Most dairy producers are always looking for ways to reduce feed costs for livestock.
Some people take advantage of the fact that 3-month-old replacement dairy heifers have well-developed rumens that can truly digest low-quality, low-cost feed.
There is nothing wrong with feeding this way, but these feeds must be balanced with other more nutritious feeds that meet the animal’s essential nutrient requirements. Additionally, providing proper overall nutrition should avoid common pitfalls such as digestive disorders associated with some diets.
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First of all, I would like to reiterate the introduction of these columns. Grainnews was originally published by United Grain Growers, which was owned by United Grain Growers.
Either way, I always keep in mind that proper dry matter intake (DMI) is number one when setting up a balanced heifer alternative feeding program. This is synonymous with the intake of essential energy, protein, minerals, and vitamins that promote growth, optimal body condition, and health until they are ready to enter the milk line.
In my experience, many promising alternatives fail to reach their full potential and are culled because dry matter intake is ignored or challenged.
This good DMI is controlled by the heifer’s natural ability to consume these forage-based diets and subsequent fermentation within the rumen. At the same time, the rate of passage of feed through the heifer’s digestive system is greatly influenced, which not only controls adequate dry matter intake, but also almost all subsequent digestive processes, including rumination. .
This is especially true if you’re feeding them a high-fiber, low-quality diet, like the one South Dakota State University proposed a few years ago.
SDSU researchers fed a diet of high-fiber shredded corn stalks with wet distiller grains to meet the energy and protein needs of a group of growing dairy heifers. SDSU results showed heifer gains were lower than conventional diets with corn silage, haylage, and alfalfa, but still acceptable. Significant cost savings of 40% were recorded as corn stalks and wet corn distiller grains were purchased at a much lower cost than other conventional feeds.
I regularly balance a breeding heifer replacement diet (15-22 months) for 150 lactating dairy cows along the same diet lines to save on feed costs. Masu. This diet is limited by the amount of quality forage, such as alfalfa hay or drought-stricken barley silage. However, the farmer has an adequate supply of low-quality barley straw and hay. His current diet is shown in the table below.
Reviewing this diet, we found that the dietary energy (64 percent total digestible nutrients and protein (14 percent) required for 1.8 pounds of weight gain per day) for these breeding heifers. I think it’s barely fulfilled. Moreover, this total mixed feed is simply too dry. Interestingly, DMI with these replacement heifers over the past few months was within acceptable limits (2.8-3% of body weight).
Nevertheless, during the last cold snap of -30 degrees in January, several heifers showed signs of loss of appetite, lack of fertilization, and bloating. These all contain signs of fecal impaction.
photograph:
Wally Wilhelm, provided by ARS/USDA
The threat of fecal impaction from diet is serious, which is why I pay attention to fecal impaction when feeding replacement dairy heifers with low quality feed. This can be fatal and can be caused by:
- High feed fiber content: Large amounts of cellulose/hemicellulose fiber take longer to ferment and break down, resulting in slower digestion.
- Inadequate protein: Heifer diets often do not provide enough protein metabolites for the rumen bacteria that digest the feed. It leads to a reduction in the overall rate of digestion and feed passage of feed fibers, including DMI.
- Lack of water: Water is the main lubricant in the digestion of feed. For example, certain dry heifer feeds during fecal impaction can become highly viscous, thus inhibiting movement throughout the ruminal gastrointestinal tract.
It is my understanding that this producer poured a gallon of mineral oil into each affected dairy heifer. Within a few days, the animals were up to the water trough and feeding area. That was a lesson for me. This means that it is important to meet all essential nutritional requirements for the healthy growth of dairy cows. This can be achieved through the use of cost-effective, low-quality feed as part of the overall diet, but each diet must be well-incorporated with sufficient nutrients.
