Frequent feeding
Introduction
Frequent feeding to improve health, fertility and milk yields
Regular, frequent feed pushing is important to keep your cows healthy. It encourages them to come to the feed fence more often and fill up their rumen. Increasing your feed pushing frequency pays off – it stimulates frequent feed consumption throughout the day and night, resulting in a higher feed intake among your cows. This not only has a positive effect on animal health, but can improve fertility, production, and your financial results.
Fresh feed at all times for optimal rumination
Providing smaller quantities of feed more often means cows always have access to fresh, tasty feed at the fence and less opportunity to be selective over their feed. This means the ration cows eat is more in line with what they need, including submissive cows who can come to the fence to eat at their own time, without being chased away or having to eat less balanced, left over feed. As a result, every cow receives sufficient nutrients for optimal feed ingestion and maximum production.
Benefits of flexible and frequent feeding
More frequent feeding also means flexible feeding: not at fixed intervals, but when necessary. When cows are grazing outside, feeding stops and only resumes when the animals come back in. This means that animals are fed as necessary, and feed waste is reduced, both of which have a positive impact on your bottom line.
More frequent feeding leads to a stable pH level in the rumen and good rumen health. Feeding smaller portions means less selection. The ration eaten is balanced and reflects the needs of the animal group. This supports a stabe pH level, and helps cows get the most out of the feed they eat, improving health, fertility and production.
When cows only eat once or twice a day, they ingest a large amount of fodder, decreasing the pH level in the rumen considerably. This can result in subclinical rumen acidosis which damages the rumen wall.
Always having good feed within reach prevents unnecessary stretching of the neck and resulting pressure on front legs. Additionally, there is less competition at the feed fence: animals lower in rank are no longer chased away, and no longer make sudden stressful movements with their front legs. Both these situations reduce the risk of hoof-related health problems.
More frequent feeding makes cows more active: they go to the feed fence more often, and ruminate more. When the Lely Vector is combined with a Lely Astronaut, the number of visits to the milking robot, and milk production, can also increase.
Feeding
Frequent and precision feeding positively affects cow health and milk yield. Mixing the right ingredients with the right quantities and feeding at the right time requires knowledge, understanding, and time. Our products for automatic feeding are flexible and able to adapt to your circumstances while helping to save you time and provide the right feed at the right moment.