Cattle and Buffalo Feeding

FEEDING

back
Cattle and Buffalo
Feeding of calf immediately after birth
  • Colostrum should be fed to the calf immediately after birth within 30 minutes for upto 4 days.
  • Colostrum is the mother’s first milk that is released immediately after a newborn calf is born. It is higher in protein, fat, vitamin A and some minerals than milk. It also has antibodies, which provide protection to the calf from various diseases.
  • Besides, colostrum is highly nutritious. It is slightly laxative and prevents constipation.
Feeding young stock
  • The rumen of the calf will not be developed at birth and will take few months to develop completely and start functioning.
  • So, the calf should be treated as simple-stomached animal nutritionally and following should be provided.
  1. Essential aminoacids should be provided in required quantity in the ration of calves.
  2. Vitamin A, D and B-complex group
  3. They cannot digest non-protein nitrogenous substances like urea.
  4. Minerals for growth of bone, muscle and other tissues
  5. For rumen development, calf starter and green grass should be offered from 2 weeks of age.
Feeding schedule for calves up to 3 months age
Age (Days)Whole milk (Kg)Calf starter (Kg)Green roughage (Kg)
1 to 72.5nilnil
8 to 142.50.050.25
15 to 2130.10.35
22 to 283.50.20.5
29 to 353.50.40.55
36 to 4230.60.6
43 to 4930.70.7
50 to 5620.80.8
57 to 631.511
64 to 701.51.21.1
71 to 7711.31.2
78 to 840.51.41.4
85 to 90Nil1.71.9
    

Adapted from Mandal et al (2003)

Milk Replacers

  • During the first three weeks of life, calves should be fed a milk replacer that contains all milk proteins made from dried skim milk or whey products.
  • Milk replacers should contain a minimum of 18 to 22% crude protein, 10 to 22% crude fat, and less than 0.5% crude fiber.
  • They should be mixed and fed according to the manufacturer’s directions. During cold weather, calves should be fed a milk replacer containing 20% fat, and more milk replacer powder should be fed.

Composition of milk replacer I

Name of the IngredientParts
Dried skim milk50
Dried whey30
Dextrose8
Oat flour5
Brewers yeast5
Irradiated yeast0.26
Trace minerals0.04
Stabilized Vit. A supplement1.7
TOTAL100

Composition of milk replacer II

Name of the IngredientParts
Wheat flour10
Fish meal12
Linseed meal40
Coconut oil7
Linseed oil3
Butyric acid0.3
Citri acid1.4
Molasses10
Mineral Mixture3
Aurofac0.3
Milk13
Rovimix13( g)
TOTAL100

Composition of Calf starter

Name of the IngredientParts
Maize31
Rice bran30
Ground nut cake18
Soy bean meal18
Mineral mixture2
salt1
TOTAL100

Composition of concentrate mixture

Name of the IngredientParts
Maize20
Jowar20
Wheat bran25
Cottonseed cake16
Groundnut cake16
Mineral mixture2
salt1
TOTAL100

The following feeding schedule should be followed for raising calves from 3 months to maturity.

Category

Concentrate(kg)

Roughage (kg)

Indigenous cattle/buffaloes

1 – 2

Green grass/maize fodder-10 kg or
Legumes 1-2.5 kg + Dry fodder -2 kg or
Green fodder – 3 kg + Straw – 2 kg

Crossbred 

1.6 – 2.0

Green grass/maize fodder or alike fodders 5 -10 kg up to 4 months and 10- 15 kg from 4-6 months.

 

From 6 – 12 months of age

Category

Concentrate (kg)

Roughage (kg)

Indigenous cattle/buffaloes

1-2

Green grass/maize fodder-15 to 20 Kg or 15 to 20 Kg of Legumes+ 5 Kg dry fodder or

Green fodder 5 kg + Straw 2 to 3 kg

Crossbred 

2.0 – 2.5

Green grass/maize fodder or alike fodders -15 to20 kg

 

From 1 year to age at conception
CategoryConcentrate (kg)Roughage (kg)
Indigenous cattle/buffaloes1 to 2  25 to 30 kg of green maize fodder / or other grasses
Crossbred1.5 to 230 to 35 kg of green maize fodder / or other grasses

Formulation of Ration containing roughages and concentrates:

Nutrient Requirements:

The ICAR (2013) feeding standards are being followed at present in India for formulating rations for different categories of livestock.

