Wholecrop to dry cows?

[In the pit]

Worst thing you can do is give them dairy cake as it has calcium in it.

So why do people give cows a calcium bonus 24 hrs before calving

 

[puntabrava]

I have a straw customer milking a thousand cows who stopped taking wheat straw ie 26 tons every two weeks to substitute it with cheap whole crop oats, six weeks went by and he abandoned that as lots of milk fever in the dry cows. Ps, I know nothing of dietary requirements so ask nothing of me

 

[lazy farmer]

So why do people give cows a calcium bonus 24 hrs before calving

99% of the blouses we use are in the 24hrs after calving

 

[In the pit]

Just read up on boluses
2 prior to calving and 2 more 12 hrs after calving

 

[In the pit]

There’s a lot of people on here mentioned dry cow rolls
Why is it that they cost 1.5* more than normal cow cake
Must be a windfall for a rep to sell big tonnages of these

 

[In the pit]

Always fed dry cows the same
Spring calving— dry off then onto ad-lib silage of very good quality then 10/14 days of calving into straw yard and silage intake halved but kilo of cake in parlour and all the straw they can eat ,,,,, very little mf
Autumn calving—— dry off then onto milking quality grass til10/14 days before calving then onto standing hay and kilo of cake in parlour ,,, 240 cows /4 mf last year

 

[lazy farmer]

Just read up on boluses
2 prior to calving and 2 more 12 hrs after calving

Well they may say that but that’s a none sense. We fed what ever silage we have left and treat about a quarter with one bolus after calving. 2 cows with mf out of 268

 

[In the pit]

But they won’t sell many at that rate

 

[lazy farmer]

But they won’t sell many at that rate

We do use a bag of mag a day
The cost of the boluses Works out roughly at the cost of one out of hours vet visit.
having aproper yoke makes it an easy job too.

 

[Cowfeeder87]

There’s a lot of people on here mentioned dry cow rolls
Why is it that they cost 1.5* more than normal cow cake
Must be a windfall for a rep to sell big tonnages of these

Not the case at all, dry cow compounds have a lot more of a higher spec mineral as it’s a much smaller feed rate of compound say 2-3kg rather than 6-8kg of dairy cake so adds alot more cost and dry cow compounds are usually around 26% protein, normal dairy cake usually 18% then these are also mainly put in bags so you have the cost of that and a courier to deliver a tonne rather than a wagon delivery a large tonnage in bulk.

 

[Cowfeeder87]

So why do people give cows a calcium bonus 24 hrs before calving

24hours not 2-3weeks prior.

 

[In the pit]

For milking cows we get all the mag and minerals they require in 1/2 kilos of cake

 

[In the pit]

24hours not 2-3weeks prior.

I said 24hrs

 

[Cowfeeder87]

I said 24hrs

What I’m meaning is your giving the cow a bolus 24 hours before which is an insurance policy and often masking an issue. You would not provide anything with calcium in any sooner in my experience. A good quality dry cow nut/roll or balanced ration with no added calcium for 3 weeks prior calving would be a better insurance policy and would prevent alot of problems. Older cows you may give a bottle of calcium at the point of calving.

 

[Cowfeeder87]

For milking cows we get all the mag and minerals they require in 1/2 kilos of cake

Unlikely

 

[In the pit]

We feed very low quantities of cake for spring calving so it needs to be in 1/2 kilos

 

[Barmyfarmer]

Any problems of mine seemed to disappear last year when we started feeding mag flakes, intend on feeding round bales this time rather than using the feeder wagon just for simplicity, probably add the mag to the water but does it not make it unpalatable? Anyone do it?

 

[In the pit]

Any problems of mine seemed to disappear last year when we started feeding mag flakes, intend on feeding round bales this time rather than using the feeder wagon just for simplicity, probably add the mag to the water but does it not make it unpalatable? Anyone do it?

Simple always seems to be best

 

[Cowfeeder87]

Any problems of mine seemed to disappear last year when we started feeding mag flakes, intend on feeding round bales this time rather than using the feeder wagon just for simplicity, probably add the mag to the water but does it not make it unpalatable? Anyone do it?

It can make water less palatable unfortunately, better in a TMR ration in my opinion. Yes it’s another job but a little time and attention to detail in the dry period will pay you back tenfold.

 

[In the pit]

@foottrimmer87 are you a footrimmer or a cake rep
Strange you’ve not posted on the feet thread