ranchmom77
Well-known member
Hello everyone,
Our herd came out of weaning last fall pretty pulled down, so we gave them some extra feed to get their condition up before calving. Most of them have come back wonderfully, but I don't want that again this year. DH and his dad never really paid much attention to feed and quality, they just fed them 30lbs a head year round (except may - oct when they are out on pasture).
I've explained to them that lactating cows need more to eat than a dry cow.. they know this but they're concerned about stretching the hay as far as possible in case of another dry year (which seems to be the case but I'm still optomistic). I say what's the point of raising calves if we're not going to give their mothers enough to eat to make good milk to grow good calves. Seems pointless to me.. anyways.. :bang: sorry.. just a bit of a rant.
I've looked up as much info as I can on the net and read a bunch of books, but I can't seem to get a solid answer for exactly how much a lactating beef cow needs to eat.. assuming the feed is a good grass/alfalfa mix. I sent our hay out to be tested last week but am still waiting on the results. I intend to go in and talk with a nutritionist to get the optimum feeding program figured out, but while I'm waiting I was wondering how much you all feed your lactating cows.
I've read that a dry cow will eat 2.5% of her body weight in dry matter per day to maintain weight. This is where DH got the 30 lbs a day figure assuming ours are 1200 lb cows. The same article stated that a lactating cow will eat will eat 2x that amount, which makes it 60 lbs a day. That seems like a lot!
Another article stated that a lactating cow will eat 3.5% - 4% of her body weight. That same 1200 lb cow will then get 42 - 48 lbs a day. That's a little better, but DH says that's too much.
Any thoughts?? :help:
Thank you!!
Our herd came out of weaning last fall pretty pulled down, so we gave them some extra feed to get their condition up before calving. Most of them have come back wonderfully, but I don't want that again this year. DH and his dad never really paid much attention to feed and quality, they just fed them 30lbs a head year round (except may - oct when they are out on pasture).
I've explained to them that lactating cows need more to eat than a dry cow.. they know this but they're concerned about stretching the hay as far as possible in case of another dry year (which seems to be the case but I'm still optomistic). I say what's the point of raising calves if we're not going to give their mothers enough to eat to make good milk to grow good calves. Seems pointless to me.. anyways.. :bang: sorry.. just a bit of a rant.
I've looked up as much info as I can on the net and read a bunch of books, but I can't seem to get a solid answer for exactly how much a lactating beef cow needs to eat.. assuming the feed is a good grass/alfalfa mix. I sent our hay out to be tested last week but am still waiting on the results. I intend to go in and talk with a nutritionist to get the optimum feeding program figured out, but while I'm waiting I was wondering how much you all feed your lactating cows.
I've read that a dry cow will eat 2.5% of her body weight in dry matter per day to maintain weight. This is where DH got the 30 lbs a day figure assuming ours are 1200 lb cows. The same article stated that a lactating cow will eat will eat 2x that amount, which makes it 60 lbs a day. That seems like a lot!
Another article stated that a lactating cow will eat 3.5% - 4% of her body weight. That same 1200 lb cow will then get 42 - 48 lbs a day. That's a little better, but DH says that's too much.
Any thoughts?? :help:
Thank you!!
