Cattle Feeding Guide
The natural diet of cows is grass which is usually plentiful and handy because they can feed themselves.
A cow can live on a grass diet but, this unsupplemented diet will not keep the cow in optimal condition because during the winter, grass lacks the feed value that cows need to be productive.
Cows need adequate levels of minerals year round.
To achieve an optimal year round productivity cows need to be given a supplemental diet.
Hay is the best choice but there are other alternatives which can be used as well.
Some alternatives are: sugar beet tops, brassicas (such as cabbage), feeding straw, roots, silage, brewers' and distillers' grains, and apples are all acceptable choices.
Different breeds of cow require different amounts of hay per day:
Calves need to consume enough colostrums also called first milk, from their mother's to give them the antibodies they will need to fight off diseases while they are young.
During the weaning process, which should last about eight weeks, the calf will either need milk or a milk substitute diet three times daily, along with water, cattle or calk mix and hay.
Be sure to limit the amount of mix in the beginning stages of weaning, starting off with only about four ounces.
By the end of the eight week weaning process the mix should be about three pounds.
After the weaning period, milk is no longer necessary; the calf's diet should consist of hay, feed and water.
You can also substitute calf rearing pencils for calf mix.
When you first introduce the calf to hay or feed, they will probably not eat much at all but over time they will eat it, and if you are not careful they will eat too much.
Eating too much feed is dangerous for your calf and could result in diarrhea or even death.
Feeding steer for fattening.
Steer gain weight very easily, if they are on a proper feeding regime for about one year.
Feed them beef finishing pencils, starting at around the twelfth week and increase that amount until they reach their optimum weight for slaughter, which should be about 360kg or 800 pounds.
Bullocks should also be fed a diet of hay and high-moisture fodder.
A cow can live on a grass diet but, this unsupplemented diet will not keep the cow in optimal condition because during the winter, grass lacks the feed value that cows need to be productive.
Cows need adequate levels of minerals year round.
To achieve an optimal year round productivity cows need to be given a supplemental diet.
Hay is the best choice but there are other alternatives which can be used as well.
Some alternatives are: sugar beet tops, brassicas (such as cabbage), feeding straw, roots, silage, brewers' and distillers' grains, and apples are all acceptable choices.
Different breeds of cow require different amounts of hay per day:
- Guernsey- 7kg per day
- Holstein- 9kg per day
- Dexter -5kg per day
Calves need to consume enough colostrums also called first milk, from their mother's to give them the antibodies they will need to fight off diseases while they are young.
During the weaning process, which should last about eight weeks, the calf will either need milk or a milk substitute diet three times daily, along with water, cattle or calk mix and hay.
Be sure to limit the amount of mix in the beginning stages of weaning, starting off with only about four ounces.
By the end of the eight week weaning process the mix should be about three pounds.
After the weaning period, milk is no longer necessary; the calf's diet should consist of hay, feed and water.
You can also substitute calf rearing pencils for calf mix.
When you first introduce the calf to hay or feed, they will probably not eat much at all but over time they will eat it, and if you are not careful they will eat too much.
Eating too much feed is dangerous for your calf and could result in diarrhea or even death.
Feeding steer for fattening.
Steer gain weight very easily, if they are on a proper feeding regime for about one year.
Feed them beef finishing pencils, starting at around the twelfth week and increase that amount until they reach their optimum weight for slaughter, which should be about 360kg or 800 pounds.
Bullocks should also be fed a diet of hay and high-moisture fodder.