Dairy

Feed for cattle

The common feedstuffs of India

  • Livestock feeds are classified as concentrates and roughages. The concentrates have a low fibre-less than 18 percent and possess a high total digestible nutrient value.
  • They include cereals, oilseeds, oilcakes, and cereal and animal by-products. The feeds having a fibre content above 18 percent and a low total digestible nutrient value are classed as roughages, e.g. cultivated fodders, silages, hays and straws.

Cereals, pulses and their by-products

  • The cereals are rich in starch, with a low percentage of crude fibre, and are greatly relished by livestock. Their protein content is low and they lack in essential amino acids.

Oilseeds and oilcakes

  • Oilseeds and oilcakes are protein-rich feeds. They are highly palatable, easily digested and are generally used to balance rations of farm stock in respect of protein. They are rich in phosphorus but poor in calcium content.

Legumes

  • Among the green forage crops, legumes occupy a place of particular importance. Of all the common roughages, they are the richest in carotene, calcium and protein. They contain high-quality protein, which can supplement effectively the deficiencies of protein in cereal grains.

Straws

  • Of all the foodstuffs, straws are perhaps the poorest in protein and have the largest percentage of crude fibre. They are comparatively poor in phosphorus, in available calcium and also in trace element, but are rich in sillica.

Hay

  • The nutritive value of hay depends upon the stage of maturity at which the herbage is harvested for conversion into hay. While the early cuttings are more nutritious, late cuttings yield a larger weight.

Silages

  • The most economical method of raising livestock is to feed them on grasses and legumes directly from the fields.

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Fodder for cattle

Conservation of fodder


Napier grass


Para grass


Jo war grass


  • Preservation of fodder without much loss of nutrients is the main aim of conservation.
  • Fodder is cut before maturity ensuring optimum availability of nutrients.
  • Fodder could be preserved by sun drying (HAY), in artificial driers (DRIEDGRASS) and in airtight chambers (SILAGE) SILAGE is a fermented green forage product prepared under anaerobic conditions.
  • Good silage is yellow-brown color, with a characteristic acid fruity smell and just exude moisture when squeezed.
  • Jowar and maize are the best crops suitable for ensiling. All non-leguminous fodder crops except turnip and rape.
  • Hybrid Napier, Sudan grass, Berseem, Oats cow pia, millets are also suitable crops.
  • They have to be wilted for 3-4 to increase dry matter to around 35% before ensiling. The crop is chaffed 2-4 cm in length and packed air tight in trench silo. A m3 of silage weighs 650 kgs.
  • The forage crop from 0.3 ha in a circular silo 3m diameter and 2.5m depth is enough to feed 5 animals @ 20 kg / day for 150 days.
  • To increase the sugar content of pure legume tonnage adds 2-3 gallons of molasses and water each for one ton of green forage.
  • The airtight pit stacked with fodder would be ready in 90 days with a PH of 5.8 and a lactic acid % of 0.1.
  • Excess of butyric acid formation would lead to more proteolysis there by reducing the digestibility and intake of silage by cattle. Best quality silage has a PH of 4.2, lactic acid 10.5% and Butyric acid 0%.

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Fodder Development for higher production

  • The fodder production in the State is only marginal. By and large the cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goat subsist on crop residues.
  • Fodder is grown in only 3% of the agricultural land as against 8% recommended.
  • As such the state is facing deficit of about 100 lakh metric tons of fodder every year and milk production is seriously constrained due to this deficit.
  • The thrust of the department has therefore been on promoting nutritious fodder production by popularising the cultivation of high yielding fodder and pasture varieties and distribution of different varieties of fodder seed.
  • Fodder production is also being taken up on large-scale utilising wastelands, community lands and fallow lands.
  • Silvipasture and hortipasture development is undertaken by DRDA, DPAP, and Vanasamrakshana.

The following are the different preparation ratios of feed mixture using locally available feeds

S.No.
Feed Ingredients Feed mixtures
1 2 3 4 5 6
1
Cereal grains
30
20
20
30
40
30
2
Wheat Bran, Rice Bran
32
50
40
50
10
-
3
Ghani Cake
25
20
20
20
20
25
4
Bengal gram, green gram and black gram bran
-
-
20
-
30
25
5
Cotton seed meal
-
-
-
-
-
20
6
Jaggery
10
7
-
-
-
-
7
Mineral mix
3
3
3
3
3
3

In the above mixtures 68-70% digestible Carbohydrates and 14-16% digestible Proteins will be available.

Green Fodder, Hay and feed request for the milch cattle:

Milk production (kgs)
Green grass (kg) Hay (kg) Feed in kgs
Buffaloes Cow
When plenty of green grass is available:
5
30
4
-
-
5-8
30
4
1.5
1.0
8-11
30
4
2.00
1.5
11-15
30
4
3.00
2.5
When scarcity of green grass:
5
4
8
2.0
1.5
5-8
4
8
3.0
2.5
8-11
4
8
4.5
3.0
11-15
4
8
5.0
3.5

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Hay Making

  • Good quality herbage at the flowering stage is cut early in the morning and left in the field.
  • After 4-5 hrs the cut fodder is turned and by next day afternoon the moisture content would come down to 25% crops cut at hay making stage may contain 20-25 lt of water/ha.
  • For safe storage moisture content should not be more than 15% which can be ensured by frequent turning and spreading the hay over a wide area.
  • Legume and non-legume forage crops can be used for HAY making.

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Feeding concentrates to mulch cows

  • Concentrates are an important and integral part of a ration for a dairy cow as they supply energy (TDN) and proteins (DCP) in right proportion.

Some of the salient features are

  • They should have 15% DCP and 70% TDN
  • 1/3rd of dry matter (DM) requirements should be met by concentrates
  • Concentrates should not constitute more than 60% of the ration. It may lead to milk fat depression
  • Pregnant animals above 6 months of gestation should be given an extra 1-2 kg of concentrate mixture
  • For every 2 kg of milk produced, buffaloes require 1 kg of concentrate feed
  • For every 3 kg of milk produced, cows require 1 kg of concentrate feed
  • Cows in first and second lactation will still be growing so they are provided 20% and 10% more ration over the maintenance allowance respectively
  • NRC recommends 17% crude fibre (CF) in the total ration DM to prevent milk fat depression
  • Provide an extra allowance of 1-1.5 kg concentrate mixture during first 2 months after calving
  • Plenty of fresh water should be provided as its requirement is 4 times that of DM consumption
  • If a dairy cow consumes 2% DM when dry, it will consume 4-5% DM while yielding 20-30 of milk / day
  • If the milk yield is 15-30 kg / day then the DCP, TDN requirements are more by 10%

S. No.
Characteristic
Requirement on Moisture free basis
1
Moisture (Maximum
10%
2
Crude protein (Minimum)
20-22%
3
Crude fat (Minimum)
2.5-3.0%
4
Crude fibre (Maximum)
7-12%
5
Acid insoluble Asn (Maximum
3-4%
6
Nacl (Common salt) (Maximum)
2%
7
Calcium (Ca)
0.5%
8
Phosphorus (P) (Minimum)
0.5%
9
Vitamin A IU/Kg
5000 IU

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