Many sources, including the Cow Corner blog, advocate feeding dairy cows so that 5% of their feed remains to be removed each day before fresh feed is delivered to the bunk – 5% refusals. Research suggests that feeding for 6% refused feed results in 50 minutes more eating time than feeding for 3% refused feed. More eating time can mean more dry matter intake. More dry matter intake can mean more milk production. The last pound of dry matter intake just might be the most profitable pound of dry matter. If fixed costs are already covered by the first pounds of dry matter, the milk from the last pound only hast to pay for that pound of feed.
But refused feed is expensive. Conservatively, if a cow eats 55 pounds of dry matter per day at 15 cents per pound, then 5% refused feed costs more than 40 cents per cow per day – $75/day or $27,000/year for a three-robot pen. What’s more, it is very difficult to measure the extra milk, but it is easy to see the pile of feed, it is extra work to remove the pile of feed, and the feed has to go somewhere. In my experience, refusals are measured in loader buckets more often than they are measured in pounds.
I asked Dan Schaefer, of Schaefer Beef Consulting, about feeding dairy TMR refusals to steers. He asked whether dairy cows really need to be fed for refusals. He explained that beef feedlot margins are too tight to feed for refusals. Feedlot managers use strict bunk management to maintain dry matter intake with near zero refusals. Strict bunk management means feeding steers at the same time every day so they always know when feed will be available, and observing and adjusting the amount fed, according to the weather and the number of animals. Dan pointed out that, even with zero refusals, steers will not crowd the bunk if feed is consistently delivered as expected. Steers (and cows) love consistency.
A dairy cow has higher nutritional demands than a steer, and maximizing dry matter intake is more important for dairy cows than for steers. We need to manage feed bunks for dairy cows to provide more feed than they will eat in a day. Keep feed available at least 22 hours per day. Keep enough feed available that cows can put their nose in a pile and get a meal quickly and efficiently. Ideally, less than 40% of the cows should come to the bunk when feed is delivered. It may be possible to accomplish these goals with less refused feed if we take a page from the steer feeding book – feed at the same time every day, and carefully adjust the amount fed according to weather, dry matter, and the number of cows in the pen.
The schedule for feeding parlor cows is often determined by the milking schedule, and the milking schedule helps to keep the feeding schedule on track. The milking schedule does not dictate the feeding schedule in a robot barn, although wash schedules might be a factor. A feeding delay in a robot barn doesn’t just affect dry matter intake. It may also slow down the cow flow. Slowing down cow flow for even 1 hour because of a feeding delay has the same impact on production and milkings as a 1 hour slow down caused by a technical failure. The technical failure is more obvious to the people in the barn but the feeding delay has the same effect on the cows.
Cow Corner helps customers optimize bunk management, barn workflows, and software settings. Bunk management may be the most important of the three. Contact Cow Corner to see if I can make a difference in your barn.
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