Week 7

Dairy: Heifers

Grouping, Feeding Management, and Rations

Text Transcript

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Groups and Feeding

• Number of groups depends on herd size and facilities
  • 4 – 5 groups suggested
• Group 1 Postweaning
  • Starter/grower and hay
• Groups 2 and 3 - grower and hay
  • Corn/grass silage or hay, concentrate based on needs
  • Pre - breeding groups
• Group 4 - Breeding age groups
  • silage, hay, grain
• Group 5 - Bred Heifers
  • Body condition and supplement
  • Poorest quality forage
• More groups = better nutrition but more labor

Forages for Heifers

• Allocate quality where it will be used the best
  • Highest quality for younger heifers
  • Older heifers receive poorest quality
    • Lowest nutritional priority
• Formulate rations for heifers to adequately supplement forages used

Complete Rations for Heifers

• Advantages of TMR’s for heifers
  • Minimize feed competition
  • Use by-product feeds
  • Feed waste
• Concerns
  • Need mix wagon
  • Heifer groups large enough to justify use of mix wagon

Growth Charts

• Need to routinely monitor growth
  • Need facilities to do this
  • Gains 1.0 - 2.0 lb/day (0 – 3 lb/day)
• Most variation between growth rates attributed to environment rather than feeding program
• Must adjust feeding according to growth

Examples