Compound feed for calves and cows

Currently, dry compound feeds and mixtures occupy a significant place in the diet of pets, partially or completely replacing traditional plant foods. The use of such concentrates has quite big advantages. The composition of feed for cattle includes all the substances necessary for the development of animals, while working with such feed is much more convenient.

 What is feed for cattle

Compound feed is a mixture of feed of plant and animal origin, which includes the whole complex of nutrients necessary for the development of animals in a certain concentration. The use of this type of feed makes the diet as balanced as possible.

Combined feeds are divided according to their purpose into several groups, depending on the following factors:

• KRS vision;
• age;
• directions of cultivation (meat, dairy);
• herd productivity.

Pros and cons of feed mixtures for cattle

The use of feed for use in the diet of cattle has a number of positive aspects. These include:

• Ease of operation, storage and transportation.
• Economical compared to traditional feeds.
• Balance, the ability to include the necessary elements.
• Environmental friendliness, safety in terms of compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards.
• The ability to give the feed any kind (granules, powder, briquettes).

Feeding cattle with compound feed provides better results compared to conventional feed, the herd productivity increases by an average of 10-15%. Thanks to a balanced diet, a strong livestock grows, healthy offspring with good immunity are born. The negative aspects of the use of compound feed for cattle are the following:

• Higher price compared to conventional feed.
• The need to accustom animals to such a diet from a young age, since the adult population may not accept such food after the traditional one.
• The complexity of self-manufacturing, the need for the use of special equipment.
• The need for constant monitoring of feed dosages.

Types of feed for cattle

Quite a lot of compound feed for cattle is produced. They are divided according to their purpose into the following types:

• For calves.
• For cows.
• For sires.

Differ combined feed and form of release. For ease of use, feed for cattle is produced in the form of:

• homogeneous bulk mass;
• pressed granules;
• briquettes.

Bulk feed is not subjected to pressing and heat treatment, so they have the shortest shelf life. Such food mixtures are made immediately before use, adding and grinding all the necessary components.

Granular compound feed for cattle and its constituent components are exposed to temperature and pressure during the preparation process, due to which the individual nutrients contained in it are decomposed into simpler and more easily digestible ones. At the same time, pathogenic microflora, pathogens, are also destroyed. Granular compound feed can be stored for a long time. Compound feed in briquettes differs from granulated feed only in larger forms of release. Before use, the briquettes are crushed to the desired consistency, and then fed to animals.

Feed mixtures differ in their composition. Compound feed of a complete ration (PC) includes a complete set of nutrients, vitamins and mineral supplements, therefore, when using them, other feeds are not used. Concentrated compound feeds (K) are used as a supplement to the diet of coarse and succulent feed and are grain processing products. Premixes (P) and protein-vitamin supplements (BVD) are used to supplement the diet with the necessary set of microelements and are added to feed in small quantities.

The composition of feed for cattle

Depending on which groups of cattle the compound feed is intended for, its composition also changes. This is due to the fact that at different stages of development, animals require different amounts of certain nutrients. The main component of all compound feeds is grain and products of its processing. In addition, the composition of the pelleted feed recipe for cattle may include:

• meal and cake of various oilseeds;
• roughage (straw, hay);
• beans;
• VTM (vitamin-herbal flour);
• coniferous flour;
• meat and bone or fish meal;
• vitamin and mineral premixes.

The composition of feed for calves

Young animals are the most vulnerable part of the cattle population. Therefore, special attention should be paid to feeding this group of animals. Nutrition should provide rapid weight gain, as well as strengthen the immunity of animals so that a well-developed healthy herd can be formed in the future. The composition of the combined feed for calves must necessarily include the following components:

• protein;
• cellulose;
• amino acids;
• vitamins;
• antioxidants;
• enzymes.

The table below shows several options for the percentage of starter, combined dry food for calves up to 6 months of age.

The composition of feed for dairy cattle

Compound feeds for dairy herds do not include components that increase or stimulate muscle gain. The main components of such mixtures are cereals: barley (predominant), wheat, oats.

