What feed do cattle eat? An introduction to common cattle feed types

The feed ration for cattle is mainly roughage, such as various weeds, forage grass, crop straw and distiller's grains feed. Concentrate feed also needs to be fed, and concentrate feed needs to be scientifically formulated from ingredients such as corn, soybean meal, wheat bran and premix. Other feeds such as fresh forage grass, silage corn straw, soybean straw, peanut vines and distiller's grains are all high-quality roughage resources for feeding cattle.

1. Roughage

There is a great deal of roughage that cattle can eat. Various weeds, forage grass, crop straw and distiller's grains feed can all be eaten by cattle, yet the nutritional value among different types of roughage varies considerably. Cattle farmers can choose 2~3 kinds of high-quality roughage according to local resource conditions and combine them together. Fresh forage grass, silage corn straw, soybean straw, peanut vines and distiller's grains are all high-quality roughage resources for feeding cattle, but pregnant cows should be fed distiller's grains cautiously to avoid affecting the normal growth and development of the fetus.

2. Concentrate feed

Concentrate feed needs to be scientifically formulated from ingredients such as corn, soybean meal, wheat bran and premix to meet the nutritional needs of cattle growth and development. It is obviously not acceptable for some cattle farmers to feed cattle only corn or wheat bran. Reference formula for fattening cattle concentrate feed: corn 60%, soybean meal 22%, wheat bran 10%, premix 4%, calcium carbonate 1.2%, baking soda 2%, salt 0.8%. Everyone can make slight adjustments according to actual conditions, for example, in the early and middle fattening stages more soybean meal and wheat bran can be fed, while in the late fattening stage more corn and less wheat bran should be fed.

3. Other feed

Fresh forage grass, silage corn straw, soybean straw, peanut vines and distiller's grains, etc.