to our Commodities Barn, one of the many grain deliveries throughout the month.
Other shipments that are delivered through the month include:
Almond Hulls ~ 25 tons, delivered once a month.
Whole Cotton Seed ~ 25 tons, every 50 days or so.
DDG (distillers dried grains) ~ 25 tons every 50 days ~ DDG is a by-product of ethanol made from corn.
Rice Bran ~ 25 tons, every 40 days.
Mineral Mix ~ 15 tons, once a month.
Tofu ~ 14 tons, every week. Tofu is in the 'mix' because it's high in fat and protein and helps to increase production.
The 230 dairy cows are fed a total of three tons of grain, 4 1/2 tons of silage(between 2 feedings)in addition to 45-50 bales of Alfalfa every day.
Silage (fermented oat grass) which is contained in long tubular shaped bags, is fed to the dairy cows and the heifers - 4 1/2 tons daily. For the dairy cows, the silage is mixed in with the grain.
The chosen mixture of all grains, silage, tofu and alfalfa help to maintain a healthy, balanced diet for the cows which in turn helps to keep the cows healthy!
The grain and the silage is mixed all together by tractor loads being dumped into the feed wagon load by load. The feed wagon is then pulled by another tractor and driven to the housing barn and shoots the feed out into the feeders for the cows.
COW FACT ~A cow’s body uses part of the food to grow and stay healthy and the other part of the food to make milk.
The 50 head of beef cattle are out on pasture and they are fed 12 bales of oat hay and some alfalfa each day.
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4 comments:
Wow! I had no idea that they ate so much..
Very interesting!
Great post. Can you detail the reason for feeding Tofu? And the benefits to the cows (meaning nutritional value).
Wonderful post!!
greenranchingmom.blogspot.com
Thank you for the comments! I've updated the blog post to include the reasoning behind feeding tofu and the other grains.
Great post. I'm a milkaholic and I was looking into what cows eat to make milk. It sounds like you have some very lucky, well fed cows.
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