Precautions for feeding cattle with green fodder: cattle farmers need to master these points

Green fodder, or green feed for short, is an indispensable high-quality roughage in the breeding process. Although green fodder has great benefits for cattle growth, there are still many points we need to pay attention to during breeding, otherwise even the best green fodder will affect the healthy growth of cattle. So today let us discuss together several issues that need attention when feeding green fodder.

1. Diversified combination

During the feeding process, green fodder should be combined in a diversified way, and a single type of green fodder should not be used. This is because although a single feed can fill the cattle, it cannot meet the various nutritional needs required for their growth, so it is difficult to fatten them. Therefore, when feeding, we need to combine green fodder with high protein, mineral and vitamin content, such as vegetable leaves, wild forage grass and various other grasses. The feeding effect of this will be much better than that of a single planted forage grass.

2. Prevent poisoning

When feeding cattle with green fodder, we should also pay attention to preventing poisoning, especially nitrite and hydrocyanic acid poisoning. If we use vegetable-leaf-type green fodder that has been piled for too long, its nitrite content will become higher, and the cattle will be poisoned after eating it. There are also corn seedlings, sorghum seedlings, flax leaves and so on that are commonly fed by farmers in our daily lives. These plants are actually not suitable for feeding cattle, because they contain certain cyanogenic glycosides, and cattle will suffer hydrocyanic acid poisoning after eating them. If conditions permit, it is best not to feed this kind of green fodder. Of course, if it has been processed and fermented to remove toxicity, thereby improving the safety of the feed, it can also be utilized as a resource.

3. Appropriate feeding amount

Feeding an appropriate amount means that we cannot feed too much. The first reason is that tender legume forage is rich in protein and other nutrients, and this kind of green fodder tastes better, but one disadvantage is that it contains more saponin, and cattle are very likely to develop rumen bloat after eating it. So what we need to do is reasonably feed the amount according to the size of the cattle and their feed requirements. Generally, a dairy cow is about 20 jin per day, and a fattening cow is generally about 24 jin. Of course, we can also ferment the green fodder and then feed it, which can improve the digestibility of the feed, but we should also pay attention to controlling the amount.

4. Nutritional combination

In the process of feeding cattle with green fodder, one point is very important, that is, pay attention to the nutritional combination of the feed, ensure comprehensive nutrition, and improve the utilization rate of the feed. First of all, when harvesting feed, we should select the best for harvesting, harvest at the right time, do not pick poisonous grass, do not cut old grass, do not cut diseased grass, and do not cut forage grass that cattle do not like to eat. Secondly, when feeding green fodder, an appropriate amount of concentrate should be added, which can improve the palatability of the feed and also ensure balanced nutrition.

5. Pay attention to hygiene

We also need to pay attention to feeding hygiene during the breeding process. First of all, the harvested green fodder should be cleaned and cannot be fed casually. After the feed is cleaned, it can only be used for feeding after the water on the feed has dried. Secondly, after each feeding, the feeding trough should be cleaned, and cattle should not be allowed to eat unclean feed on the ground, so as to avoid infection and disease.

The above are several points compiled by the editor based on the questions everyone consulted about feeding cattle with green fodder. I hope it can help everyone. If you think the editor has not been thorough somewhere, you can also leave a comment below to add to it.