Stage of lactation

Quantity of green grass to be give (kg) for animal weighing

Concentrate ( kg)

250 kg

300 kg

350 kg

Dry cow

25

30

35

o   For non-pregnant cows no concentrate is required.

o   Pregnant cows should be fed additional quantity of 1.5 kg of concentrate from 7th month of gestation

o   In case of dry cow, allowance up to 1 kg concentrate can be given if the condition of cow is poor or the fodder quality is inferior.

Milch cow

25

30

35

o   1.0 kg for every 2.5 kg of milk of average 4% fat percentage, in case of buffalo 1.0 kg for every 2.0 kg of milk produced.

Daily Maintenance requirements for DM, energy and protein for lactating cattle, buffalo (ICAR, 2013)

BW(kg)

DM(kg)

TDN(kg)

ME (Mcal)

MP(g)

RDP(g)

CP(g)

200

4.32

1.92

6.94

141

220

259

250

5.4

2.28

8.24

167

260

306

300

6.48

2.62

9.47

191

298

351

350

7.56

2.95

10.67

214

335

394

400

8.64

3.27

11.82

237

370

436

450

9.72

3.58

12.94

259

405

476

500

10.8

3.88

14.04

280

438

515

550

11.88

4.18

15.10

301

470

553

600

12.96

4.47

16.15

321

502

591

650

14.04

4.75

17.18

341

533

627

700

15.12

5.03

18.19

361

563

663

750

16.2

5.31

19.19

380

593

698

800

17.28

5.58

20.17

399

623

733

 

DM, energy and protein requirements per kg of milk production in cattle (ICAR, 2013)

Fat %

DM(Kg)

TDN(kg)

ME(Mcal)

MP(g)

RDP(g)

RUP(g)

CP(g)

3

0.450

0.290

1.05

51

44

44

96

4

0.510

0.330

1.20

51

50

37

96

5

0.570

0.370

1.34

51

56

30

96

6

0.640

0.410

1.50

51

62

23

96

7

0.700

0.460

1.64

51

69

15

96

DM, energy and protein requirements per kg of milk production in buffaloes (ICAR ,2013)

Fat %

DM(kg)

TDN(kg)

ME(MCal)

MP(g)

RDP(g)

RUP(g)

CP(g)

4

0.550

0.360

1.29

66

54

60

124

5

0.610

0.400

1.43

66

60

53

124

6

0.670

0.440

1.58

66

66

46

124

7

0.740

0.480

1.73

66

72

39

124

8

0.800

0.520

1.88

66

78

31

124

9

0.860

0.560

2.02

66

85

24

124

10

0.930

0.600

2.17

66

91

17

124

FEEDING OF PREGNANT ANIMALS

Pregnancy requirements of energy and protein for cattle (ICAR,2013)

Month of gestation

DM*(kg)

TDN(kg)

ME(Mcal)

MP(g)

RDP(g)

RUP(g)

CP(g)

6-7

0.85

0.64

2.30

109

96

56

169

7-8

0.99

0.74

2.67

143

112

85

216

8-9

1.13

0.84

3.05

178

128

113

263

 

*concentrate having 75% TDN or 2.71 Mcal/kg DM; **Average birth weight of 25kg

Pregnancy requirements of energy and protein for buffalo/day (ICAR,2013)

Month of gestation

DM*

(kg)

TDN

(kg)

ME

(Mcal)

MP

(g)

RDP

(g)

RUP

(g)

CP

(g)

6-7

1.0

0.8

2.76

131

115.4

67

203

7-8

1.2

0.9

3.21

172

134.2

101

259

8-9

1.4

1.0

3.66

214

153.0

136

316

9-10

1.5

1.1

4.11

255

171.8

171

373

 

*concentrate having 75% TDN or 2.71 Mcal/kg DM; **Average birth weight of 30 kg

Challenge Feeding

    • Cow with high milk yield should be fed with high quantity of concentrate to support the
    • This is followed two weeks before expected date of calving to conditioning the digestive system of animal to provide enough nutrients for high milk production.

Schedule:

Period

Concentrate  allowance

Last 2 weeks before calving

Starting from 500g, increase 300 – 400g daily until the cow is eating 500 – 1000g per 100kg body weight.

First 2 weeks of lactation

Increase 500g per day to free choice level.

