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Ration Formulation Crib-sheets

Feeding the Dairy Cow - Look up tables
A T Chamberlain
 and
J M Wilkinson
Tom@rumnut.com mike@chalcombe.co.uk
These tables are produced for the use of visitors (please read the legal bits) and are adapted from the book and course notes. A PDF format version can be downloaded here. The format in the PDF document places these tables neatly on two A4 pages. The format here is not so good I am afraid.

Intakes

3% of body weight or 2.5% body weight + 10% of yield

Milk yield (l/day)
Weight(kg) Dry 10 20 30 40 50
400 7.5 11.0 12.0 12.0 12.0 12.0
450 8.5 12.3 13.3 13.5 13.5 13.5
500 9.4 13.5 14.5 15.0 15.0 15.0
550 10.0 14.8 15.8 16.5 16.5 16.5
600 11.0 16.0 17.0 18.0 18.0 18.0
650 12.0 17.3 18.3 19.3 19.5 19.5
700 13.0 18.5 19.5 20.5 21.0 21.0
750 14.0 19.8 20.8 21.8 22.5 22.5

Energy requirements

Maintenance 70 MJ ME for 600 kg cow
Milk production 5 MJ ME / litre of milk
Weight change 30 MJ ME/kg weight change

Suggested limits of inclusion for dietary sources of energy

Milk yield 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
NDF (% DM) Min 37 36 35 34 33 32 31
Starch (% DM) Max 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
Sugar (% DM) Max 3.4 4.3 5.1 6 6.9 7.7 8.6
Oil (% DM) Max 3.5 4 4.4 4.8 5.2 5.6 5.9

Protein requirements (Crude protein)

Milk yield   (litres/day)

 Crude protein   (g/kg DM)
0 135 to 145
10 145 to 155
20 155 to 165
30 165 to 175
40 175 to 185
50 185 to 200

Possible correction factors for dry matter intake on farm

Reason Correction factor Comments
Complete diet 1.2 - 1.3 Depends how good the basic ration was
Holstein 1.1 - 1.2 Larger frame and gut size
Out of parlour feeders 1.05 - 1.1 As for complete diet
Mixed forages 1.0 - 1.05 Depends on "fit" of blend of forages
Self feed silage 0.9 - 0.95 Depends on silo face width
Poorly preserved silage 0.9 Depends on proportion of diet
Electric fence at silage face 0.8 - 0.9 Greatest in short-necked animals
Week of lactation 0.67 - 1.00

Clinical assessment of DM of grass and silage on the farm

Dry matter (%) of grass in the field
12 to 15 Rain or dew on surface, wellies get wet when walking through crop
15 to 20 Dry leafy grass
20 to 25 Dry grass with 50% ear emergence
25 to 30 Dry mature grass with fully exposed stems

Dry matter of silage (%)
12 to 15 Juice runs out rapidly when silage is squeezed in hand. Lots of effluent
15 to 20 Juice runs out steadily when squeezed in hand. Effluent
20 to 25 Juice drips when squeezed, ball unfolds slowly. Effluent.
25 to 30 No juice, ball unfolds rapidly. Little effluent
30 to 35 Patchy white mould in silage. No effluent.
40 to 50 Dark overheated pacthes towards top of silo
50 to 60 Very little evidence of fermentation. Silage may smell of tobacco due to overheating

 

Analyses of Common Feed. All analyses per kg DM except DM which is % fresh weight.
Feed name DM ME FME CP Ca Mg P NDF Fat Sugar Starch
% MJ MJ g g g g g g g g
Hay D50-55 85 8.1 7.5 109 5.0 1.5 2.7 699 16 68 2
Hay D600-65 86 9.6 9.0 131 6.3 1.6 3.0 650 18 93 1
Barley Straw 87 6.5 6.0 43 4.5 0.8 0.9 809 14 18 n/a
Wh Straw 87 6.1 5.6 38 3.8 0.8 0.7 805 13 11 n/a
Grass D 60-65 23 9.8 9.1 106 4.4 1.4 2.5 629 19 154 n/a
Grass D 65-70 21 10.7 10.0 121 4.6 1.4 2.7 610 20 161 3
Grass D 70-75 21 11.2 10.4 139 4.9 1.4 2.9 576 22 174 3
Gr Silage Average 27 10.4 8.1 151 6.8 1.6 3.1 546 35 17 7
Gr Silage Good 27 10.8 8.4 156 5.8 1.5 3.0 523 37 21 10
Gr Silage V Good 21 11.1 8.2 171 6.0 1.4 2.9 483 51 19 n/a
Maize Silage 30 11.2 9.0 88 3.9 2.4 1.8 390 30 5 206
Barley Grain 86 12.8 12.3 128 1.1 1.2 3.9 234 13 35 528
Citrus Pulp 88 11.8 10.7 72 19.0 1.3 1.2 254 32 217 n/a
Fodder Beet 18 11.9 11.8 63 3.9 1.4 1.8 127 3 649 n/a
Maize Gluten Fd 89 12.7 11.5 232 2.8 4.3 10.0 390 34 n/a 151
Molasses Cane 75 12.7 12.7 41 9.6 4.4 1.2 0 n/a 850 0
SBP Dry Molass 86 12.5 12.4 129 5.9 1.0 0.7 294 4 296 5
Wheat Grain 87 13.6 12.9 123 0.6 1.1 3.4 66 19 58 660
Brewers Grains 28 11.7 9.0 245 3.3 1.5 4.1 572 77 10 57
Fishmeal White 92 14.2 11.4 694 56.2 2.3 38.1 n/a 81 1 1
Palm Kernel Ext 90 12.8 10.4 216 2.3 3.0 5.6 692 68 39 12
Rape Seed Meal 90 12.0 11.2 418 7.8 4.5 12.0 279 23 103 40
Full Fat Soya 89 14.7 8.4 360 4.5 3.0 5.8 200 180 n/a n/a
Soyabean Ml Exp 90 13.5 11.2 504 2.3 3.0 9.7 290 66 n/a n/a

The ideal silage analysis for a milking cow diet

Dry matter More than 300 g/kg
ME More than 10.5
FME/ME More than 0.70
CP 150 to 175 g/kg DM
pH 4.0 to 4.5
NDF 500 to 550 g/kg DM
NH3-N Less than 50 g/kg total N
Amino-acid N More than 700 g/kg total soluble N
Residual sugars More than 100 g/kg DM
Lactic acid 80 to 120 g/kg DM
Volatile fatty acids Less than 0.20 of total acids

Density of silage  Typical fresh weight (and dry matter) density (kg/m3) of silage

Dry matter Bunker/clamp Big bale
(g/kg) Grass Maize/Whole-crop Grass
150 800 (120) - -
200 725 (145) 700 (140) 430 (85)
250 680 (170) 650 (160) 400 (100)
300 650 (195) 620 (185) 380 (115)
350 630 (220) 600 (210) 350 (123)
400 610 (245) 590 (235) 330 (130)
450 600 (270) 580 (260) 300 (135)
Source Chamberlain, A.T. and Wilkinson, J.M. Feeding the Dairy Cow. 241pp, Pubs Chalcombe Publications,Lincoln, UK. ISBN 0 948617 32 2