What do dairy cattle eat?

Answer 1

This all depends on what that "cow" is being fed for. Since most everyone likes to refer to "cows" as a general term for a bovine of any age, sex, and use, this question will have to be answered as such.

Usually, in most cases when trying to increase weight on a bovine like a heifer or a bull, but do not want to feed so much that they are gaining weight too quickly, thus putting too much fat on them which would impede their breeding ability, then it's best to feed only 1% of their body weight per day, as-fed. This amount also goes for feeding cows (and I'm referring to those mature females that have had at least 2 calves) that are also needing to gain weight for the next calving, or are being fed grain because the hay is of poor quality and they are in need of supplementation; or that the cows simply cannot live off of hay or grass alone and require supplementation anyway--this depends on breed. Remember, when feeding grain to animals like those described in this paragraph, always make sure they have a roughage source as their main feed source.

When feeding calves that are growing and being used for beef, like in pre-weaning operations or backgrounding operations, cattle should be fed corn at 2% of their body weight per day as an as-fed ration. This is so that it encourages higher weaning weights, boosts growth rates and ADG (average daily gain), and meets their energy and protein requirements so they can grow to healthy, "soggy" calves. Again, grain should not be fed in these types of operations as a sole food source; they should be fed hay or allowed to graze on pasture in addition to the grain supplementation.

When finishing cattle, some producers like to increase the average daily intake of corn to 3% of the animal's body weight per day as-fed. Some may want to feed corn as a 85%-grain-25%-roughage diet to increase weight quickly and put more marbling on the finishers, depending on what the market demands for the type of beef cattle they produce/sell, or what their customers want when selling beef through direct sales. Others would finish an animal at this rate but have the animal eat hay or graze grass ad libitum (free choice) to make the beef more flavourful and not so bland and fatty if they were fed just grain the last 3 to 4 weeks prior to slaughter. Other producers would keep the grain intake at only 2% or 2.5% of the animals' body weight per day, as-fed; some not at all.

The main rule of thumb though, when feeding cattle grain, is to feed them according to the reason you want to feed them grain. Thin cows require more supplementation than normally conditioned or fat cows. Heifers and bulls that are underweight need supplementation. Lactating cows require supplementation if they're lactating at a time when grass won't provide enough nutrition for them or when there's no grass at all. Dry pregnant cows don't require the amount of supplementation that growing animals or lactating cows do. Growing animals like young calves, pre-weaned calves, weaners that are being backgrounded, feeder calves, etc., require some form of supplementation to help increase weight gain and ADG. Breed also plays a huge role in determining whether feeding grain is necessary. For all cows that are requiring weight gain or are needing extra supplementation for lactation, feed only 1% of their body weight, as-fed, per day.

Answer 2

A dairy cow should be eating between 1 to 2 percent of her body weight in grain per day. The grain itself should be mixed with other feed like hay and silage to create a more balanced ration for her.

Answer 3

What dairy cattle are allowed to consume as part of their total mixed ration (TMR) depends on the availability of various feeds, cost of the feedstuffs that are available, the nutrient quality of these feedstuffs, the type of dairy cattle being fed, their reproductive/lactative stages and their nutritional demands. Location is also a huge factor in the availability and types of feeds that can be fed to dairy cattle.

Starting with lactating dairy cows, the forerunners of the dairy operation (and likely of this question), these animals consume a wide variety of forages, grains and by-products all in a TMR which is often fed to such cows confined to a barn in a confined animal feeding operation, such which most dairy operations consist of. A TMR is basically a mix of grain, silage, hay, plant by-products, minerals, vitamins, amino-acid feed additives (such as AminoPlus, Metasmart, AminoShur, etc.), even animal by-products (which is illegal to feed to dairy cattle in various countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand), ionophores, and others. All of these products are mixed together to create a complete ration that meets a dairy cow's entire nutritional requirements for maximum milk production while optimizing rumen fermentation (not maximize starch digestion as with monogastrics like hogs and domestic fowl).

With dry dairy cows, they too may be fed a TMR ration, however the ration fed to them is more to assist in developing the fetus in the couple months that cow has to recover, rest and focus on fetal development instead of milk production. These cows aren't fed anything that is significantly different from the feed fed to their lactating sisters, half-sisters, mothers, cousins, or aunts. The same can be said for replacement heifers that have just been weaned off the bottle. Some of such replacements may be lucky enough to see some time to graze grass for the short period of time they are developing their reproductive organs and becoming sexually mature enough to be bred and begin milk production after they calve. Dairy bulls, young ones (1 to 2 years of age) which are primarily used to cover heifers with, are fed no differently from either classes of non-lactating or young dairy stock above.

