Feeding
Feeding for more milk
Water, good fodder and the right amount of dairy meal: where most of your milk, and most of your costs, come from.
5 min read
Water comes first
Milk is mostly water. A milking cow may drink 60 to 100 litres a day or more, and more in hot weather. Clean water should be there all day, not only at milking.
Fodder is the base
- Napier grass is best cut at about one metre high, before it becomes hard and woody. Chop it so less is wasted.
- Hay and silage keep cows milking through the dry season. Make them when grass is plentiful.
- Legumes such as desmodium, lucerne and calliandra add protein and cost less than buying it in a bag.
Dairy meal: feed the milk, not the cow
Good fodder alone supports only part of a cow's milk. A common rule in Kenya is to give about 1 kg of dairy meal for every 2 litres the cow gives above what fodder supports, often 5 to 7 litres. Your extension officer can help you set the right amount.
Give more to the cows that give more. Use your Maziwa records: if extra meal does not bring extra milk within two weeks, it is not paying.
Minerals and changes
- Give a dairy mineral supplement or mineral lick every day.
- Change feeds slowly, over 7 to 10 days, so the cow's stomach can adjust.
- Weigh feed at least once, so you know what a 'debe' or a bucket really holds.