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Farmers feed cows a variety of things,

  • Fresh water must always be available
  • Grass-not nessecarily fed by the farmer, typically a farmer lets a cow roam in a pasture where it eats what it choses-like alfalfa,plian grass, clovers and whatever else is in the field.
  • Hay or/and Silage- a mixture of dried grasses and legumes.-For when a pasture isn't available
  • Grains-provides great protein

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11y ago
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13y ago

This depends on what trimester their in, whether they still have a calf suckling on them or not, and their body condition. Cows in their first and one third part way through their second trimester are fed good quality feeds, but not as good as quality as before they were bred, when they had a 60 day break to get back into their heat cycle and had a demanding and growing calf at their side. As the calf grows, milk quality decreases, and often when milk quality decreases, so does the nutrition requirements decrease. After the calf is weaned off the cow (often at ~6 months of age), her nutrition requirements decrease to the point where it's safe to feed her lower quality feeds such as good-quality straw, average quality hay, or a stockpiled pasture. Typically, cows that are on a grass-fed operation are able to be bale-grazed or swath grazed at this point in time. When they reach their 3rd trimester, or, and most commonly, are 60 days to calving, their nutrition demands increase, which means that higher quality feeds need to be fed, in slow increments, until she has calved. After she calved, nutrient quality demands increase until they reach a peak when the calf is 3 to 4 weeks of age.

So, in all, it's not WHAT you feed preg cows, but HOW you feed them in order to meet their requirements according to the gestation/lactation schedule. What you feed cows in a drylot is different from those that are being grazed on pasture or being grazed 365 days a year.

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12y ago

Any kind of ration that is high in protein, energy, calcium, phosphorus and other nutrients and minerals that are essential for milk production. This can range from good to excellent quality pasture to a Total Mixed Ration (TMR) of grain, silage (corn, barley, alfafla/timothy, etc.) and hay (alfalfa/clover, orchard grass & timothy mix).

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11y ago

It depends on what stage of gestation the cow is in. Cows that are in early gestation are usually still lactating, which means they will still need good to high quality feed--dairy cattle require higher quality feed than beef cows. Some cows in mid gestation may still be lactating, like most dairy cows and some beef cows. Majority of beef cows, though, will be dry during mid gestation and require less quality feed than if they were lactating. Late gestation cows require higher quality feed, and even higher once they calve because they will be lactating again.

The rule of thumb to know (particularly for beef cows) as far as protein content is concerned is the 7-9-11 rule of thumb: 7% protein mid-gestation, 9% protein late gestation, and 11% protein post-calving.

Basically you can feed your cows what you are currently feeding them know. You may want to analyze your feed for protein content, and determine if any supplementation is necessary based on the protein value (in crude-protein or CP) of that feed. If you're feeding hay, keep feeding hay. Same with silage, grain or other alternative-to-grain feeds.

But always always remember to feed your cows according to their nutritional needs, not what you thinkthey need.

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11y ago

This question has already been answered in a similar form in several questions. However, to indirectly answer the question, it all depends on what type of cow you're referring to(beef or dairy?), age of that cow, reproductive stage of that cow, or even if you're referring to the colloquial term of "cow" or not. It also is highlydependent on your location, since specific feeds you may be inquiring about may not be availablein your area incomparison to others.Otherwise, please check out the related questions below.

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12y ago

Hay, silage, grain, etc. See related question below.

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12y ago

None, unless the fruit is cut or chopped up in pieces small enough so that cattle can't choke on them. Otherwise they can eat just about any fruit, from apples to cantaloupe rinds.

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Q: What would you feed a lactating cow?
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Typically a lactating cow will eat 50% more than a dry cow would. As for energy needs, a lactating cow needs around 15% more energy than dry cows do.


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