Feeding dairy cows

[lyceum]

Our Jersey cow just freshened late yesterday! We have dairy goats and beef cattle for 9 years, but have never fed a dairy cow that has just calved. We feed the goats 1 pound of feed per 3 pounds of milk. I do not want to feed her that much grain though. That would be a little excessive.

My question is how much is everyone feeding dairy cows. We don't want to over grain, but want her to milk to her potential and give us plenty of milk. Thanks

Carisa

[francismilker]

Once you get a Jersey cow over the initial post-natal point of being in jeopardy for milk fever and you want her to "milk to her potential" you need to really pour the feed to her. As a rule of thumb, "what goes in is what comes out". While some cows are heavier producers than others, each one is a little different to maintain good body condition while using as a family cow. I assume you're going to just milk her for milk around the house and for personal use. If so, you might want to go a little more conservative on the feed.

Getting back to your question of how much. I'd say if you want to feed while you're milking her morning and evening, I'd give her all the roughage (hay or grass) she can eat and about a one gallon bucket morning and evening of some good high protein/fat level. Then I'd watch her body condition very closely. Remember, if you even barely start to notice her going down hill, start pouring the feed to her in a hurry. It's hard to put weight back on them.
These are only suggestions. Remember, if she's only supplying milk to your family it's a good idea to be as grass based as you can. If you feed her too much grain, you'll end up having more money in the milk than you could buy it from someone else.

[AC Spectre]

Milk fever would be my concern with starting the grain right away also. You didn't mention if you would be feeding the calf but if so you probably don't want to milk much more colostrum from her than you'll need to feed the calf for the first day or two after calving. I would milk just enough out of each quarter to take a little of the tightness out of the udder. Then I would gradually work up to milking her all the way out once her milk starts to clear up. As stated above, once she starts milking in earnest you'll want to monitor her body condition closely. Keep the feed in front of her especially hay/grass. It takes a lot of energy to produce milk and any energy that is not provided by diet is going to come off her back.

[matt_man]

We feed our jersey girls about 1.5lbs each of alfalfa pellets and 12% dairy ration at each milking. They are also on pasture 24/7 and get moved to fresh paddocks every couple of days. They milk plenty for a family cow and less grain = a healthier cow.

[Rich Taber]

You need to feed the absolutely best quality hay and grass that you can arrange. Cows are ruminants and thrive on high quality forages. Dairy cows, however, need to have grain supplemented when producing high quantities of milk, and there is no real set amount to feed. A rule of thumb is 1 pound grain to every four pounds milk; the protein level of that grain will be dependent on the quality of the forages. If you would like to read up on feeding cattle, go to the Hoard's Dairyman magazine website. They have several excellent publications which explain how to do all of this.