Amount of grain to feed Jersey cow milking

[FarmboyBill]

Im going to a sale in 2 weeks to see about buying a 5yr old Jersey cow milking. What is one worth? When I was on the folks dairy, we gave the cows free hay while milking, and a certain amount of grain, plus more hay outside after milking. How much grain dI give her. I know its in relation to what weight she milks, but dont know what that is. Thanks for the help.

[poorboy]

Local feed store used to always carry dairy feed. A sweet feed with mixed grain.
Was 12% protein if I remember right Always fed a 3lb coffee can full morning and night, milked her while she was eating. Mostly Jerseys was all i ever had, except for a milking shorthorn that was a real nice cow...

[MissKitty]

We gave $1500.00 for our registered Jersey...that also included a little bull calf she was a wet nursing at the time...she was also pregnant by JAce...the number 1 bull in the states at the time....She was a great cow..I sold her via this board about 2 years ago...WE fed her a three pound can of grain when she was a milking...only hay when she was dried up...Good luck finding your Jersey...nothing like them...MissKitty

[travlnusa]

I do not know the markets in your area, but the cow markets are dropping and dropping hard.

Based on the markets here, I would not pay anything over $1000, or $750.

Your market area may be different.

Amount of grain will depend on the quailty of forage your are feeding. If your hay is at 20% protien, you will need to feed more corn (energy) and less soy meal (protein) for example.

Mineral is key. Go to a feed store and buy their version of General Dairy Mineral, and feed around 4oz per day mixed into feed, based on what the tag says.

You need to make sure that 50%+ of the diet is forage, with grain being less than 50% of diet. If you feed to much grain, you will have hoof problems.