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HDRider

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OK - I read here that feeding whole corn is good. How much corn?

I just read this...
"Rumen microbes will preferentially digest the starch before they digest fiber, so fiber digestion actually decreases. Also, at higher levels of grain, rapid fermentation of the starch lowers rumen pH, which is harmful to the fiber-digesting bacteria," Olson says.

http://www.dakotafarmer.com/story-anoth ... n-9-122723

How much corn is too much?
 
HDRider":3h2s0khw said:
OK - I read here that feeding whole corn is good. How much corn?

I just read this...
"Rumen microbes will preferentially digest the starch before they digest fiber, so fiber digestion actually decreases. Also, at higher levels of grain, rapid fermentation of the starch lowers rumen pH, which is harmful to the fiber-digesting bacteria," Olson says.

http://www.dakotafarmer.com/story-anoth ... n-9-122723

How much corn is too much?
For a rather typical cow this time of the year no corn is really necessary but if you decide to "treat" them I'd feed it primarily as a treat and not as a high percentage of the diet. A small amount of corn can be good and will hurt nothing (just as your article points out). Most protein supplements like cubes, etc contain very little grain but are primarily made up of high protein ingredients, grain by-products and roughage products, making for a rather low starch supplement so we feed them to compliment the hay rather than replace any part of it. Cattle really need "long stem roughage" (hay or grazing), thus the limitation on the soyhulls and beet pulp even though they are excellent ingredients. Hay grain diets are typically fed to growing calves, calves in feedlots and calves being finished for the freezer. All of these being "terminal" we can go beyond normal limits with the grain, while at the same time still giving them forages. Dairies feed high grain diets but even they will try to maintain a 50:50 ration between grain and roughage...60:40 at the most and will include sodium bicarbonate in the ration to maintain rumen ph. Just some basics. Hope it helps some.
 
TexasBred":hun2e7oh said:
HDRider":hun2e7oh said:
OK - I read here that feeding whole corn is good. How much corn?

I just read this...
"Rumen microbes will preferentially digest the starch before they digest fiber, so fiber digestion actually decreases. Also, at higher levels of grain, rapid fermentation of the starch lowers rumen pH, which is harmful to the fiber-digesting bacteria," Olson says.

http://www.dakotafarmer.com/story-anoth ... n-9-122723

How much corn is too much?
For a rather typical cow this time of the year no corn is really necessary but if you decide to "treat" them I'd feed it primarily as a treat and not as a high percentage of the diet. A small amount of corn can be good and will hurt nothing (just as your article points out). Most protein supplements like cubes, etc contain very little grain but are primarily made up of high protein ingredients, grain by-products and roughage products, making for a rather low starch supplement so we feed them to compliment the hay rather than replace any part of it. Cattle really need "long stem roughage" (hay or grazing), thus the limitation on the soyhulls and beet pulp even though they are excellent ingredients. Hay grain diets are typically fed to growing calves, calves in feedlots and calves being finished for the freezer. All of these being "terminal" we can go beyond normal limits with the grain, while at the same time still giving them forages. Dairies feed high grain diets but even they will try to maintain a 50:50 ration between grain and roughage...60:40 at the most and will include sodium bicarbonate in the ration to maintain rumen ph. Just some basics. Hope it helps some.
Sodium bicarbonate- I think that's baking soda, correct? Never heard of adding that.How much do the dairies add to the grain?
 
An oz or 2 per hd per day... sodium bicarb also reduces acidity of the manure to help keep hooves healthy in confinement systems when dairy cows are fed high grain rations and are walking in wet manure on concrete daily.


Corn is great for weight gain.
Just look at American obesity rates after the popularity of changing to corn syrup in manufactured foods.
 
HDRider":jtp9nr08 said:
OK - I read here that feeding whole corn is good. How much corn?

I just read this...
"Rumen microbes will preferentially digest the starch before they digest fiber, so fiber digestion actually decreases. Also, at higher levels of grain, rapid fermentation of the starch lowers rumen pH, which is harmful to the fiber-digesting bacteria," Olson says.

http://www.dakotafarmer.com/story-anoth ... n-9-122723

How much corn is too much?

This is an area that I have been weak in, so I have been reading up. Partly due to feeding two yr olds and first calvers breeding up, spring replacements growing, I am looking for ways to cut back some if I can. DDG's are about the same price as the 14% commodity I'm feeding now, but I can feed half the weight and get the same ballpark protein plus extra fat.

I read another article that stated similar to that one. I had searched for things like "ddg's vs protein tubs", "protein supplements for beef cows in winter", etc. That one, and others, basically said that if you fed ddg's at less than 0.3% BW you would be fine. There would be enough protein there for them, and not enough energy to replace any of it available through the hay. I am using 1400 for a guesstimate. That's 4.2 lbs max. I think I had figured 2.5 lbs to equal what was recommended intake from a 30-13 protein tub daily. My takeaway was that I could feed 5 lbs/hd every other day for a replacement for a protein tub if needed. Don't take any of my figures for gospel, as it's early, and I'm running on memory here. Do your own research to be sure. If anyone has a correction to what I understood the article to say, or has personal experience to the contrary please correct.
 
reeler":3lrbcuz4 said:
TexasBred":3lrbcuz4 said:
HDRider":3lrbcuz4 said:
OK - I read here that feeding whole corn is good. How much corn?

I just read this...
"Rumen microbes will preferentially digest the starch before they digest fiber, so fiber digestion actually decreases. Also, at higher levels of grain, rapid fermentation of the starch lowers rumen pH, which is harmful to the fiber-digesting bacteria," Olson says.

http://www.dakotafarmer.com/story-anoth ... n-9-122723

How much corn is too much?
For a rather typical cow this time of the year no corn is really necessary but if you decide to "treat" them I'd feed it primarily as a treat and not as a high percentage of the diet. A small amount of corn can be good and will hurt nothing (just as your article points out). Most protein supplements like cubes, etc contain very little grain but are primarily made up of high protein ingredients, grain by-products and roughage products, making for a rather low starch supplement so we feed them to compliment the hay rather than replace any part of it. Cattle really need "long stem roughage" (hay or grazing), thus the limitation on the soyhulls and beet pulp even though they are excellent ingredients. Hay grain diets are typically fed to growing calves, calves in feedlots and calves being finished for the freezer. All of these being "terminal" we can go beyond normal limits with the grain, while at the same time still giving them forages. Dairies feed high grain diets but even they will try to maintain a 50:50 ration between grain and roughage...60:40 at the most and will include sodium bicarbonate in the ration to maintain rumen ph. Just some basics. Hope it helps some.
Sodium bicarbonate- I think that's baking soda, correct? Never heard of adding that.How much do the dairies add to the grain?
Yessir just plain ol' Arm and Hammer backing soda. Usually around 25 lbs. per ton put into the grain mix which will give each cow about 6 oz. per day.
 

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