Optimum diet for milker?

[jessica]

Right now we feed our cows a maintaince feed from the mill but he will do personal formulations. Does anyone have a formula they have good luck with for their milk cows?

[lsg]

This is the mixture I feed my Dexter:


4 qts Barley
4 qts Oats
2 qts Sunflower seeds
2 cups molasses
1 cup ACV
1/3 each: mineral conditioner
diatomaceous earth
3/4 cup Kelp
Approx Tbs of mineral salt

I feed her from 1 1/2 qts to 2 qts. of this mixture per feeding and top dress with a scoop of alfalfa pellets. I can't take credit for this formula. Rena, a member of the Christian Homesteader forum gave it to me.

farmwoman.proboards106.com/index.cgi

[jessica]

OK now I don't want to sound too dumb but what is ACV and where do you get your sunflower seeds and do you feed with or without the shell?

[fuzzy]

I have been in the dairy business for almost 50 years. During that thime I have used many different rations to boost milk production and in the end I have settled on a KISS ration 1200 lb of ground corn and 800 lb of corn byproduct. The byproduct is the high protein which is left after the corn has been processed for the ethnol. This gives about a 16% protein ration. Now an animals never eats a % so you need to figure out how many pounds protein the animal will need the by using the % protein in the ration figure out how much feed to feed the animal for the production that you want. An example woould be if the animal requires 1.4lb protein for body maintance and another 1lb for milk production you would need to feed about 15 lb of grain protein supplement to get the disired milk production. This can also be achived by top dressing with a supplement on top of the grain or hay. Such feeds as soybean oil meal, cotton seed meal or other high protein meal can be top dressed. Check price in your area for the most efficent to use.

[lsg]

jessica said:

OK now I don't want to sound too dumb but what is ACV and where do you get your sunflower seeds and do you feed with or without the shell?

ACV= Apple Cider Vinegar

I get a 50 lb. bag of black oil sunflower seeds from the feed store or Walmart and feed them as is.

I wondered about this mixture also, when I first heard about it; but my little cow seems to do well on it. It may take a while to make the change over. Our Dexters don't like to change feed; and it always takes some coaxing by top dressing with some feed they are used to before they make the change to eating a new feed by itself. This even applies to alfalfa hay. My first Dexter was used to grass hay. When I bought her some good alfalfa, she turned up her nose at it. When she finally decided to try it; she ate it right up.

[darbyfamily]

Okay, so for my cow Spring .... right now, she's getting:

grass, lots of green from the yard
grassy alfalfa bale (big round)
Sweet feed at milking
and I just added to this, last night, a scoop of calf manna on top of the sweet feed.

She also gets maybe a half a coffee can of range cubes each day, hand fed as treats

does that sound good or am I missing something?

[lsg]

Just make sure she has free access to salt and mineral.

[darbyfamily]

Oh, right, we have loose minerals and a salt block too

[lazyj5]

There are so many feeds and supplements out there and it's confusing at times. A lot depends on what minerals, vitamins are in your hay, what's in your pasture, etc. I like the calf manna because it contains a lot of vits and mins. It's is costly though, so I don't use a lot. If you have good fresh hay and pasture, an added protein will probably boost production more than anything else. I've found good alfalfa boosts production in my herd. Be careful with corn, as too much can affect the ph in the rumen and cause problems.

After experimenting for a while you will find what works best with your hay and pasture and your cow. Dexters are easy keepers, you don't want to make her fat while trying to increase the milk.

Loose salt is probably preferable to a block, sometimes they just can't get enough off a block. We use a loose salt mineral mix formulated to compensate for the soil deficiencies in this area.