Second week to peak yield (test day)

Free choice

From test day onwards

According to production as per thumb rules. E.g. 1Kg for every 21/2 kg milk produced

Remaining lactation

Concentrate adjusted to monthly test of milk Production

All periods

Green fodder and dry fodder given adequately

Feeding for maintenance of non working buffaloes

Dry adult non-pregnant buffaloes or nonworking bullocks can meet their nutrient requirement for maintenance from 6-7 hr grazing with ad libitum feeding of straw during off grazing hours.

  • 5 Kg straw + 0.7 Kg groundnut cake/soyabean cake or
  • 0 Kg straw +10 Kg berseem (15% DM) or
  • 28 Kg cereal fodder (20% DM)
  • will generally meet requirement.
  • For every 50 Kg higher body weight than 450 Kg
  • 7 Kg straw+55 g groundnut cake/soyabean cake or
  • 3 Kg green berseem or
  • 2.5 Kg cereal fodder has to be added and vice versa.

Feeding of breeding bulls

  • Breeding bulls should attain body weight of 350-400 Kg body weight at 30 month of age and at this age they are ready to be used for breeding. As in case of females, in males also low plane of nutrition delay puberty.
  • The adverse effects of malnutrition are more pronounced if they occur in early life than post weaning. In controlled experiment, low protein feeding delayed puberty of bulls by 5 months and such bulls had poor testicular development and small ejaculate volume as compared to their normal counterpart.
  • Vitamin A and Zn deficiency can also delay puberty, reduce libido and may affect integrity of testicular tissue and hence special care need to be taken to prevent deficiency of these two critical nutrients.
  • About 40 to 60% restriction of energy and protein during growing phase causes retardation of testicular growth and the effect persists throughout the life.
  • On the other hand feeding high concentrate diets (80% concentrate in DM) to growing bulls reduced testicular sperm reserve and also reduced semen quality as compared to total roughage diet. It has been recommended that breeding bulls should be given 100% higher CP and 20% higher energy than maintenance requirement for mature female buffaloes.
  • Breeding bulls should be fed with good quality balanced ration. However, care should be taken to avoid overfeeding as fatness lead to reduced libido and reduced reproductive performance.
  • For a 700 Kg buffalo bull following feeding schedule can be followed:

a) 40 Kg cereal fodder + 0.8 Kg deoiled ground nut cake/deoiled soyabean cake or

b) 10 Kg berseem + 10 Kg straw + 1.2 Kg deoiled ground nut cake/deoiled soyabean cake or

c) 8 Kg straw + 2.0 Kg concentrate mixture + 2-3 Kg green fodder + 1 Kg deoiled ground nut cake/deoiled soyabean cake.

  • For every 50 Kg increase or decrease in body weight from 700 Kg,

a) 0.6 Kg straw +100 g deoiled groundnut cake/deoiled soyabean cake or

b) 3 Kg green berseem or

c) 3 Kg green cereal fodder should be added/deducted from the ration suggested for 700 Kg body weight.

Feeding of working buffalo bullocks

For working animals, nutritional requirements depend on duration of work, speed of work and load carried.

For light work (4h/d)

  • Buffalo bullocks of 550 Kg body weight should be fed as follows:

a) 4.0 Kg concentrate mixture + 7 Kg straw or

b) 1.5 Kg concentrate mixture + 35 Kg cereal fodder or

c) 20 Kg berseem+8 Kg straw + 0.5 Kg deoiled ground nut cake/ deoiled soyabean cake or

d) 2.0 Kg concentrate mixture+ 10.0 Kg berseem + 8.0 Kg straw + 0.4 Kg oil cake. For every 50 Kg

  • increase/ decrease in body weight from 550 Kg ,

a) 0.65 Kg straw + 180 g deoiled ground nut cake/deoiled soyabean cake or

b) 4.0 Kg green berseem or

c) 2.5 Kg cereal fodder + 100 g deoiled groundnut cake/deoiled soybean cake should be increased/decreased from the quantity suggested for 550 Kg body weight.

For heavy work (8h/d)

Buffalo bullocks of 550 Kg body weight should be fed as follows:

a) 5 Kg concentrate mixture + 8 Kg straw or

b) 3 Kg concentrate mixture + 40 Kg cereal fodder or

c) 40 Kg berseem + 7 Kg straw or

d) 3 Kg concentrate mixture + 14 Kg berseem + 8 Kg straw.

 

For every 50 Kg increase or decrease in body weight from 550 Kg body weight

a) 1 Kg straw +180 g deoiled ground nut cake/deoiled soyabean cake or

b) 4 Kg berseem + 0.35 Kg straw or

c) 4 Kg cereal fodder + 50 g deoiled ground nut cake/deoiled soyabean cake should be increased/decreased from the quantity suggested for 550 Kg body weight.

