Feeding a cow, step by step
Interactive lesson: how a cow eats, body condition, hay, grazing and rotation, concentrates, water, minerals, poisonous plants and swallowed metal.
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The whole lesson as text
1. How a cow eats
A cow is a ruminant: in her rumen, bacteria break down grass and hay, and the cow lives off them.
- Rumen and cudding — An adult cow has a rumen of roughly 150–200 L. A healthy cow chews the cud roughly 7–9 hours a day, mostly lying down.
- How much she eats — Roughly 2.5–3 % of her body weight in dry matter a day. With grazing and other feeds, that comes to 12–15 kg of hay.
- Hay first — Give hay first and concentrate afterwards. Never grain into an empty rumen.
- Watch the trough — Leaving 5–10 % is normal. If a lot is left, the hay is poor or you're giving too much; an empty trough an hour after a feed means too little.
Why: When the bacteria get enough good hay and grass, slowly and regularly, the cow is healthy and milks well. Too much grain at once, young clover on an empty stomach or mouldy hay can put her in mortal danger within a few hours.
- Feed at the same times every day: it settles the cow and her rumen.
- If the cow isn't cudding an hour after a feed, something is wrong.
2. Body condition
You score condition by eye and hand, on a scale from 1 (thin) to 5 (obese).
- Spine behind the shoulders — Look at the spine behind the shoulders: does it stick out sharply or is it covered?
- Feel the loin — Feel the short ribs (the transverse processes of the spine) over the loin. On a cow in good condition you feel them under light pressure.
- Hip bones and pin bones — Angular hips mean a lean cow, rounded hips a cow in good condition. Bones you can neither see nor feel mean an obese cow.
- Tailhead and score — Look at the tailhead: hollow or fat. Write down a score from 1 to 5; the target at drying off and calving is 3–3.5.
Why: At peak lactation a cow uses her body reserves, so condition before calving matters. A fat cow before calving is a bigger risk than a lean one: she calves harder and more often gets ketosis and milk fever.
- Score once a month, and always at drying off, before calving and 4–6 weeks after calving.
- A thin cow (score 1) needs the vet: parasites, teeth or disease.
3. Hay · Locked
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4. Grazing and rotation · Locked
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5. Concentrates and succulents · Locked
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6. Water, minerals and dangers · Locked
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