The table below shows the percentage composition of the components of one of the feed for cows (dairy herd) for the period of keeping in the stall – K 60-31-89

Composition of compound feed for meat cattle

For the meat direction of breeding cattle, it is recommended to use dry food with food additives that stimulate a rapid set of muscle mass. An example of such a composition (compound feed for fattening bulls K 65-13-89) is shown in the table below.

How to make feed for cattle with your own hands

In our country, there is GOST 9268-90 for industrially prepared feed for cattle. At large enterprises, several levels of control are carried out, ranging from the quality of the supplied raw materials to the output of finished products. The composition of the components in compound feed produced according to the standards is strictly dosed, as it is normalized by state standards. At home, preparing feed for cattle that meets GOST is much more difficult.

What you need to prepare feed for cattle

The issue of self-preparation of combined feed is relevant for large and medium-sized farms, since it can significantly reduce the cost of the finished product. The process of preparing dry food in industrial conditions consists of several stages:

• preparation of raw materials;
• grinding;
• dosing;
• mixing the components;
• packaging and storage.

At home, it will be difficult to do the entire amount of work. To provide the livestock with the necessary amount of feed, mechanization tools are needed – an electric crusher, a mixer, a granulator, a filling machine. For small private farms, starting their own feed workshop is a luxury; the cost of creating it may never pay off. With the appropriate technical conditions, small batches of feed for cattle can be made, but the quality of the final product will be far from ideal.

What are the proportions of compound feed in the manufacture for cattle

Often, farmers make up the diet for feeding cattle on their own, focusing on their experience and the availability of various components for preparing food mixtures. In this case, you need to focus on the overall nutritional value, while not exceeding the dosage of any ingredient in excess of the recommended ones. There is quite a lot of information on this topic, as well as recipes for the preparation of feed for cattle.

Video about self-preparation of dry food from available ingredients at home:

Feed recipes for cattle

The composition of some types of industrial feed has already been described above. However, when self-producing food mixtures, not all ingredients may be available, so often farmers have to replace the missing components with others. Here are the most popular combination feed recipes for cattle, which are the easiest to prepare yourself.

For dairy cows:

• Sunflower meal or cake – 25%.
• Ground corn – 15%;
• Ground barley – 20%;
• Wheat bran – 15%;
• Grass flour – 24%;
• Salt, chalk – 0,5% each.

For sires, you can use a slightly different composition:

• Maize 16%;
• Meal 20%;
• Bran grain 15%;
• Barley – 26%;
• Oats – 17%;
• Meat and bone meal – 5%;
• Salt – 1%.

For fast fattening of meat cattle, the following components can be included in the composition of feed:

• Flattened barley – 40%;
• Sunflower cake – 30%;
• Ground corn – 5%;
• Extruded corn – 7%;
• Wheat bran – 15%;
• Salt, chalk, vitamin premix – 1% each;

Vitamin and mineral supplements, premixes can also be added to the composition. Since such ingredients are sold ready-made, it is necessary to study the appropriateness of their use, as well as the recommended dosages, before applying them.

Feed consumption rate for cattle

The daily norms of consumption of mixed feed for cattle depend on the method of keeping, the time of year, the direction of animal husbandry, the age of the animals and their condition. To provide them with a balanced diet, you can not use only dry concentrated food. Their share in the total diet can be from 25 to 50% of the feed units required by animals.

To accustom calves to dry food start from an early age. Initially, the mixtures are diluted in milk, gradually transferring the growing animals to dry feeding. By 4 months, the daily rate of feeding calves with compound feed can grow up to 2 kg. An adult cow can receive from 2 to 4 kg of feed per meal. In summer, the amount of concentrates decreases, and in winter and early spring it increases.

Conclusion

Even the most balanced composition of feed for cattle cannot guarantee that such food can completely replace the entire diet of animals. The richer and more varied the nutrition of the herd, the better. The diet must necessarily include coarse and succulent feed, root crops, and other plant components. Therefore, combined dry food is only a part of nutrition, its important component, which greatly facilitates the life of a modern livestock breeder.

Reviews of feed for cattle