MANUAL ON IMPROVED FEEDING OF DAIRY CATTLE BY ... - Gart

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Manual on improved feeding of Dairy Cattle by Smallholder Farmers
The following ingredients are commonly used in the concentrate mixture
at the dairy:
Maize bran 62 %
Cottonseed cake 35 %
DCP *) 1.5 %
Salt 1.5 %
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Total 100 %
*) DCP = Di Calcium Phosphate = Mineral mixture
One of the cows, No 122 / 8, with an average milk production of 16.2
litres per day, is being used as an example for the feeding. It is assumed
that this cow is able to produce ca. 5 kg milk out of the fodder it is
supplied with. Per kg of the above mixture the cow is able to produce ca.
2 litres of milk. Therefore cow No 122/8 receives 5.5 kg of dairy meal in
the milking parlour. This is given in 2 portions; 3.5 kg during the morning
milking and 2 kg in the afternoon.
The cows which have just calved down are given lead feeding. Lead
feeding means feeding a cow up to 1 kg concentrates per day more than
is required for the level of milk she produces. This will enable the cow to
increase her milk production gradually until she reaches the peak of her
producing capacity.
14.2 Feeding outside the milking parlour
The lactating cows are fed with 6 kg of silage per cow per day after the
morning milking.
The ingredients added to the silage to make a quantity of 300 kg are as
follows:
Silage (Bana grass / maize / velvet beans ) 255 kg 85 %
Fuzzy cotton / sunflower cake 20 kg 6.6 %
Molasses 20 kg 6.6 %
DCP (Mineral mixture) 2 kg 0.7 %
Salt 3 kg 1.0 %
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Total 300 kg 100 %
Hay is mixed with the above ration and given in an unmeasured quantity.
Its purpose is just to maintain the structure value of the ration. After
milking in the afternoon the cows are allowed to graze in the paddock. At
night the cows feed on Rhodes grass hay sprinkled with molasses. The
most important is water for the dairy cows which is present nearby in
water troughs.
14.3 Silage making
Making of silage at GART-LDC Batoka was introduced in 2004 as an
experiment. The silage was made from Bana grass and the quality of the
silage was very good.