Nutrition Advice for who wants it

[jimmer]

question, you have some sensible answers, we graze either side of a road, and use same paddock night and day, strip grazing, means, with backfencing, the longest paddock is 36 hrs, What effect, on daily yield, does it have, by cows being in the yard, for 4/5 hrs, rather than 'walking' straight out from parlour, we were asked this yesterday, and I don't really know the answer

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[betweenthelines]

I would think most large Dairy farms these days could buy/forward buy the ingredients for a simple home mix. At least the cows would get a consistent diet.

And if you leave out all the fancy dan additives/supplements, all the stock could have the same mix.

 

[Helpinghand]

I am buffer feeding 10kgs of sugar beet 5kgs maize 0.5 kg straw .02kg urea pre milking in afternoon and feeding between 1-6 kgs 18 % in parlour autumn and spring milkers averaging 25l up to 40l on grass night and day, what do you reckon nearly out of beet, can get fodder beet for E24, what do you reckon , is it wortwhile bufferfeeding at moment?

if you want to keep the cows performing then keep buffer feeding. if you have been feeding well in the winter, suddenly cutting them off you risk not only upsetting the cows but also you risk losing condition and fertility. if you stop suddenly feeding anything that has recently calved you've lost that milk until next year and you risk not getting them back in calf.

 

[Helpinghand]

I’ve got a few bug bears with the feed industry.
Why can’t they all put a full and clear inclusion with %’s on the feed ticket. Mine does and about the only one I’ve seen.
In my book if your too ashamed to print it then it’s probably not good enough.
Altering feed formulations without notifying customers is another
Fixed formulation for me. Too many in the industry only interested in commission and margins.
If I need advice I’d rather pay for it and get independent advice and let the reps concentrate on the best £££.

simple answer is because they dont have to. theres nothing stopping you getting a bespoke blend or cake made up. then you exactly what you are getting. simple

 

[Helpinghand]

Mixing straights on farm can come up with a better and cheaper ration than anything bought in in my experience. The trouble is being able to do it. It’s a pity some of us couldn’t buy into a blend set up to supply ourselves instead of being at the mercy of feed merchants. I suppose it wouldn’t work

true, if you buy straights and mix them yourself, it can be cheaper but also you have more control over price and quality. Also depends on the setup. think buying 3-4 straights ties up a lot of money, if you buy a blend its simpler. Labour and machinery cost go up with mixing your own TMR and using a blend is quick and simple, less time and labour. its horses for courses.

 

[Helpinghand]

So there are some 50L cows in the fresh group and rethinking it the average weight of them would be closer on 680kgs
I have plenty of that winter blend on farm and need to use it up

if it was me i wouldt recommend using the protein nut, too much protein will waste a lot of energy and will push your urea levels. protein uses more energy to breakdown that starch and sugars. ive seen cases where too much protein in a ration can cause loss of condition. sorry if its not the answer you are looking for.

 

[livestock 1]

if it was me i wouldt recommend using the protein nut, too much protein will waste a lot of energy and will push your urea levels. protein uses more energy to breakdown that starch and sugars. ive seen cases where too much protein in a ration can cause loss of condition. sorry if its not the answer you are looking for.

Especially urea

 

[ollie989898]

Excess protein causes a loss of body condition because it drives more milk production. The bacteria in the rumen multiply even faster and cause an increase in milk production.

ERDP or the easily digested protein literally acts as a foot throttle. You feed more you get more milk. The cow has to manufacture this from her own reserves due to the energy density of milk. 5.5 Mars bars of energy to make a litre of milk.

The above is why when cows are let out first thing in spring and eat tonnes of lush grass they magically produce more milk despite having been in on a posh formulated diet all winter- the grass is loaded with ERDP.

 

[Joeblue]

Excess protein causes a loss of body condition because it drives more milk production. The bacteria in the rumen multiply even faster and cause an increase in milk production.

ERDP or the easily digested protein literally acts as a foot throttle. You feed more you get more milk. The cow has to manufacture this from her own reserves due to the energy density of milk. 5.5 Mars bars of energy to make a litre of milk.

The above is why when cows are let out first thing in spring and eat tonnes of lush grass they magically produce more milk despite having been in on a posh formulated diet all winter- the grass is loaded with ERDP.

Thanks Ollie , fully realise benefits and negatives of protein and wouldnt intend to feed the level of protein but every time I pull it out my milk urea levels fall, dont know if could buy energy cheaper than sugar beet at euro 24/tonne, I have a chopper on wagon so its easily chopped, I was offered alfalfa for 200 euro a tonne, anyone got any experience with it, pros-cons?

 

[Samherd]

We do this ourselves on farm, we mix and blend our own straights through an auger and mixer, rape, wheat, soya in one blend and rape and wheat in another and just take it from there, add minerals and yeast and some mag cl2 feed to it... Plus about 2100 of grass silege, the only difference in ours is maize is added only to the highs..... All ours are doing really well, we buffer this with good grass and plenty of it, move cows daily and strip graze so they always have something to go to and don't back graze.... They are all doing well on it, I change the ration depending how much I need in total and always mix it well in the keenan. Haven't had any issues for nearly a year now since last summer, if anyone wants a breakdown of the different mixes from straights pop me a message and I'll try and put them into the proper weights for you but I can only do it by kilos as that's what keenan weighs in

 

[Samherd]

Thanks Ollie , fully realise benefits and negatives of protein and wouldnt intend to feed the level of protein but every time I pull it out my milk urea levels fall, dont know if could buy energy cheaper than sugar beet at euro 24/tonne, I have a chopper on wagon so its easily chopped, I was offered alfalfa for 200 euro a tonne, anyone got any experience with it, pros-cons?

Alfa is a great buffer feed if it's mixed at the correct levels, we use it in winter sometimes and never had an issue with it