Guide for feeding dairy cows to maximize production and profits

Jones, Horace M.

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South Dakota State University Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange SDSU Extension Leaflets SDSU Extension 2-1-1922 Dairy Cow Feeding Guide Horace M. Jones Follow this and additional works at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_leaflets Recommended Citation Jones, Horace M., "Dairy Cow Feeding Guide" (1922). SDSU Extension Leaflets. 10. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_leaflets/10 This Pamphlet is brought to you for free and open access by the SDSU Extension at Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in SDSU Extension Leaflets by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact michael.biondo@sdstate.edu. Historic, archived doculllent Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. SDSU ® Extension For current policies and practices, contact SDSU Extension Website: extension.sdstate.edu Phone: Email: 605-688-4 792 sdsu.extension@sdstate.edu SDSU Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer in accordance with the nondiscrimination policies of South Dakota State University, the South Dakota Board of Regents and the United States Department of Agriculture. T 15 BOOK DOE OT CIRCULATE Extension Leaflet No. l 0. I  II Ill li /~111 ~lij~ijI/  /lijmJijl /11 f ~ 1111 3 1574 50153 6236 February, 1922. DAIRY COW FEEDING UIDE By Horace M. Jones, Extension Dairy Specialist. Increased Profits from Systematic Feeding The ultimate aim of dairy farming is to produce a profit from milking cows. Profits depend to a large extent upon reducing the cost of production to the very lowest point possible. This can be accomplished, not by reducing the amount of feed given the cow, but by administering feeds in such pro-portions and in such quantity as will cause the cow to reach her maximum production. Silage, 30 pounds Alfalfa hay, 10 pounds Corn, 5 pounds Bran, 3 pounds , Oilmeal, 2 pounds FEED NECESSARY FOR FOUR GALLONS OF RICH MILK Cows Vary in Their Needs Each cow has her individual needs which can be ascertained only by constant observation on the part of the feeder. However, the requirements of all cows fall within certain limits and the table which follows was con-structed with the average cow and the usual South Dakota farm-grown feeds in mind. Individual adaptations can be made from it. Aim is to Simplify The average feeder is usually not so concerned with the nutrients in the various feeds as he is with the kinds and amounts of those feeds that he should provide under certain conditions. The accompanying table aims to give this information in just as brief and convenient form as possible. It is recognized that 1t will not answer for all conditions but if it serves as a basis upon which the feeder can commence system ,'tic feeding and thus try out his cows, it will have served its purpose. EXTENSION SERVICE, South Dakota State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. W. F. KUMLIEN, Acting Director, Brookings, South Dakota. Distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914 .• • • • Dairy Cow feeding Guide* DIRECTIONS FOR USE First of all look in the left-hand column and determine to which class your roughage belongs. Suppose that you have corn fodder and alfalfa hay; that means that the grain mixture which you ought to feed will be one of those oppo-site Group II of the roughages. Next look at the headings across the top. Your cows should fall into one of the three groups given there, accord-ing to the amount of milk which they give. Suppose again that your cows are giving between 25 and 35 pounds of milk per day. and suppose that they give milk of an average test. The mixture to feed will be found under the head "4 to 5% '' in the second wide column. It has previously been decided that the proper mixture is to be found opposite Group II of the roughages, so follow the two columns mentioned until they intersect. Feed either three parts of bran and one of oats, three parts of corn and two parts of oilmeal, or equal parts of oats, oil meal and corn. All feeds are to be mixed in the proportion of one part each unless otherwise specified. { ~rl~eal } means mix equal parts of the two. { ~~l~efl 2 ~ means mix oilmeal and bran, using twice as much oilmeal as bran. The figures below show that 11½ pounds of the first mixture or 9 pounds of the others should be fed per day. Thus, the proper mixture and amount can be determined for different yields of milk, for different tests of butterfat and with different classes of roughages. GRAIN MIXTURE FOR VARYING MILK YIELDS AND TESTS :I 15 to 25 lbs. milk daily, Testing 25 to 35 lbs. milk daily, Testing 35 to 45 lbs. milk daily, Testing Roughages Available -· \\. 