Types of feed for cattle and nutritional value, diet formulation
Cattle farmers pay great attention to the quality and balance of feed, as the productivity of animals depends on it. For the production of feed for cattle, fresh and dried grass, succulent plant food, grain, residues of milling and food production are used. In order for livestock to produce high-quality meat and milk, they include concentrates, vitamin supplements, and animal feed in the diet.
Green feed
Green forage for cattle - meadow and floodplain grasses. The cattle are either taken to pasture or the grass is mowed to feed the animals. During the summer months, the cow eats 50-70 kg of fresh green forage daily. The herb is easily digested in the digestive tract of cattle, saturates the body with proteins, organic acids, vitamins, and mineral elements. Young plants are especially useful, in the overgrown ones the concentration of proteins and vitamins decreases.
It is desirable that among the meadow grasses there are legumes saturated with phosphorus and calcium:
- clover;
- field peas;
- alfalfa;
- Vika.
1 kg of meadow grass contains 25 g of protein, 3 g of calcium, 0.8 g of phosphorus, up to 70 mg of carotenoids. Nutritional value is 0.2 feed unit.
Hay
During the winter months, hay becomes the main source of nutrients for cattle. A cow consumes up to 30 kg of dried grass per day. The richest in vitamins, minerals, fiber is hay obtained from meadow vegetation, mown in floodplains, on flooded meadows, on the slopes of hills. The nutritional value of roughage is determined not only by the plant composition, but also by the observance of mowing terms, drying and storage rules.
The final moisture content of the dried grass should be 15-17%. Such hay is stored in a barn for a long time without loss of quality. Signs of feed quality - a greenish tint, indicating a high concentration of amino acids, a pleasant aroma and the presence of not only stems, but also young leaves. The highest percentage of nutrients is contained in hay from plants cut during the initial flowering phase.
Feeding cattle with high-quality hay, you can get up to 10 liters of milk per day from one individual. 1 kg of meadow hay contains 50 g of protein, 6.5 g of calcium, 2 g of phosphorus, 10 mg of carotenoids. 1 kg of clover contains 80 g of protein, 13 g of calcium, 3.5 g of phosphorus, 25 mg of carotenoids. Nutritional value - 0.5 feed unit. Dried leaves of cereals and beans have 2 times more proteins and minerals, 10 times more carotenoids than shoots.
Root crops, tubers and melons
For feeding cattle use:
- fodder beets;
- turnip (forage turnip);
- rutabagas;
- carrots;
- pumpkin;
- zucchini;
- potato tubers (raw, boiled after germination);
- Jerusalem artichoke;
- fodder watermelon.
The listed succulent feeds have a lactogenic effect, are easy to digest, improve the appetite and work of the digestive tract of cattle. All year round they are fed to dairy cattle, it is especially important to include them in the diet of a calving cow in the first weeks after the birth of a calf. Given the milk yield, the cow is given up to 30 kg of root crops, and potato tubers and beets - up to 15 kg. Before feeding, root crops and tubers are thoroughly cleaned of adhering soil, cut into large pieces.
Due to the high juiciness and liquid content of 70 to 90%, root crops are poorly stored, rot at high temperatures, freeze in frost from -3 ° C, and are affected by insects, especially if their shell is damaged. Dry, clean products with a whole shell and unfrozen pulp are used as feed for cattle.
The barn where feed for cattle is stored must be dry, ventilated, the optimum indoor temperature is +2 ° C. If the roots are stored in piles, then ventilation pipes are made, the top and side parts are covered with straw 50 cm thick, then with earth 30 cm thick. Melons are placed in a pile layer by layer, making an interlayer of chopped straw.
Concentrated feed
To compensate for the deficiency of vitamins and mineral elements, cattle are given concentrates, which include beans, cereal grains, waste of flour milling and processing of agricultural products. This also includes sources of minerals (salt stones) and animal feed (meat and bone meal, molasses, milk and dairy industry waste).
Cattle nutritional supplements include growth promoters. They not only accelerate the growth of fattening animals, but also improve digestive function. Concentrated feed is processed to increase digestibility for cattle. They are crushed, flattened, germinated or fermented.
Cereal feed
The cattle are given wheat, barley and oats. Grain feed is an excellent source of starch for cattle to maintain energy. A dairy cow is given up to 5 kg of feed per day. Grain for livestock is flattened or crushed.
