A milking cow or buffalo needs green fodder, dry fodder and concentrate feed every day, with mineral mixture, salt and plenty of clean water. Build the ration on fodder, and give concentrate by the milk each animal gives. Feed is also the biggest cost of dairying, around 70% of the expenses by NDDB's count (NDDB); see Dairy farming costs and income: a worked example.
The three kinds of feed
- Green fodder: Cumbu Napier hybrid, guinea grass, fodder sorghum and maize; legumes such as cowpea and desmanthus (velimasal); tree fodder such as agathi.
- Dry fodder: paddy straw and other crop straws, and hay.
- Concentrate: cattle feed, or a home mix of grain, bran and oil cake with mineral mixture and salt. Village milk societies in Tamil Nadu supply cattle feed and mineral mixture to members (Dairy Policy Note).
As a rule of thumb, an adult needs 15–20 kg of green fodder and 4–6 kg of dry fodder a day. Give about 1 part legume to 3 parts grass, and cut green fodder at about 50% flowering (NDDB).
Chop fodder before feeding: it cuts waste and helps digestion (NDDB), and chaff cutters make the job quicker. Good fodder saves concentrate: about 20 kg of grass, or 6–8 kg of legume fodder, gives as much protein as 1 kg of concentrate (TNAU).
How much to feed
| Animal | Green fodder | Dry fodder | Concentrate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crossbred cow, 6–7 litres a day | 20–25 kg | 5–6 kg | 3–3.5 kg |
| Crossbred cow, 8–10 litres a day | 25–30 kg | 4–5 kg | 4–4.5 kg |
| Crossbred cow of 6–7 litres, when dry | 15–20 kg | 6–7 kg | 0.5–1 kg |
| Buffalo, about 5 litres a day | 15 kg | 5 kg | 2.5 kg |
| Buffalo, 5–10 litres a day | 20 kg | 6 kg | 4 kg |
| Buffalo, over 10 litres a day | 25 kg | 7 kg | 5 kg |
The cow rows are NDDB's schedule as printed by TNAU (TNAU); the buffalo rows are for a buffalo of about 400 kg (TNAU). A bigger animal, or one giving more milk, needs more.
Concentrate by the litre
- On plenty of good green fodder: about 1 kg of concentrate for every 2.5–3 kg of milk. When paddy straw is the main fodder, add about 1.25 kg a day for upkeep (TNAU).
- NDDB's rule for cattle feed: 2 kg a day for upkeep, plus 400 g for every litre of cow milk or 500 g for every litre of buffalo milk (NDDB).
- Give half the concentrate before the morning milking and half before the evening one; high yielders can have three feeds a day (TNAU).
- In the morning, give some fodder before the concentrate, so she makes enough saliva (NDDB).
- Too much concentrate puts an animal off her feed and upsets her stomach (TNAU). After calving, raise it a little at a time.
- Buy BIS-certified cattle feed and mix it with the fodder; it need not be soaked (NDDB).
- Under NDDB's Ration Balancing Programme, trained local resource persons work out a low-cost balanced ration from your own feeds (NDDB); ask your milk society about it.
Mineral mixture and salt
| Animal | Mineral mixture a day |
|---|---|
| Calf | 20–25 g |
| Heifer or dry animal | 50 g |
| Milking animal | 100–200 g, by her milk |
- Or, by NDDB's simpler rule: 50 g up to 5 litres of milk, plus 10 g per extra litre. If the cattle feed already has mineral mixture in it, give about half (NDDB).
- Prefer an area-specific mineral mixture, made for your region (NDDB).
- Salt: NDDB's daily ration for a pregnant animal has 30 g (NDDB). In a home-made concentrate mix, keep mineral mixture at 2% and salt at 1% (TNAU).
- Buffaloes, too, need mineral mixture every day, as a lick block or as powder in the feed (TNAU).
Water
- An adult cow or buffalo needs about 70–80 litres of water a day, plus 2.5–3 litres for every litre of milk (NDDB). A cow giving 10 litres of milk therefore needs about 95–110 litres a day (our arithmetic).
- In summer, give crossbred cows and buffaloes at least 100 litres a day, and bathe them twice a day (NDDB).
- Buffaloes need more water than cattle; give them clean, cool water whenever they want it (TNAU).
- Keep the trough full, clean and in the shade.
Grow your own fodder
TNAU plans about 1 acre of fodder land for 2 cows (TNAU). Without water for fodder all year, you need more land.
| Crop | First cut | Then cut every |
|---|---|---|
| Cumbu Napier hybrid CO (CN) 4 or CO (BN) 5 | 75–80 days after planting | 45 days |
| Multicut fodder sorghum CO (FS) 29 | after flowering | about 65 days |
| Desmanthus (velimasal, hedge lucerne) | 90 days after sowing | 40 days |
| Agathi | 8 months | 60–80 days |
Timings: TNAU for Napier, TNAU for the others.
