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Rumen additive and controlled energy benefit dairy cows during dry period
Getting nutrition right during a dairy cowâs dry period can make a big difference to her health and the health of her calf.
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Rumen additive and controlled energy benefit dairy cows during dry period
Getting nutrition right during a dairy cowâs dry period can make a big difference to her health and the health of her calf.
Check out this story on FarmersAdvance.com: https://www.farmersadvance.com/story/news/2021/02/10/rumen-additive-and-controlled-energy-benefit-dairy-cows/4439441001/
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Feb 08, 2021
Getting nutrition right during a dairy cow’s dry period can make a big difference to her health and the health of her calf. But it’s also a key contributor to her milk yield after calving. New research from the University of Illinois shows diets containing consistent energy levels and the rumen-boosting supplement monensin may be ideal during the dry period.
“Many producers use a ‘steam up’ approach where you gradually increase the energy intake during the dry period to help adjust the rumen and adapt the cow to greater feed intakes after calving. Our work has shown that s really of questionable benefit for many farms, and it may be safer to just keep a constant level of feed intake before calving,” said James Drackley, professor in the department of animal sciences at Illinois and co-author on a study published in the
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URBANA, IL. â Dairy producers know early nutrition for young calves has far-reaching impacts, both for the long-term health and productivity of the animals and for farm profitability. With the goal of increasing not just body weight but also lean tissue gain, a new University of Illinois study finds enhanced milk replacer with high crude-protein dry starter feed is the winning combination. Â Â
âCalves fed more protein with the starter had less fat in their body weight gain, and more protein was devoted to the development of the gastrointestinal system, compared with the lower starter protein,â says James Drackley, professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at Illinois and co-author on the study. âOur results say producers who are feeding calves a more aggressive amount of milk for greater rates of gain should be feeding a higher protein starter along with that.âÂ
Rumen Additive and Controlled Energy Benefit Dairy Cows During Dry Period Details 28 January 2021
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Getting nutrition right during a dairy cow’s dry period can make a big difference to her health and the health of her calf.
Getting nutrition right during a dairy cow’s dry period can make a big difference to her health and the health of her calf. But it’s also a key contributor to her milk yield after calving. New research from the University of Illinois shows diets containing consistent energy levels and the rumen-boosting supplement monensin may be ideal during the dry period.
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URBANA, Ill. - Dairy producers know early nutrition for young calves has far-reaching impacts, both for the long-term health and productivity of the animals and for farm profitability. With the goal of increasing not just body weight but also lean tissue gain, a new University of Illinois study finds enhanced milk replacer with high crude-protein dry starter feed is the winning combination. Calves fed more protein with the starter had less fat in their body weight gain, and more protein was devoted to the development of the gastrointestinal system, compared with the lower starter protein, says James Drackley, professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at Illinois and co-author on the study. Our results say producers who are feeding calves a more aggressive amount of milk for greater rates of gain should be feeding a higher protein starter along with that.