THIS week we will discuss a few critical management factors for smallholder dairy farmers.
It is important to realise that your lactating cow regardless of the breed can be subjected to basic dairy management practices because it is actually a dairy animal albeit with low production levels.
There are generally four factors that influence milk yields in dairy cows namely the genetic ability and potential; the general herd management practices; feeding programme for the cows and the health status.
If you are running a dairy enterprise or you are concerned with increasing milk yield within your herd it is paramount to use breeds which have high yielding potential.
Communal farmers just need to select cows from known high producing dam lines. While all the four factors are important this article will focus on the feeding programme for dairy animals and this includes our communal indigenous cows.
A good dairy feeding programme must consider the quantity fed, the suitability of the feed, how and when the feeds are offered.
One important feed component in dairy cows is the dry matter intake (DMI).
Dairy cows should be given large quantities of dry matter feed as this comprises almost all the nutrients required for milk production except water.
High dry matter intake results in high nutrient intake and high milk yield. A cow can eat between three to four percent of its body weight in dry matter content depending on the weight of the cow and the stage of lactation.
There is, however, a positive correlation between quantity of DMI and milk yields — the more the DMI the higher the milk yield.
Stage of lactation is important in DMI because of physiological changes within the cow’s body which makes it lose appetite. Problems associated with calving such as difficult calving, milk fever, retained afterbirth or twisted stomach have a net effect of reducing DMI in lactating cows. Lactating cows will increase their DMI gradually after calving and reach a peak by 10 to 12 weeks of lactation. However it is also important to note that maximum DMI depends on continuous access to water. Cows drink about five litres of water for every litre of milk meaning a cow producing 40 litres of milk will consume 200 litres of water.
Other factors which affect DMI include environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. The health status of the animal affects its DMI such that an ill animal will naturally have low intake.
Another important feed component for dairy cows is the roughage. This refers to feeds which are high in fibre content such as hay and maize silage. Milking cows can consume 1,8 to 2,2 percent of body weight daily as dry matter from average quality dry roughage. Roughage contributes crude protein (CP) among other nutrients to the cows. Roughage is essential also for rumen functions and as such it should be given in appropriate percentages as very low roughage in a diet can cause rumen acidosis. As a rule of the thump feed and ration formulations should take cognisance of the lactation stage of the animal such that there is no over or underfeeding at any particular stages of the cow.
Under feeding of grain for example can easily result in low milk production especially in early lactation; excessive body weight loss; lower conception rate and general herd health problems.
On the other hand over feeding is obviously expensive in terms of feed consumed but can result in calving difficulties, reduced appetite after calving, and increased incidence of ketosis, twisted stomach and udder edema.
Dairy cow feeding programme can be broadly classified into three major categories based on the lactation stage of the cow. These are lead feeding (pre-partum feeding), early post-calving and dry cow feeding. While space does not permit that we can discuss each one of them in detail, it is important to note that special consideration and adjustments should be made in rations corresponding to the lactation stage of the cow.
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