Wheat and barley increase the milk yield and concentration of milk protein, contribute to the increase in the body weight of cattle. These grains should not be fed to livestock in excess because of the high starch content and low fiber content, there is a high likelihood of acidosis (acidity) and stomach bloating.
Oats have more fiber than other grains. Starch is not broken down as quickly as in wheat and barley, so the likelihood of increased acidity and disruption of the stomach in cattle is lower. The concentration of polyunsaturated acids is higher, which is why the percentage of milk fat in milk is lower.
The table shows the content (in%) of nutrients in different types of grain feed:
| Grain type | Protein | Starch | Sahara | Fats |
| wheat | 10 | 75 | 3 | 2,5 |
| barley | 10 | 67 | 4 | 2,5 |
| oats | 12,5 | 44 | 2 | 6 |
Branch and humus feed
Spring straw is a low-quality feed containing few nutrients and vitamins. But she, being roughage, has a positive effect on the digestion of cattle. It is used in winter months as feed for cattle of low and medium productivity. For cattle with high productivity, straw must be combined with juicy feed, cake or bran to increase nutritional value.
An excellent vitamin supplement for cattle is coniferous flour, which you can make yourself from dried needles by chopping plant materials in a blender. It is given to cattle during the winter months to prevent deficiencies in carotenoids, ascorbic acid, and B-group vitamins.
Silo fodder
Silage is a popular cattle feed because it is cheap with a high nutritional value. The nutrients contained in the feed ensure high milk yield during the winter months. A cow eats 3-5 kg of feed per day. To prepare silage, they dig a trench, lined with polyethylene. The grass is poured and tamped. Previously, it is slightly wilted. If the herbal mass produces a lot of juice, then add chopped straw. The mass is left for 3 days, then covered with a film, ground is poured on top.
High-quality silage has a rich green color and smells like soaked apples. It contains a lot of sugars, lactic acid. The digestibility of the feed depends on the component composition. The highest quality is combined silage, which contains both easily digestible and hard-to-digest components in equal proportions.
To increase the yield of cattle, it is recommended to add pumpkin to the combined silage.
Haylage
For the preparation of roughage for cattle, the grass is preserved. It is wilted until the moisture content is 40-60%, stored in the absence of oxygen, due to which the maximum of useful elements is preserved, and the loss of dry mass does not exceed 12%, which is much less than that of hay.
Combined feed
Universal and convenient feed for cattle - combined. It is made taking into account the daily requirement of cattle for vitamins, minerals, nutrients, without which the high productivity of animals is impossible. The nutritional value of compound feed is determined by the percentage of dry weight. When using wet combination feed, it should be borne in mind that for every 100 kg of body weight of cattle, there should be less than 3 kg of dry matter.
For feeding cattle in stall keeping, coarse combined feed and residues of agricultural production are used. The daily portion of compound feed is determined taking into account the daily amount of milk received from the cow.
If the milk yield is low, then 5 kg of feed is enough, if the cow is highly productive, then 8 kg.
Variants of compound feed by component composition (in%) for cattle of different ages and purposes are shown in the table:
| Feed | Bull bull | Cow (annual milk yield 3000 l) | Cow (annual milk yield 5000 l) | Cow (annual milk yield 8000 l) | Calf up to 6 months | Fattening young |
| barley | 25 | 15 | 15 | 61 | 30 | 37 |
| wheat | – | 30 | 28 | – | 27 | – |
| oats | – | 30 | 7 | – | 15 | – |
| corn | 16 | – | – | – | – | 5 |
| peas | – | 6 | – | – | – | – |
| bran | 15 | – | 20 | 4 | 24 | 15 |
| meal | 20 | 6 | 20 | 22 | – | 20 |
| cake | – | – | – | – | – | 20 |
| green flour | – | 9 | 2 | – | – | – |
| fish flour | 5 | – | – | – | – | – |
| yeast | 5 | – | – | 8 | – | – |
| urea | – | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| orthophosphate | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | – |
| a piece of chalk | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| salt | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| sugar | 10 | – | – | – | – | – |
| molasses | – | – | 5 | – | – | – |
| premix | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
To maintain the productivity of cattle, it is important not only to correctly formulate the diet, but also to observe the feeding regime, in the first half of the day to give grain and succulent feed, in the second - coarse. In summer, cattle must feed on pasture, and in winter, the diet includes feed rich in vitamins and minerals.
