keeping weight on nurse cow

[trappersteve]

My Jersey nurse cow seems to be loosing a little weight. She has unlimited hay and I've been feeding 12% pellets, about a gallon a day. She also has access to a protein tub (24%) and free choice salt. I know it takes alot of nutrition to feed 2 calves but am I giving her enough. I was told to buy the highest quality feed I could get my hands on but Im not real sure exactly what I should be getting . Should I be feeding her something like a higher protein calf chow or do they make a dairy chow as I've never saw any at our farm store.

 

[snake67]

How good is the hay?

Have you actually tested it?

Take some to the local feed mill and they will send it off for you.

It might look good and be crap - and sometimes it looks like crap and is really good.

Cheers

Bez

 

[trappersteve]

No bez not had it tested, you may be onto something there I've been buying from different people and they seem to love some and just pick at others had never even thought of it.

 

[piedmontese]

2 calves shouldn't be a problem for even an average jersey with decent feed. When I had my jerseys they started with 4 calves,then3,and finished with 2. I was feeding them heavy though. Free choice alfalfa and prairie and 25lbs of cubes and corn mixed a day.mineral too.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

A gallon of 12% is not enough, if your hay is not to good.

 

[TexasBred]

My Jersey nurse cow seems to be loosing a little weight. She has unlimited hay and I've been feeding 12% pellets, about a gallon a day. She also has access to a protein tub (24%) and free choice salt. I know it takes alot of nutrition to feed 2 calves but am I giving her enough. I was told to buy the highest quality feed I could get my hands on but Im not real sure exactly what I should be getting . Should I be feeding her something like a higher protein calf chow or do they make a dairy chow as I've never saw any at our farm store.

Switch to a 16% feed and give her more of it. She needs more protein and energy in her diet. Most pellet contain a considerable amount of filler so the TDN and energy levels are going to be low. Switch to a textured feed such as a high quality horse feed. If you want to stick with pelleted feed I'd buy a non medicated pig starter with a crude fiber of no more than 4%. This will insure that is basically nothing more than corn and soybean meal plus vitamins and minerals.

 

[trappersteve]

Thanks guys, TB what kind of horse feed are you talking about (textured) I've never heard of it. Is it a pelletized or something like oats or alfalfa, and how much should I be feeding her?

 

[TexasBred]

Thanks guys, TB what kind of horse feed are you talking about (textured) I've never heard of it. Is it a pelletized or something like oats or alfalfa, and how much should I be feeding her?

A sweet feed. Normally a combination of a protein pellet, oats and corn. You can find cattle feeds that are made this way as well but the pellet is always suspect. ;-) Pelleted feed is just so easy for the feed company to "monkey with", change ingredients, levels of ingredients, etc. and there's a reason it is usually relatively inexpensive. Some won't have enough real grain in the mix to hardly measure. At least with the textured sweet type feed you can see what your'e getting and the horse feed will always be higher quality as will pig feed.

 

[trappersteve]

Thanks TB I'll go to tractor supply tomorrow and see what they have. Do I need to introduce it to her a little at a time and mix it in with her old feed

 

[Rafter S]

Thanks TB I'll go to tractor supply tomorrow and see what they have. Do I need to introduce it to her a little at a time and mix it in with her old feed

I agree with the other poster who said that one gallon of feed isn't enough with two calves on her, and I think it's always a good idea to make feed changes gradually. Maybe keep giving her the gallon of the feed you're giving her now, along with a half gallon of the new feed for several days. Then go to a gallon of each for a few days, followed by a gallon and a half of the new feed with a half gallon of the old feed for a few days (or until you run out of the old feed), then continue with two gallons a day of the new feed. Maybe increase it then if she still isn't gaining weight (or at least holding her current weight).

That may be prolonging the change-over longer than necessary, but that's better than too fast.

 

[TexasBred]

Thanks TB I'll go to tractor supply tomorrow and see what they have. Do I need to introduce it to her a little at a time and mix it in with her old feed

Always recommended to make feed changes gradually. Mix it for a while. Just my personal opinion but I'd go anywhere but TSC. :shock: Their feed is made by Purina with some coming from Cargill but totally different formulas in different bags....and you have to watch those 40 lb. bags. Seldom a real bargain in feed at TSC especially if you convert the cost of the 40 lbs. to the50 lbs. most feed stores sell.

 

[piedmontese]

Here in Kansas tsc has 50#. Atwoods carrys a lot of the 40's. Most people don't even realize they're getting screwed.

 

[TexasBred]

Here in Kansas tsc has 50#. Atwoods carrys a lot of the 40's. Most people don't even realize they're getting screwed.

Yep....and that's what they depend on.

 

[trappersteve]

Thanks guys I went to tsc and got a 50 of Purina omolene 16% and mixed it with her regular 12% and upped her feed to a gallon twice a day and gave her a few extra squares of good hay. Thanks again for the help!

 

[chippie]

You need to weigh your feed. Measuring by volume, especially with a sweet feed is not an accurate way to determine how much you are feeding. Our Jersey cow is fed 10 lbs of an 18% dairy feed twice daily. A good grass hay and alfalfa. A dairy cow puts all of it's energy into making milk. She needs more feed to keep up.
Feeding a dairy cow is very different from a beef cow. Many people do not realize that dairy quality hay is better than horse quality hay and dairy cattle require much more than the average beef cow.

She may not get caught up on her weight until you wean the calves. She is using herself up trying to feed them. How long has she been milking and how old is she?

ETA: something else. It would mean more work for you, but if you are feeding her twice daily (which is best for the cow) would be to separate the calves from her.
Keep them in a pen and let them nurse twice daily when she comes into eat. The calves won't be pounding on her all of the time and she won't have to work so hard. She will still make enough milk to feed the calves. That is what we did when we were hand milking. Milk what we needed, then let the calves strip her out.
Good luck with her.

 

[TexasBred]

I'm going to disagree only slightly. The perfect scenario is to let the calves nurse as often as they want. The cow will still produce milk all day long, she just won't have to store it. Numerous snacks are always better than two huge meals. (even for us) ;-)

 

[chippie]

I agree about the snacks, but hopefully the cow will be turned out and grazing, hopefully with access to a good hay 24/7. I don't mean to keep the cow penned too.
Feeding the calves like I mentioned has always worked well for us. I personally have had a family milk cow for almost 40 years. I like having the cow coming up because I see her twice a day and it can help keep one gentle. Having the calves penned can make it easier to get them started on hay and a little feed when the time is right and if a person wants to get them on feed.

Being that the original poster lives in a colder climate, what will work for him may be different than what will work for me.

 

[trappersteve]

Chippie,
The cow is salebarn bought so I have no idea how long she has been milking, my AI tech said he guessed her at 4 years old so I hope to get several more years out of her.
The calves are kept separate about 9 weeks old now I do plan on weaning them in about a week as they are eating hay and feed good now. I planned on putting 2more baby calves on her when I wean them. The next set will be the last as I planned on drying her up after that during the summer months. I did have her bred the third of December and I think she took so I want to have her dried up for a few months before she calves again. And get her toned back up. I really like this old cow as she's about as gentle as you will ever find I just want to make sure she's getting enough!