What can your cows tell you about their diet? | UFAC UK

What can your cows tell you about their diet?

Published 6 November 2018 Back to News
Spending a few minutes looking critically at your cows and using Cow Signals can tell you a lot about the diet.

What can your cows tell you about the diet?

Spending a few minutes looking critically at your cows and using Cow Signals can tell you a lot about the diet, its presentation and availability and how cows are using it, as UFAC’s Mike Chown a Cow Signal Trainer and Advisor explains.

 

If we want to know how well the diet is working and how well cows are using it we need to focus on the rumen. The rumen is nearly one third of the size of a cow and provides roughly two thirds of her daily energy and protein requirements. It is a 24 hour mixing machine designed to optimise fermentation and absorption so we need to keep it working effectively. Quite simply, it the rumen is OK, the cow will be OK and vice versa.

 

The objective is to get cows to maximise dry matter intakes. This requires stress free access to quality, palatable, accurately mixed feed and water, without cows eating too fast or selectively feeding. Work on a minimum of 70cm feed space/cow.

 

Ideally a cow should eat 10-14 equal meals per day, with each visit roughly half an hour long, consuming 2 – 2 .2kgDM/visit and you should expect to see around a third of animals at the feed space chewing. There are five things to look at to assess rumen performance: 

 

Rumen fill score – an indication of how well she ate in the last six hours. Ideally we are looking for an average rumen score of 3.5 – 4.0.

 

Belly fill – a guide to how she has been eating over the last week. Standing two metres directly behind the cow, can you see the belly bulging out on both sides? If you can, then intakes have been good. If you can’t, then intakes may have been suppressed.

 

Body Condition Score – a good indicator to DMI in the last month. This is very important in early lactation as we need to minimise weight loss so cows remain healthy and conceive. We should look for a BCS of 2.5-3.0.

 

Rumination rate – you are looking for 7 out of 10 lying cows cudding with moisture on their lower jaw and chewing 55-70 chews/ cud ball. Less than this is an indication of low effective fibre levels, which can have a negative impact on butter fat production. To be effective, the ration should ideally contain a minimum 8% of fibre 15 -20cm in length and it must be less than the width of the muzzle. Effective fibre length also helps reduce sorting.

 

Manure scoring – look at the 3C’s – Colour, Consistency and Content. Hear it, see it, feel it, smell it, squeeze it! Do the boot test.

 

Is it standing 3-4 cm high and does it hold the tread of your boots when you lightly stand on it. If it doesn’t, it is possible we have SARA or excessive hind gut fermentation in the herd, especially if manure contains mucus. Then sieve it. Are there more than 33% undigested particles?

 

If there, are it means we have a poorly balanced ration and the rumen is not at optimum performance. Armed with this information you will have a good picture of the health of the rumen and cows, which in turn will suggest how effective your diet is, allowing you to assess the diet to obtain a Feed Conversion Efficiency over 1.5 kg milk/kg DMI.

Related Stories

mycotoxins

Mitigate mycotoxin risk in the dairy herd to avoid performance shortfalls

Production drops, compromised performance and negative impact on fertility likely when consuming mycotoxin-contaminated feed

By UFAC in Latest News

UFAC-UK appoints Dirk Van Kessel as new European Development Manager

Dirk Van Kessel joins UFAC-UK in a new position created to build on upcoming and existing market opportunities across Europe

By UFAC in Latest News

Sunset image with cows standing in a field

Minimising the effects of cold stress on your herd

Dairy cows not only have the potential to experience heat stress but can also be affected by the cold. Fortunately, there are ways to minimise the effects of cold stress on your herd this Winter.

By UFAC in Latest News

Neil Baker's Farm

Reducing the farm carbon footprint while meeting contract requirements

A palm-free diet sees yield improvements and components maintained for Arla regenerative pilot farm

By UFAC in Latest News

News

Stay up to date with our latest news & product updates
mycotoxins

Mitigate mycotoxin risk in the dairy herd to avoid performance shortfalls

Published 13 November 2023



UFAC-UK appoints Dirk Van Kessel as new European Development Manager

Published 1 November 2023

Sunset image with cows standing in a field

Minimising the effects of cold stress on your herd

Published 27 October 2023

Neil Baker's Farm

Reducing the farm carbon footprint while meeting contract requirements

Published 29 September 2023

maize crops

The role of Mycotoxins in the health and performance of agricultural livestock

Published 28 September 2023

cows eating hay

Palm-free fat supplement achieves greater environmental impact and increases farming sector sustainability

Published 19 September 2023

Cow looking at the camera

UFAC feed supplements proven to support freshly calved cows and improve overall production, health and fertility

Published



UFAC-UK unveils new major mill upgrades

Published 12 July 2023



Oil fatty acid content key to maximising butterfats this spring and summer

Published 15 June 2023



UFAC-UK appoints David Turnbull as new National Sales Manager

Published 28 April 2023