COMPLETE FEEDING

All feed ingredients inclusive of roughages are proportioned, processed and mixed in to a uniform blend, which is freely available to the animal to supply adequate nutrients. The product is fed as sole source of nutrients.

Processing of complete ration:

Mash:

The different ingredients of diets have to be proportioned as per formula in to 100 kg batches using appropriate scales. The ingredients required for grinding will be ground in a hammer mill. The ground ingredients will come to mixer through screw conveyor and bucket elevator and hopper above the mixer. Later, all the ingredients will be mixed for about 10 minutes and then will be collected in sacks and stored.

Pelleting:

For pelleting the mash from the mixer will be dropped in to bucket elevator and will be lifted and conveyed into a hopper over the pellet mill. The mash feed will be conveyed from the hopper in to the conditioning chamber will be controlled by wheel valve.

Expander-extruder processing:

This is a system which combines the features of expanding (application of moisture, pressure and temperature to gelatinize the starch portion) and (pressing the feeds through constrictions under pressure). The mash at 12-13% moisture and room temperature will be reconstituted with required quantity of water to get 17-18% moisture in to mixer itself and then sent to the hopper above the expander extruder from which it passes through screw in which it attains 90-95 degree centigrade by the time it comes out of the die openings.

TMR densified blocks:

The making of feed block requires proper processing using a hydraulic press.

Agriculture crop residues used in the preparation of complete rations:

Crop residueLevel in complete ration (%)
Sugar cane bagasse20
Sorghum stover,20-46
Sweet sorghum stover, Sweet sorghum bagasse
Dry mixed grass30-75
Sunflower straw30-50
Sunflower  heads33.5-50
Wheat straw50
Wood pulp waste12.5-50
Subabul leaf meal20-30
Fallen teak leaves17.5-70
Fallen mango leaves30-60
Rice straw40-50
Saw dust30
Cotton straw45

Nutrient specifications of complete rations

Nutrient (%)

   Growing animals

     Maintenance

Lactating animals

Calves

Lambs

Cattle/

buffalo

Sheep

 

Crude protein

9.8-16.0

11.8-12.4

7.2-8.6

9.2-13.6

11.6-16.0

Crude fat

3.1-6.3

3.6-4.0

2.7-4.1

1.5-6.3

3.4-4.1

Crude fibre

19.8-25.1

16.9-19.1

17.3-23.6

12.2-30

17-25

Ca

1.0-1.5

0.9-1.0

0.7-1.5

0.7-1.5

0.7-1.5

P

0.5-0.8

0.4-0.5

0.5-0.8

0.4-0.5

0.5-0.8

TDN

56-63

58-64

53-55

53-55

57-67

Proportion of straw (%)

40-60

40-60

40-70

40-70

30-40

Ingredient composition (%) of complete rations

   Ingredient

complete ration with

 

 Mixed grass

Sorghum straw

Wheat Straw

Cotton straw

Dry mixed straw

       46

 

 

 

Sorghum straw

 

          46

 

 

Wheat straw

 

 

           50

 

Cotton straw

 

 

 

        45

Tapioca chips

       20

          20

 

 

Molasses

       12

          12

           13

        15

Pea nut meal

       10

          10

           10

        10

Caged layer droppings(dried)

       10

          10

           15

       

Mineral mixture

       01

          01

           01

         01

Common salt

       0.5

          0.5

           0.5

         0.5

Urea

       0.5

          0.5

           0.5

         1.5

DORB

 

 

 

 

Wheat bran

 

 

 

 

Rice polish

 

 

 

 

 

Advantages of complete feed:

  1. An easiest way to give balanced feed to animals
  2. An efficient way to deliver nutrients to the animals(least wastage of feed)
  3. Feed exercise is time saving as well as labour saving
  4. Can prevent the wastage of straw through burning
  5. Can reduce environmental pollution
  6. There is some reduction in methane emission
  7. Improved productive and reproductive efficiency
  8. Animals achieve better health
  9. Rescue feed during natural calamities
  10. Huge scope of extended research on value addition
  11. Reduced seasonal variation in feed supply/feed prices/milk prices
  12. Better economic returns
  13. Complete feed requires lesser space for storage
  14. Complete feed is cheaper and easier to transport
  15. Feed bank can be set up as a pre-emptive disaster management measure