IFAD Partner Logo

Nutritional management of dairy animals

Y. Ramana Reddy

Milk IT ProjectNainital, Uttarakhand, India

06-07 November, 2014

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 increasesthe chances of survival.

Effects of amounts of colostrum fed and time of feeding relative to birth on the transfer of IgG

Colostrum composition

Item Colostrum Protein 4X Minerals 3X

Energy 2 X

Vitamins 10X Immunogl 6X

Colostrum and calf diseases (first 12 h of birth)

Amount fed (kg)

Mortality (%)*

2 to 4 15.35 to 8 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 50.0

Soybean meal 12.8

Wheat bran 10.0

Linseed meal 10.0

Distillers grain 10.0

Molasses 5.0

Limestone 1.9

Trace mineral premix 0.20

Vitamin supplement 0.05

Others (Coccidiostat, buffer)

As needed

Nutrient composition of calf starter

Nutrient % in the rationCrude protein 20.7TDN 80.0Ca 0.94P 0.52

Trace minerals 0.28

Water

Offer at 4 days of age

Limit water for calves <3 wks of age

Calf - forage feedingWhen 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 frommilk/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

BreedBirthwt

(kg)

Breeding CalvingADG(kg)

AdultWt

(kg) Wt (kg)

Age(mo.)

Wt(kg)

Age(mo.)

HF40-45

360-400 14-16

544-620 23-25 0.74

650-725

Jersey 25-30225-260 13-15

360-425 22-24 0.50

425-500

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 3.0 to 3.5

Breeding 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 Conception rate Less than 1 unit 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

NEB

% pregnant

Days open

Cull

Mastitis

Lameness

Clin.

ketosis

Serv/conc.

Cyst

Effects of a cow’s condition on conception rate

Cow’s condition

Total No. of services

Total No. of pregnant

Services/conception

Conception rate (%)

Gaining weight

1368 911 1.50 67

Loosing weight

544 234 2.32 44

Feeding program for high yielding dairy cows

Total Daily Ration Feeding Program

15 kg silage4 kg hay3 kg brewers grain2.7 kg sugar beet pulp1.8 kg barley3.6 kg dairy compound

5.00 a.m. Dairy compound feed while milking6.00 a.m. SBP and Hay in yards10.00 a.m. Barley and silage in yards4.30 a.m. Dairy compound feed while milking5.00 p.m. Brewers grain in yards9.00 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