3 to 4% 4 to 5% 5to 6% 3 to 4% 4 to 5% 5 to 6% 3 to 4% 4 to 5% 5 to 6% ·-· I Prairie hay, corn fodder, Bran Gluten foed Oats Oats 2 Bran Corn Oats Oats 2 Oats l + Oilmeal Oilmeal 2 Oats Bran Bran Oilmeal 2 corn silage, timothy hay, Cottonseed meal Soybean meal Soy bean meal Cottonseed meal 1 Oilmeal Oilrneal Oilmeal Corn 1 Bran 3 Sud an grass or similar feeds. Oats 2 Oats Soybean meal 1 Corn 1 Bran Oats Corn and cob M Corn Soybean meal Oilmeal 2 Bran Gluten meal 1 Bran 3 Oilmeal Oats Cottonseed meal 1 Oilmeal Bran 2 Oilmeal 2 Gluten feed Soybean meal Oilmeal Oilmeal 2 Oats 1 Bran 1 Oilmeal 3 Soybean meal Corn and cob M Gluten feed 2 Bran . Bran 2 Bran 2 Corn Corn 3 Bran 1 Oilmeal 3 Gluten feed 2 Oats 1 Oats Oilmeal Bran 1 Oilmeal Oilmeal 2 II Corn silage and alfalfa, Bran Bran Oats l + Corn Oats 1 + Corn 2 Oats 1 + Oats 1 + Oats Oats Corn Bran + timothy and clover, corn Oilmeal Oilmeal Bran 3 Oil meal Bran 3 Oilmeal 1 Bran 3 Bran 2 Bran fodder and alfalfa, prairie hay and alfalfa, prairie Oats Corn and cob M Corn Bran Corn 3 Oats 1 I Oilmeal 2 Oilmeal 1 Corn 3 hay and soybean hay, sim- Oats Bran 2 ilar combinations, or mil- Soybean meal Oilmeal Oilmeal Gluten feed Oilmeal 2 Bran · 2 Corn 3 Corn 2 Oilmeal 1 let. Bran 1 Bran Corn 3 Oilmeal Oats Corn 2 Oa~s Bran 1 Corn 1 Gluten feed 2 Oilmeal 2 Corn and cob M Oilmeal Bran 1 Corn Oilmeal 1 Bran 4 Gluten feed Corn Oilmeal 1 Oilmea Corn 2 Lbs. per day with I and II 4 5 7 7 9 10½ ii 11 12½ 15 Lbs. per day with III I 5 6½ 8 9 11½ 15 14 16½ 19 -III Alfalfa, clover, soybean I Corn 4 Corn 3 Corn 4 Oats 2 Oats 2 Oats 2 Corn Corn Corn hay, sweet clover, cow- Oats 1 Oats 1 Oats 1 Corn 1 Corn 1 Corn 1 Bran Bran Oats peas or other leguminous Bran roughage. Corn 6 Corn 5 Corn 6 Corn 2 Corn 2 Corn 2 Oats 3 Oats 3 Corn Bran 1 Bran 1 Bran 1 Bran 1 Bran 1 Bran 1 Bran 1 Bran 1 Bran ,:, Based on the Armsby feeding standard. + Use the amount opposite "Lbs. per day with III." Helpful Feeding Hints A gallon of milk weighs about 8 pounds. The milk of average cows tests between 4 and 5 percent butterfat, that of Holsteins from 3 to 4 percent, and that of Guernst'ys and Jerseys from 5 to 6 percent Alfalfa hay anri corn silage together supply ideal roughage. A cow ordinarily eats from 30 to 40 pounds of silage per day and from 10 to 20 pounds of hay. Feed a cow all the roughage she will. eat A cow cannot eat enough hay and silage to produce her maximum of milk, hence the necessity of feeding concentrates. All g:ains or concentrates make better feed if they are ground. Feeds can be mixed in lots of several hundred pounds by shoveling back and forth on a tight floor. Concentrates ought to be weighed when fed. If this is impossibl€' use the same measure each time, find out how many pound!'! of a certain feed it holds and use that as a basis - for estimating the volume which each cow should have. Cottonseed meal should not be use<i in too large quantiLies. About 2 pounds per cow per <lay is all that it is safe to feed. In most cases at present, it is poor economy to try to get along with farm-grown feeds exclusively. Soybean meal and alfalfa hay can be raised on the farm, are cheaper than oilmeal or cottonseed meal, and are ju t as valuable from the feeder's standpoint. When bran is $20 per ton, oilmeal is worth about $57 per ton as a source of protein. Systematic feeding results in higher milk production and at the same time cuts the feed bill. SILAGE IS AN EXCELLENT ROUGHAGE 

Dairy Cow Feeding Guide

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Dairy Cow Feeding Guide

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