A lot of factors can affect the production of milk from cows, including the type of fodder they eat. For instance, toxic weeds and chemical toxicity in grains and forages can decrease the amount of milk produced. Moreover, cows should eat a diet rich in protein, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. It is also important to avoid feeds that contain mold or wild yeast, as they can make the feed less digestible for your cows.
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Green fodder
If you are looking for a feed to increase milk production in cows, you should consider feeding them green fodder. Green fodder is a form of grass that does not contain grains. This means that it will be of inferior quality. This means that you will need to supplement the feed with a mineral mixture.
Green fodder is generally a rainfed crop, but it can be enhanced with fertilizers and organic manures. Typical fertilizer applications for this type of crop are 40 kilograms of nitrogen, 30 kilograms of phosphorus, and 16 kilograms of potash per acre. The remainder can be applied as a top dressing after harvesting. Most dairies use slurry or dung for fertilizer. In some cases, the water that is used for cleaning the cattle shed is flooded to the fodder crop for use.
Tree fodder
Tree fodder is an excellent source of protein for dairy cows. Its high digestibility and high milk yields make it a great choice for supplementing a dairy cow’s diet. A farmer in East Africa would need to plant 500 calliandra trees in order to feed his dairy cows for a year. It has the same digestible protein content as dairy meal, with an overall digestibility of 80%. It can supplement rations of crop residues or Napier grass.
Trees provide many benefits for livestock, including shelter and habitat for birds and beneficial insects. They also help to control pests in pastures, stabilize soil, and provide aesthetics. They are also a great source of food for bees. However, they need to be protected from overgrazing by livestock. The bark of some trees can be stripped off by cows when they are just a decade old.
Legumes
There are several factors that determine whether legumes are the best feed for cows to increase milk production. One factor is total fatty acid concentration. Legumes have a higher concentration of fatty acids than grasses, and those fatty acids are readily transferred into milk. Another factor is antioxidant content. Legumes contain more antioxidants than forage, but the amount in milk is limited.
The fiber content of legumes is important in judging the quality of the crop. The plant’s cell wall material contains two main types of fatty acids: hemicellulose and lignin. The acid detergent fiber (ADF) is a type of fiber that is less digestible than cellulose. The higher the ADF content, the lower the digestibility.
Molasses
If you’re looking for the best feed for cows to increase milk production, consider molasses. This sweet substance contains a high concentration of lactose and glucose, which are both used for energy by cows. Approximately five to seven percent of a cow’s DMI needs to come from fermentable sugars, like molasses. Studies have shown that feeding molasses to cows can help increase their DMI and milk production.
A study of three replicated, three-by-three Latin-square design experiments on dairy cows revealed that feeding cows molasses could increase milk production, but high levels could be harmful to cow health and performance. However, strategic supplementation of nitrogen and unprotected fat can enhance the effects of molasses feeding. In these experiments, complete diets of grass silage were supplemented with 125, 250, and 375 grams of molasses-based liquid supplement.
Sorghum
Sorghum is considered the best feed for cows to increase milk production because of its high energy content. The lower digestibility of sorghum starch decreases the amount of energy available for rumen microbes, which reduces the growth rate and utilisation of free ammonia in rumen liquor. Sorghum has a lower rumen-degradable starch than corn or wheat, which may limit its ability to decrease milk urea levels.
Sorghum is a good alternative to corn for dairy cows because it has high yields and a low requirement for fertility. It is also suitable for environments with low summer rainfall or irrigation problems and is resistant to a variety of pests. Sorghum is very similar to corn in terms of chemical composition, but the differences in crude protein and starch content are probably due to different agronomic practices.
