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+--- Thread: How to Feed Dairy Cows for Higher Feed Consumption (/thread-29018.html)
How to Feed Dairy Cows for Higher Feed Consumption - Henlus - 07-31-2019
Cows produce more milk during early lactation and the more milk they produce at this time, the more they will produce during late lactation. To get more milk, wise dairy farmers use a strategy called Targeted Feeding. This involves feeding more concentrate during early lactation and less or no concentrate during late lactation.
In one experiment, cows produced an average if 15L milk per day when fed napier grass ad-lib plus 8kg dairy meal per day for the first 3 months. During the next 7 months of lactation, no dairy meal was fed and the cows produced 5.5L/day. Total dairy meal fed was 720kg per cow and total milk produced was 2505L.
But when fed 2.4kg dairy meal per day for 10 months, they yield an average of 8L milk per day during first 3 months and 6L/day during next 7 months. Total dairy meal fed was 720kg per cow and total milk produced was 1980L.
Between the 2, there was a big difference of 525L of milk! Yet the same quantity of dairy meal was fed.