Dairy calves, after they've been pulled off of their dams almost immediately after they are born (an unfortunate, but necessary part of the dairy industry) are fed powdered colostrum for the first day of their lives, then switched to milk replacer derived from unpasteurized cow's milk. (It is very bad to feed young calves soy-based milk replacer because of the amount of crude fibre in it; too much crude fibre will cause scours and eventually calf death.) A week or so later they are introduced to a legume-based hay and a calf-starter grain-mix containing various grains, vitamins and minerals. They are slowly weaned from the milk replacer by gradually including more water and less replacer by the time they reach a month old, and are fully weaned from it by the time they are three to four months old.

There exists a very long list of feedstuffs to include in a dairy bovine's diet. What is mentioned in this list is only part of what is really available to feed to dairy cattle, depending on your location and what feeds and by-products you have available. By-products are essentially feedstuffs which are the "garbage" of a separate industry which create various products for us humans, whether it's alcohol, biofuel, or food. Such "garbage" or "waste-products" are and were never intended to be created to be feed to livestock including dairy cattle, but are simply there for the taking and using by the entrepreneurial dairy or beef farmer to include in a ration to better meet certain nutritional demands of their animals. Various by-products are included in the feedstuff list below.

The various types of feedstuffs (not in any order; note these do not include feed additives) is as follows:

• Alfalfa hay
• Grass hay (primarily high-quality grasses such as timothy, kentucky bluegrass, orchard grass or creeping red fescue)
• Peas
• Corn grain (whole or processed in its various forms)
• Alfalfa silage
• Barley silage
• Corn silage (harvested either at immature milk-dough stage or mature hard-dough stage)
• Blood meal
• Ground peas
• Ground wheat
• Ground corn
• Ground barley
• Ground soy hulls
• Ground mill run
• Megalac
• Soy hulls
• Soybean meal
• Wheat middlings
• Brewer's yeast
• Canola meal
• AminoPlus
• Menhaden fishmeal
• White fishmeal
• Corn gluten feed
• Beet pulp
• Wheat DDG (dried distiller's grains)
• Corn DDG
• Steam-rolled barley
• Rolled oats
• Rye grain
• Wheat grain
• Triticale grain
• Sodium bicarbonate
• MetaSmart
• Super-Cal Limestone
• Dicalcium phosphate
• AminoShur
• Wheat straw
• Rye straw
• Barley straw
• Oat straw
• Cull peas
• Cull beans
• Cull potatoes
• Chicken litter
• Cull carrots
• Bone meal
• Cottonseed
• Cottonseed meal
• Tallow
• Whey

A much larger, longer list of feedstuffs (dominantly by-products) available to feed to dairy cattle can be found in the related link posted below. Please visit this link if you are curious to see what other feedstuffs could possibly be fed to dairy cattle.

Answer 4

Depends on the type of silage: corn, barley, wheat, rye, triticale, and the body weight of the dairy cow? A lactating dairy cow is expected to eat around 5% of her body weight per day in dry matter ration. Silage is generally around 60% moisture (40% dry matter). You can do the math from there.

Answer 5

It really depends on the dairy and what ration is made out for each individual cow. However, most, if not all dairies will feed around 2 to 3 lbs (some less) to DDGS to a dairy cow per day. You cannot feed too much DDGS because it is a concentrate supplemental feed that can only be fed in a ration, not as a ration itself. This is due to its extremely high digestibility rate and therefore high passage rate which can cause digestive metabolic issues--like acidosis--for a cow. Feed it with forage and grain, minerals and vitamins added and it creates a complete Total Mixed Ration for dairy cows.

Answer 6

Depending on her weight, and what reproductive stage she is in, a dairy cow typically will eat around 3 to 4% of her body weight in dry matter ration per day. In terms of as-fed, this percentage can differ depending on the moisture content of the feed. It can range from 6% to 10% of a dairy cow's body weight as-fed.

Answer 7

Cows don't need corn. They can and often are fed other grains other than corn. Also, cows are also fed a mixed ration of hay, silage and grain, not just corn. But, on average, a dairy cow is fed around 1 to 2 percent of her body weight (As-Fed) per day. Usually one percent is enough.

Answer 8

A dairy cow that is lactating will eat 4% of her body weight in dry matter ration per day. The exact weight of what she eats depends on body weight and rate of intake per day per cow.