calves.
The brochure's extension message is one of a larger
programme of on-farm demonstrations being delivered by
MAFRD.
The brochure is being funded through a two-year EU
project to strengthen MAFRD's advisory and technical
services. The project is helping MAFRD to coordinate the
advisory network of local advisers and private advisory
bodies, as well as promote the opportunities and benefits to
the farming community of using the advisory services. The
project is also supporting the implementation of rural
development measures aimed at using farm advisory
services, as well as ensuring that training is harmonised
with EU requirements under the Common Agriculture Policy
(CAP) and the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance for
Agriculture and Rural Development (IPARD).
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Do not move directly from dry food to green
food
Initially, feed animals with hay and
concentrate on the first day, and then let them
loose in the pastures for a short period
The animal should be fed longer in pastures
on the second and third day and so on.
This is how to eliminate irregularities in the digestive
system of cattle and use food better.
If a good combination of green food can be achieved,
it can be provided from April to November with two
harvests during the year.
Sample 1 (kg/day)
Pastures
60 kg
Concentrate
3 kg
Alfalfa
30 kg
Sample 2 (kg/day)
Alfalfa
30 kg
Meadow hay
6 kg
Concentrate
4 kg
Use of silage for cows: Silage is liquid and a
conserved voluminous food.
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The quantity given to cows varies from 30-40
kg per day; for calves, it depends on the age,
and can vary from 5-15 kg per day.
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Maize for silage is planted in May or June
depending on the climate.
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The chopped mass for silage should be 2-5 cm
in length.
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Compressing the mass for silage should be
done properly and without interruption.
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Maize is ensiled best, other food less so.
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Silage acidity must be 3.6-4.2.
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Silage fermentation takes 21 days.
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The optimum moisture of mass for silage
should be 65-75%.
Proper feeding of cattle calves is necessary to improve the
reproductive efficiency of Kosovo’s livestock, as well as
increase the quality and quantity of milk and meat.
1. Feeding cattle
Cattle as ruminants have high volume stomachs (150200 1t.). They consume a large volume of food due to
the microflora that is present in the stomach which
digests food directly.
The intake of nutrients by cattle is for three purposes:
1. Body maintenance
2. Milk production
3. In-calf requirement for cows.
Pasture use is in three ways:
 Free range
 Semi free range
 Rotation (of field use).
Summer feed – The base food for cattle during the
summer season is green mass or pasture which is the
best and cheapest food. Meadows and pastures in
Kosovo provide around 25% of general food for
animals, green mass or hay. Therefore, to meet the
requirements with nutrients in rations for cows, it is
necessary to use concentrated feed.
Pastures in Kosovo are used freely, and, as a result,
are damaged through irrational use. The most
efficient use of pastures is through rotation, the
advantages of which are:
 Rational use
 Preservation of nutritional value
 Faster regeneration
 Higher yield of green mass
Precautions during the use of green food:
Two samples of feed mix rations are given below:
An EU funded project managed
by the European Office in Kosovo
Rural Agricultural Advisory
Service of Kosovo
2. Feeding calves
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The calf must be cleaned straight after birth,
and placed on clean and dry bedding.
The first feed must be colostrum which has
high
nutritional
and
immunological
(protective) value.
To start, colostrum contains 36% dry matter
from which 11% is protein.
Colostrum’s immunology significance is due
to it containing high quantities of gamma
globulins which help calves to form (socalled) passive immunity.
Calves should ingest colostrum no later than
3 hours after birth, and frequently thereafter.
Milk quantity suckled by calves at the
beginning is 6 litres, increasing later.
In their early days, (as far as their stomach is
concerned), calves do not resemble
ruminants, because their stomach is poorly
developed.
The stimulation of stomach development can
be achieved by providing other food which is
used to feed mature ruminant animals.
This way the stomach begins to create a
specific microflora, which will later help to
digest voluminous food.
1. With milk
2. With good hay
3. With small quantities of concentrated food
Calves ingest food directly through suckling, or
indirectly. It is good to administer milk indirectly
because this allows the quantity of milk suckled by
calves to be controlled.
FEED AND RATION
FORMULATION FOR CATTLE
AND CALVES
Hay used to feed calves should be of high quality; at
the beginning, it is better to use meadow hay.
Concentrate mix used to feed calves should contain at
least 18% protein.
After 3 months, the way calves are fed will depend on
their gender and final purpose e.g. either for meat or
as heifers.
The brochure is prepared by: Prof. Dr. Ragip Kastrati,
agriculture Faculty
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY
AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Implemented by consortium of CA17 International (lead),
Chambre d’Agriculture Charente Maretime (partner) and
Etcharry Formation Developement (partner) (all from France),
and Novus Consulting (partner from Kosova)
Feeding calves up to 3 months can be done:
Implemented by: