Fodder and Feed Management in Dairy

[vetbharathi]

5 kg of leguminous fodder = 1 kg concentrate

Dear vetbharathi,
Most part of information posted by you are fundamental and would be of great benefit to young emerging dairy farmers. But, i will sincerely advice you not to present facts which are far from reality. ration has to be balanced in terms of DCP,TDN, Energy, Fibre and micronutrients i.e. mineral, vitamins and aminoacids. if 5 kg of leguminous fodder = 1 kg concentrate (which actually is not) then 5 kg of green fodder should provide 2500Kcals of energy also. It is a 50 year old and obselete nutrition concept where only protein value was taken into account. Also the concept of maintainance ration and production ration is now outdated and ruled out 20 years ago. Kindly refer to papers published by Ohio university and among indian authers refer to NSR shastri. Also, Handbook of dairying by Sunderason can be utilized by new farmers. Anyway, your efforts are appreciated. You may also post pearsons method for the use of dairy farmers.
thanks and regards,


5 kg of leguminous fodder = 1 kg concentrate

Dear sir,
to justify the above statement we will take one leguminous fodder normally grown in the dairy farm

Desmanthus virgatus (Veli masal in Tamil)

Nutritive Value:
crude protein 15.20%
crude fibre 19.77%
DCP 10.86%
TDN 59.79% which is equal to 2170 Kcal

Reference(Biomass yield, chemical composition and nutritive value of Desmanthus virgatus (hedge lucerne):Radhakrishnan L.*, Murugan M., Sivakumar T.Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology
Year : 2007, Volume : 7, Issue : 1)


5 kg fresh velimasal equal to 1.25 kg Dry Velimasal (moisture content 75%)
So 5 kg fresh Velimasal contains

Crude protein 190 gram
Metabolizable energy 2712 Kcal which is equal to the comercially available superior concentrate with 19% cp and 75% TDN

In economic point of view 5 kg velimasal production cost Rs 5 whereas 1 kg concentrate 12.5 Rs

 

[prateekvaish]

that's what u need to do

Dear Vetbharthi,

that's what you should have done i.e. to be more specific. Also enlighten readers about the same case study with barseem and lucerne. Also, the nutritive value of forrage varies between cuttings and also at what stage they are cut.
Good effort, anyway.
Thanks and regards,

Prateek

Dear vetbharathi,
Most part of information posted by you are fundamental and would be of great benefit to young emerging dairy farmers. But, i will sincerely advice you not to present facts which are far from reality. ration has to be balanced in terms of DCP,TDN, Energy, Fibre and micronutrients i.e. mineral, vitamins and aminoacids. if 5 kg of leguminous fodder = 1 kg concentrate (which actually is not) then 5 kg of green fodder should provide 2500Kcals of energy also. It is a 50 year old and obselete nutrition concept where only protein value was taken into account. Also the concept of maintainance ration and production ration is now outdated and ruled out 20 years ago. Kindly refer to papers published by Ohio university and among indian authers refer to NSR shastri. Also, Handbook of dairying by Sunderason can be utilized by new farmers. Anyway, your efforts are appreciated. You may also post pearsons method for the use of dairy farmers.
thanks and regards,


5 kg of leguminous fodder = 1 kg concentrate

Dear sir,
to justify the above statement we will take one leguminous fodder normally grown in the dairy farm

Desmanthus virgatus (Veli masal in Tamil)

Nutritive Value:
crude protein 15.20%
crude fibre 19.77%
DCP 10.86%
TDN 59.79% which is equal to 2170 Kcal

Reference(Biomass yield, chemical composition and nutritive value of Desmanthus virgatus (hedge lucerne):Radhakrishnan L.*, Murugan M., Sivakumar T.Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology
Year : 2007, Volume : 7, Issue : 1)


5 kg fresh velimasal equal to 1.25 kg Dry Velimasal (moisture content 75%)
So 5 kg fresh Velimasal contains

Crude protein 190 gram
Metabolizable energy 2712 Kcal which is equal to the comercially available superior concentrate with 19% cp and 75% TDN

In economic point of view 5 kg velimasal production cost Rs 5 whereas 1 kg concentrate 12.5 Rs

 

[niksnarayana]

VetBharathi,
Please let us know if you have fodder seeds or cuttings that can be supplied immediately.

Apart from this, I checked the DCP of our feed, its coming out to be 19%. And Energy is 2400. What is your opinion on the numbers?

Thanks
Nikhil

 

[samahiitha]

The requirement of crossbred cows is as follows

1.Dry fodder - Maximum intake is 2% of body weight
2.Green fodder- Maximum Intake is 6% of Body weight
3.Cattle feed - 50% of milk production and mineral mixture 100 g/day cow

Green fodder contains moisture of 80% and dry matter of 20%.Where as dry fodder contains 90-95% dry matter. Whenever green grass is avaialable give 70% Cereals +30% legumes.We have meet minimum fibre requirement For more information mail me

Hello

We have dairy with 20 cows and plans to expand to 50 cows. Our dairy is located near Mysore, Karnataka.
I have questions related to cows fodder and feed management.

1. Is dry fodder mandatory for cows? Can we just give more green fodder? Reason being that dry fodder does not possess much protien, whereas green fodder has protien as well as fibre. Please clarify.

2. Why is there a requirement for providing monocod and dicod fodder? If we are able to provide large quantity of monocod fodder with high CP like 18%, then is there any reason why dicod will still be required?

3. When we feed concentrates, there is general rule of feeding 300 gms per liter of milk. I think this is based on nutrients required for milk production. My question is does this take into consideration nutrients provided by fodder?

Please clarify as we are working towards cost optimisation of our dairy.

Thanks
Nikhil

 

[samahiitha]

The minimum protein should be 16-18% and TDN should be 65-70%. You have analysed feedin poultry feed lab

VetBharathi,
Please let us know if you have fodder seeds or cuttings that can be supplied immediately.

Apart from this, I checked the DCP of our feed, its coming out to be 19%. And Energy is 2400. What is your opinion on the numbers?

Thanks
Nikhil

 

[niksnarayana]

Please provide minimum quantities for Dry, Green and Feeds.

We have analysed by calculating individual feed item DCP and totalling.
I have sent mail to you, please check.
I will post the results of various discussions I am having via email in this forum.

Nikhil

 

[maruthidairy]

Dear sir,

It is very sorry state to mention here that, rocket science known,no.1 in cattles population nation have lots of uncertainity/not known/non-encouraged facts are demoralising the farmers/educated people enter into the dairy farming entreprunership sectors.

Agricultural based, backboned nation shouldnot have so much thick skin, no vision facilities,schemes and hence, only plitically r blackmoney peoples can do this as bussiness nor a common peoples.

Infact, I listed all the problems and too much burdens of a dairy farming patiently by spending 3 hours and becuase of net connection failure, disapeared all my write up before i post.

why cant we have a common forum of like minded dairy farmers to exchange the experiences, dificulties,informations...etc.,

we are from arasikere tq. and struggling to set up 100 cows dairy farm,since last one year. At present we are having 30 cows and 20 heifers in our farm and facing lots of doubts, uncertaines as usual like other farmers.

feel free to send and communicate to us also on maruthidairy09atyahoodotin

thanks and regards,

kasturiraju.

It is indeed very satisfying to note that you have been making very sound efforts to run your dairy in a very cost effective manner. As stated by you, Govt. Officials are generally not useful as they have a Stereo type mind. As far as feeding Dry Fodder, once a very senior Farmer informed me that it is required for providing Roughage to the cattle. Else, it will continuously pass Loose stools due to the high content of water in fresh Green Fodder. Also, as explained by another farmer, it ought to help create an experience of fullness in the stomach. Please send your Email Id & Tel. No by Private Message to me as I wish to send valuable material collected by me over the years.
Thanks & Regards
K S Raj

 

[sandeepnaru]

hi

We are using cotton seed cake instead of groundnut cake....
cos cottonseed cake come for 13 per kg where as GNC is abt 25 per kg...and we are also using rice bran which is not deoiled can we use that?
is there any difference between them which one is suggestible?

Regards
Sandeepnaru

 

[prateekvaish]

dear nikhil,

Kindly mention feed raw material or your formulation. I will compute your existing computation or if neccessary with formulate least cost feed for you.

thanks and regards,

Prateek

VetBharathi,
Please let us know if you have fodder seeds or cuttings that can be supplied immediately.

Apart from this, I checked the DCP of our feed, its coming out to be 19%. And Energy is 2400. What is your opinion on the numbers?

Thanks
Nikhil

 

[niksnarayana]

What are your problems

Hello MaruthiDairy
If you have problems, I suggest you start a new discussion listing out your issues and let the world help you, like I started. I can say that dairy is not a losing proposition, we are able to generate 40% profit with 15 cows, by incurring costs of mixing our own customised feed costing Rs. 14 / kg and feeding green grass procured from outside @ Rs. 1.20 / kg. I dont see any reason why people growing their own fodder should worry.
Best of luck, asking for help will help you.

Nikhil

Dear sir,

It is very sorry state to mention here that, rocket science known,no.1 in cattles population nation have lots of uncertainity/not known/non-encouraged facts are demoralising the farmers/educated people enter into the dairy farming entreprunership sectors.

Agricultural based, backboned nation shouldnot have so much thick skin, no vision facilities,schemes and hence, only plitically r blackmoney peoples can do this as bussiness nor a common peoples.

Infact, I listed all the problems and too much burdens of a dairy farming patiently by spending 3 hours and becuase of net connection failure, disapeared all my write up before i post.

why cant we have a common forum of like minded dairy farmers to exchange the experiences, dificulties,informations...etc.,

we are from arasikere tq. and struggling to set up 100 cows dairy farm,since last one year. At present we are having 30 cows and 20 heifers in our farm and facing lots of doubts, uncertaines as usual like other farmers.

feel free to send and communicate to us also on maruthidairy09atyahoodotin

thanks and regards,

kasturiraju.

 

[niksnarayana]

Not able to get Cottonseed cake

Hi
Good for you that you are able to get cottonseed cake. Where are you located, I was wondering how to get it near Mysore. Rice bran with oil should be restricted to smaller quantities because of the oil factor. De-oiled can be fed upto 45% and it costs Rs. 7 / kg which is very reasonable.

Nikhil

We are using cotton seed cake instead of groundnut cake....
cos cottonseed cake come for 13 per kg where as GNC is abt 25 per kg...and we are also using rice bran which is not deoiled can we use that?
is there any difference between them which one is suggestible?

Regards
Sandeepnaru

 

[niksnarayana]

My feed forumla

Hello Prateek,
We are using
1. DORB( De-oiled Rice Bran) - 40% @ Rs. 7.5 / kg
2. Wheat Bran - 10% @ Rs. 12.5 / kg
3. GNC (Ground nut cake) - 35% @ Rs. 22 / kg
4. Gram Husk - 5% @ Rs. 12 / kg
5. SKM readymade feeds - 10% @ Rs. 12.5 / kg

Thanks Prateek in advance.

Nikhil

dear nikhil,

Kindly mention feed raw material or your formulation. I will compute your existing computation or if neccessary with formulate least cost feed for you.

thanks and regards,

Prateek

 

[sandeepnaru]

Quantity ??

Hi Nikhil
We are from Vizag.
How much FC will you give to each animal can you please explain me?

Regards,
Sandeepnaru

 

[niksnarayana]

We are giving about 400 gms / lt to cows which produce above 20 lts and 300 gms / lt to cows which produce below 20 lts. This includes ration for
1. Milk Production
2. Body Maintenance
3. Reproductive Activity

Nikhil

 

[chintu2525]

hey nikhil we are planning to start a dairy in gujrat soon.can u pls tell me which cows and buffalo are good commercially.we will be selling milk to cooperative dairy on fat rate so explain accordingly.if we provide best quality feed what is the average cost per kg and how much does a cow or buffalo eat per day.is 40% margin possible.

thanks,
chintu

 

[niksnarayana]

Hi chintu
I can only say what we are experiencing. We are doing fulltime research and concentrating on feeding best quality feed and at the same time try to reduce the cost.
If you are going for high fat milk, then I would suggest either Buffaloes (Murrah) or even Gir cows which are native of Gujrat. They give around 15 lts, and with high fat content. In karnataka, the milk rate depends on SNF which is achieved by any high yielding HF cow.
you have to come up with your own feed recipe depending on what items you get locally.
We are operating at 30% margin even after getting fodder from outside. We plan to grow our own fodder to increase profits. We have spent money on procuring the best possible cows. That way, even if you spend more on cows, your labour and cow shed is properly utilised. Also they will become your foundation cows which will give birth to same breed calves.
We are averaging about 20 lts per cow at the moment.

Please be more specific about what you are asking when you say how much cow eats.

Nikhil

 

[chintu2525]

hi nikhil,
thanks for the quick response.well i just wanted to know how much kg of green fodder,dry fodder and concentrate does a buffalo on an average eat.what is the average cost of feed u are actually getting.

what is the fat content of murrah and gir.which cows u are having.

 

[ram1942]

That was indeed interesting. I give azolla to my cows in addition to the other fodder. I am experimenting with Methi dust for the cows to cut down the cost and cut down ground nut cake. It is still experimental and will know the results in two weeks.

Ram Naidu

 

[0689]

Indian Potash Ltd (IPL), a fertilzer major in the country, are now manufacturing & distributing in Southern, Northern and Central India, "scientific compounded high quality cattle feed" with 16% 18% 20% protein and other essential nutrients based on expert veterinary science. For further details pls reach me - sklakshmanan@yahoo.com

Regards, SK Lakshmanan

 

[niksnarayana]

No idea about buffaloes

Hi

Dont know much about buffaloes. We have HF cows.
Cost per kg of feed is Rs. 13.
Our cows eat about 40 kg green, 5 kg dry, 10 kg feed and 100-150 lts water.
You should check on the internet for more details about Murrah and Gir.

Regards
Nikhil

hi nikhil,
thanks for the quick response.well i just wanted to know how much kg of green fodder,dry fodder and concentrate does a buffalo on an average eat.what is the average cost of feed u are actually getting.

what is the fat content of murrah and gir.which cows u are having.