- Cumbu Napier hybrids are perennial and grow under irrigation in every district, all year, from two-budded stem cuttings or rooted slips; farmers near you sell CO-4 cuttings.
- Plant 3 rows of Napier to 1 row of desmanthus, and cut and feed them together.
- For slips and seed, ask the TNAU Department of Forage Crops in Coimbatore or the forage station at Alamadhi, near Chennai (TNAU).
Buy fodder and feed near you
Farmers near you sell paddy straw, green fodder, silage and feed on Kattutharai. Call the seller and check the load before you pay.
Silage and hay for the dry months
- Silage: maize and sorghum make the best silage (NDDB). Cut the crop at flowering, when it holds 60–65% moisture (TNAU). Chop it, fill the pit within 2 days while pressing it hard, never fill it in rain, and seal the top with plastic or mud (TNAU).
- Keep the pit sealed for about 45 days. A pit of 1 m × 1 m × 1 m holds 500–600 kg of chopped fodder (NDDB).
- Bag silage: 20 kg bags, pressed tight and sealed for 45 days, keep for about 6 months. Once you open a bag, use all of it (TNAU).
- Start with 2–3 kg of silage a day and increase slowly; high yielders can take 15–20 kg (NDDB). Good silage smells pleasantly sour and has no slime or mould (TNAU). Feed it after milking, as it can flavour the milk (TNAU).
- Hay: cut fodder at 50% flowering, spread it about 5 cm thick in the sun and turn it every day. In 4–5 days, when it is below 15% moisture, bundle it and store it dry and dust-free. Feed about 5 kg a day (NDDB).
Pregnant and dry animals
- From the 6th month of pregnancy, add 1–1.5 kg of concentrate a day (TNAU). NDDB adds 1 kg of cattle feed and 1 kg of good oil cake a day in the last 2 months (NDDB).
- A dry animal that is not pregnant needs no concentrate; give up to 1 kg if she is thin or the fodder is poor (TNAU).
- Keep her in good shape, not fat. NDDB's ideal at calving is a body condition of 3–3.5 on a 5-point scale; fat cows have more problems after calving (NDDB).
- Give no extra calcium in late pregnancy: too much raises the risk of milk fever. NDDB even advises stopping the mineral mixture in the last 15 days of pregnancy, so ask your vet (NDDB).
- For 2–3 days after calving, give light feed, tender green fodder and as much fresh water as she wants, but not hot water (NDDB). Drying off and calving are in Cow and buffalo breeding: heat signs, AI and calving.
Feeds that cause trouble
- Mouldy feed. Damp, mouldy straw, oil cake or maize poisons cattle slowly: appetite falls and milk can drop by more than 15% (NDDB). Store feed in a dry, airy place and throw out anything mouldy (TNAU).
- Sudden changes. Change the feed over several days, never at once (TNAU).
- Wet grass and lush legumes. Wilt tender, wet grass, and mix legumes with straw or grass, to prevent bloat (TNAU). If the left side of the belly swells up and she struggles to breathe, call the vet at once.
- Young sorghum and tapioca leaves. They can kill within hours. Feed sorghum only after it flowers (TNAU), when it is several feet tall (NDDB).
- Sprayed fodder. Wash fodder sprayed with pesticide before feeding, and keep animals away from pesticide containers (NDDB).
- Too much cottonseed cake for a long time harms high yielders (NDDB).
Common mistakes
- Plenty of concentrate but too little green fodder.
- The same scoop of concentrate for every animal, whatever her milk.
- No mineral mixture, or water only twice a day.
- Feeding damp, mouldy straw or cake.
- No silage, hay or straw stored for summer.
Frequently asked questions
How much concentrate does a milking cow need?
About 400 g of cattle feed per litre of milk plus about 2 kg for upkeep, as per NDDB; a buffalo needs 500 g per litre. On good green fodder, TNAU's 1 kg for every 2.5–3 kg of milk comes to about the same.
Can a cow live on green fodder alone?
A cow giving 6–8 litres can be kept on 25–30 kg of mixed grass and legume fodder with 3–4 kg of dry fodder, says TNAU's cattle guide (TNAU). Higher yielders need concentrate.
How much land do I need to grow fodder for 2 cows?
About 1 acre, by TNAU's planning figure. Without water for fodder all year, you need more land.
Next
Learn clean milking in Milking cows and buffaloes: clean milk and mastitis checks and the vaccine calendar in Cow and buffalo health: vaccine calendar and warning signs. For feeding calves, see Calf care: colostrum, milk feeding, weaning and pens. Short of fodder? Farmers near you sell paddy straw and silage. To grow your herd, see cows for sale and buffaloes for sale.