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Cattle Diets and Nutrition
Domestic bovines don't eat just grass: the diet of a bovine is surprisingly complex and involved with the variety of feeds in the form of forage, grain and byproducts available. But in order to determine the diet of a bovine one must understand the nutritional aspect of the bovine as well--an aspect that has its complexities and variations as well. If you are looking to learn and ask questions about the diets and nutrition of cattle, you've come to the right place.
1,811 Questions
How many pounds of feed does a steer eat daily?
That all depends on the size of the steer and what his average daily gain is; it also has a lot to do with what kind of feed he's fed. The higher the quality, the more he'll eat; same with the level of moisture content. As such, the question cannot be answered in a "amount in terms of weight" basis. Maintenance is 2.5% of his body weight per day, but if he's given a higher quality ration that is suited for him to grow, he may consume anywhere from 3% to 5% of his body weight per day.
Does a baby cow eat their moms cud?
No. Calves don't eat their mom's cud, they drink or suckle milk from their mom.
What are the similarities of a cow and a human stomach?
Really the only similarities is that both a cow and a human only have one stomach, both designed to digest the food that either species eat.
How much corn silage does 1 beef cow eat per day?
All depends on what size the cow is and whether she's terribly thin or overly fat. Maintenance dry matter requirements per day is 2.5% of her body weight. If she's lactating it'll be 4.5% of her body weight. If she's thin and needs to gain weight it'll be around that percentage or 3 to 3.5% of her body weight per day.
You would get more energy from eating the corn directly. In general, only about 10% of the energy gets passed up the food chain which means that you only get 10% of the energy that was originally contained in the corn by eating the cow that ate the corn.
vow dung plastering is plastering means making the cow dung is made hard like a plaster
How much do cows or cattle eat a week?
This depends on a lot of things: What kind of feed, size of cow, type of cow, what season, what her physiological and reproductive stages are, etc. As such, this question cannot be answered.
However, the basic rule of thumb is that a cow will eat 2.5% to 5% of her body weight in dry matter per day.
Assuming a 1000 lb cow consumes an average of 2.5% body weight of required food, this equates to roughly 25 lbs of Dry Matter ration per day.
Now assuming this cow is enclosed and is free to roam and eat grass, which is 85% water and thus only 15% dry matter, 25 lbs of dry matter divided by the 15% dry matter in grass equates to roughly 167 lbs of grass per day. That's 1169 lbs of grass that 1000 lb cow consumes in one week (1 week = 7 days)
As mentioned above, there are several factors that affect this amount. As you can see by the equation, the biggest factor affecting intake is body weight. The amount of moisture vs. dryness in the feed also ends up changing the formula by a bunch. Do note, a lactating cow tends to eat 50% more than a dry cow or "normal" bovine.
How can you get your cow who is lying down to eat or drink?
She is not standing, eating or drinking because she is ill. Get a vet or put her down.
You can put food and water in front of her and get her to drink that way. But definitely get a vet out to see why she's a downer cow and to see if there's a way to save her before putting her down.
How old does a cow need to be survive independently?
A cow is already independent and able to survive independently, since she's a mature female bovine that has already given birth to a calf or two.
How much does a bull eat a day?
Maintenance requirements for any bovine, including a bull, is 2.5% of bodyweight in dry matter ration per day. A bull can eat more than this, between 3 to 4% of his body weight in dry matter ration per day.
How much weight should you expect a 3-6 month old cow to gain in a month?
No such thing as a 3 to 6 month old cow. And three to six months is quite a bit of variation in time-frame for a calf (yescalf, not cow). Either the calf is 3 months old or it is 6 months old, or 4 or 5 months old. Not only that, what breed is it? Is it a dairy calf or a beef calf? And how much does it weigh already? And what are you feeding it? Is it on calf-starter, just grass, still on the bottle or weaned, or still suckling on its mother? Are you creep-feeding it or not? How about what gender is it?? Heifer, bull or steer?
In other words, don't expect us to be able to give you an answer if you can't provide enough information for us! Average daily gain is very variable between individual animals; like two steers of the same breed fed the same feedstuffs would have a different average daily gain from the other. But really, this question is impossible to answer without any more information provided for this question!
How do you know that cow suffer from flipped stomach?
Clinical signs of an abomasal torsion or volvulus include decreased milk production, decreased feed intake, self-segregation from the herd, dehydration and signs of pain including increased duration of recumbency and vocalization. In addition, these cows will often not ruminate.
To determine what type of flip is present (left or right), you can place a stethoscope over the cranial abdomen (which is actually inside the caudal half of the cow's rib cage) and flick or thump your finger against the cow's side. If both your stethoscope and the location you are thumping are over the twisted stomach, you will hear a characterstic "ping" noise similar to a dodge ball hitting a concrete floor.
Absolutely, yes!! Cows LOVE silage, it's like candy to a bunch of +1000 lb 5-year olds!
How long does it take for a calf's rumen to start working?
The calf's rumen doesn't become fully functional until it is around 3 to 4 months of age. From birth until this time the rumen is underdeveloped and in the growing and developing stages. It is present when the calf is born, just not as fully functional as with a bovine that has been weaned and on forages alone or fully matured.
How many times a day do you feed a calf?
It's best to keep feedings once to twice a day at a maximum.
