• General Information
• Breeds
• Management

Management

• Selection of Dairy Cattle
• Housing
• Feed Management
• Nutrient Management


• Milking
• Reproduction & Gestation
• Parturition & Care of young


• Disease Management

Feed Management

Feeding of calves

The success of dairy farming depends to a large extent on rearing of calves to a breedable age at a fast rate and with minimum mortality. In addition to the genetic influence, nutrition of the dam during gestation is important for healthy and vigorous calf. Birth weight is an important factor determining the maximum potential weight gain of calves.

Feeding of colostrum to young calves

Calves may be weaned immediately after birth, wherever it is possible. They should be fed colostrum soon after birth within half an hour or at the most within two or three hours and continued for a minimum of 4 days, fed at the rate of 1/10th of their body weight. It contains large quantities of immune bodies, which offer resistance against infections. Colostrum is rich in protein, minerals and vitamins especially vitamin A and has a laxative effect.

The following points are important:

• Feed the exact quantity of colostrum / milk as per the recommendations given earlier.
• Feed freshly drawn colostrum / milk at calf's body temperature avoiding contamination.
• Whenever there is large amount of foam on the milk, it should be removed by drawing a paddle on the surface or by filtering through a clean cloth.
• Stanchion or tie the calves at milk feeding to avoid spilling.
• Clean and sterilise the pails and other utensils holding the milk, daily.
• Excess colostrum, if any, may be fed to older calves but should be diluted with water or whole milk.

Feeding schedule for calves up to 6 months

Calf starter is a highly nutritious concentrate mixture containing all the nutrients in proper proportion required for optimum growth and is used as a partial substitute for whole milk in the ration of calves. Since quality of protein is very important to calves until their rumen is fully functional, animal protein supplements such as fish meal should be included in calf starters. Urea should not be included in calf starters.

B.I.S standards for calf starter meal

Feeding of growing animals (From 6 months onwards)

For calves below one year of age it is always desirable to give sufficient concentrates in addition to good roughage so that they make optimum growth. Feeding concentrate can be considerably reduced in the case of calves over one year of age fed on high quality roughage. A judicious mixture of roughage and concentrate is essential for obtaining optimum growth without undue fat deposition.

From six months onwards, calves can be given the same type of concentrate mixture (14-16% Digestible Crude Protein and about 70% Total Digestible Nutrients) as used for adult cattle. Examples of concentrate mixtures are given separately.

Feeding schedule of growing animals from 6 months onwards is given below:

B.I.S. specifications for compounded feeds for cattle (1992)

Some recommended concentrate mixtures (Approx. 15% DCP about 70% TDN)

Feeding schedules for dairy animals (Quantity in kg.)

Feeding of lactating cows

Feeding of lactating cow

Proper feeding of dairy cattle should envisage minimum wastage of nutrients and maximum returns in respect of milk produced. A concentrate mixture made up of protein supplements such as oil cakes, energy sources such as cereal grains (maize, jowar), tapioca chips and laxative feeds such as brans (rice bran, wheat bran, gram husk) is generally used. Mineral mixture containing major and all the trace elements should be included at a level of 2 percent.

Feeding schedule for different classes of adult cows (approximate body weight-250 kg)

The total dry matter requirement of cattle is around 2-3 % of their body weight though high yielding animals may eat at a rate more than 3%. Such factors as climate, processing of feeds, palatability etc. influence the dry matter consumption. Good quality grasses (Guinea, Napier etc.) with a minimum of 6 % crude protein on dry matter basis alone can form maintenance ration of a cow of average size. But it is possible to maintain milk production of up to 3-4 kg with grass- legume fodder.

Feeding of bulls

Male calves to be reared as future breeding bulls, should be fed on a higher plane of nutrition than female calves.

Feeding schedule of bulls

A bull in service should be given good quality roughage with sufficient concentrates. Too much roughage feeding should be avoided as it makes the bull paunchy and slow in service. A large concentrate allowance may make the bull too much fatty and less virile.

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