by Given Hamanungu

Ruminants need a daily supply of all nutrients required for maintenance and production: milk, meat, growth and pregnancy. Profitable milk produc­tion is dependent upon healthy, high yielding animals.

The ultimate purpose of dairy cows is to produce milk, so their diets must allow them to fulfil the functions of lactation, and of reproduc­ing annually. The cow must be fed a balanced ratio and peak at a high level of milk production if milk yield in the lactation is to be maximum.

Feeds available

The feeds available for dairy animals are as follows:

• Calf Starter
• Dairy Budget 15 (Urea)
• Dairy 19 (no Urea)
• Dairy 19 (With Urea)
• All these feeds are available in Mash and Pellets
• All these feeds are available in 25 and 50 kg bags

Feeding Recommendations

• Calf Starter – to be fed ad-lib up to 7 months of age
• Dairy feeds – 200-500g per litre of milk/animal/day depending on the animal’s condition
• No more than 12 kg must be fed per animal/day
• Please note that the dairy feeds are not full feeds and are meant solely for supplementary use, quality roughage (hay or silage) should always be available on ad lib

Medication or Special Additives

• As indicated, some of the dairy feeds contain urea in order to help the animal, cost-effectively, make the most of poor-quality grazing (Remember the urea is completely safe if the feeding recommenda­tions are followed).
• The calf starter contains both a coccidiostat and a growth promot­er. The calf starter must not be fed to mature animals.

General Comments

• Milk is expensive and one should always consider the cost of feeding milk to calves as opposed to feed­ing a balanced feed.
• Dairy cows produce more when they are receiving sufficient nutrients.
• A healthy, well-fed dairy cow will produce more milk, more calves in her life and have a longer life.
• The use of urea is very safe, and it is a very cost-effective source of protein for the cow. The use of urea in rural areas, where cattle are grazed on natural pastures, is a necessity if production is to be maximised.

Economic Considerations / Profitability

Records are the most critical and one should be measuring the following:

• Body condition score (1= very thin; 5 = very fat; 3 to 3.5 = optimum)
• Litres of milk per day
• Inter-calving period
• Breeding records – to understand farm breeding procedures and improving the herd for better per­formance
• Health record system for effective diseases treatment and prevention

Criteria for Record Keeping:

• Effective monitoring of animal per­formance right from birth
• Evaluation of management and feeding systems
• Individual animal comparisons to assist in breeding, culling and other decisions
• Breed society, milk recording and computer program usage
• Extraction of useful herd indices for evaluation and comparison
• Production of Action Lists for management

Contact Given Hamanungu, Livestock Technical Advisor of Tiger Animal Feeds on +260-97-540-3834 or +260-96-793-3658, or givenhams@gmail.com for more information.