Bread is a popular food choice for cattle, as it’s packed full of essential nutrients and energy. Additionally, bread helps build muscle on thin cows to help them gain weight.
Bread should only be fed to cattle in moderation as an addition to their regular diet of hay and grass. Too much bread can lead to acidosis in the rumen, leading to bloat and other issues.
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It’s a good source of protein
If you own cattle, bread can be an excellent way to add protein to their diet. Cows enjoy bread and feeding it to them can help increase their energy and weight when grass and hay are scarce.
However, cows should never be fed stale or moldy bread as this can introduce mycotoxins into their systems, leading to a compromised immune system, digestive upset and possibly death.
Cows can enjoy cake, cookies and chocolate. As long as these haven’t been treated with chemicals or other substances that could affect cows, these items make excellent sources of protein.
Many farmers discourage feeding bread to their cattle, but it can actually be a nutritious food that provides extra calories and energy. Furthermore, bread contains fiber and nutrients which helps them stay fat and contented during winter months when hay or grass may be scarce.
It’s a good source of energy
Bread is a baked food product made with flour, water and leavening agents like yeast. It has been around for centuries and remains an iconic food across many cultures around the world.
Cattle can benefit from high levels of energy from corn, particularly when forage is scarce or inadequate in quality. Furthermore, it helps cows digest forage more effectively and boosts their milk production.
This occurs because the starch in dough breaks down into sugars, acids and gases which become trapped inside a gluten and starch web. As a result, your dough will be fluffiness and more elastic.
Fermentation is the scientific term for what happens when yeast feeds on starches in dough, creating the gas bubbles you see in bread. This process may be naturally occurring or chemically produced by a machine.
It’s a good source of fiber
Bread is created by fermenting grains with yeast and bacteria, which break down starches to produce sugars, acids, and gases. These pockets of gas bubble up within the dough when baked; leavingning it and giving it its characteristic rise.
Cows are ruminants and require fiber for digestion. Feeding them a diet that contains plenty of this beneficial fiber will provide their rumen with an ideal substrate to break down, producing volatile fatty acids they can utilize as energy sources.
Therefore, feeding bread to cattle is an efficient way of providing them with this nutrient when hay or grass supplies are limited or difficult to obtain.
However, cows should not be fed stale or moldy bread as this can contain mycotoxins that affect nutrient absorption and alter rumen fermentation, leading to milk toxicity and other health problems for dairy herds.
It’s a good source of fat
Bread has been around since ancient times and continues to be an essential component of many cultures’ diets. It may be made with wheat flour or a combination of grains, water and leavening agent depending on where it was created.
Cattle feed benefit from a bag of whole cottonseed, an excellent source of protein, fiber and fat. Additionally, it makes for an ideal addition to a balanced, premium-quality ration as it supplies many essential vitamins and minerals for optimal health and performance.
Other dietary ingredients to try out include sugar beet pulp, corn cobs and cereal co-product. All these items should be fed at a low inclusion rate – no more than 10% of total dry matter intake. A high grain content in cattle diets can lead to acidosis or founder in cattle. Consult your local animal nutritionist for help creating the correct mix of nutrient sources for your herd.
