Many farmers assume that they are feeding their cows yet they are not.
This is because the feeds they give the cows have no nutritional value and, thus, cannot boost milk production. Feeding accounts for over 80% of the total cost of production at a dairy farm.
Pasture is the cheapest and main feed for dairy cattle. Therefore, pasture management is key to the success of a dairy cattle enterprise.
Proper feeding ensures that animals remain healthy, have enough energy to move, calves grow well, cows conceive and deliver healthy calves every year and produce enough milk for calves and sale.
For a healthy and productive cow, a farmer should ensure that the feed rations have a balance of quantity, quality, amounts of concentrates, protein, minerals and vitamins. These can be got from fodder that includes napier grass, Boma Rhodes, lucerne, desmodium and sweet potatoe vines.
Milking cows should be fed on dairy meal and concentrates to boost milk productivity.
After calving, a dairy cow should be fed 3kg of concentrates (dairy meal) per day depending on individual production.
It is, therefore, important for a farmer to know the nutritional requirements of a dairy cow to provide adequate rations to meet its production and reproductive requirements.
Farmers should also understand that for a healthy and productive cow, nutritional values such as proteins, minerals and vitamins and fibre are balanced in right quantities and quality.
Clean water is also crucial. The watering points should be large enough and not raised too high to allow easy access to the water.
They should also be washed regularly to keep the water fresh, clean and free of odour. A water trough is poorly constructed when cows struggle to access the water.
When the trough is not cleaned and water not changed regularly, it develops a green colour and the trough becomes slimy.
