Need advise on dairy business

Farm Questions
1

Hi all,

I have started a dairy business in Gorakhpur, east UP in february with 10 cows. (8 HF and 2 desi).

Since the start, I am facing following issues in my dairy:

  1. I purchased cows which were initially giving 16-22 ltrs milk. But withing a month the production went down drastically and by April total production was just half.
    Currently none of them are able to give more than 3-5 ltrs of milk per day.

  2. For feed I am giving them 2 kg of khali ( mustard oil byproduct), 3 kg of akra ( masoor daal) and 2 kg of rice bran per cow per day. Bhusa (wheat) around 30 kg and green grass is difficult to grow here so only giving 5-6 kg of green grass (chari)

  3. Mineral mixture 30 gms per cows per day

  4. Calcium 100 ml per cow per day.

  5. Cows are coming in heat, them after 24 -36 hrs of waiting AI is done by the BAIF team. Still they are not getting pregnant and they are coming in heat again and again.

  6. 1 cow died due to mastitis and 4 calf’s also died.

  7. I am giving milk to the state dairy cooperative (parag) but my fat content is always less than 2.7 % and lactometer reading always shows around 25. So I am getting just 18-19 Rs. per ltr milk from the cooperative.

  8. Cows are very weak and even their bones are showing.
    Its my request to senior dairy experts here to kindly guide as to what should I do.

Requesting Mr. Chandra, Srivinayaktvm, Khannae and other senior members to kindly give some advice on my problems.

I hope many others who may be facing some of these issues will get benefit here from the advice of the expert members.

I will be very glad for your help.
Durgesh D.

2

Hi Durgesh
from images of your cows in farmnest.com/forum/animal-farmin … /#msg22055
they are malnourished
It appears that they are suffering from protein difficiency
muscles are wasted
first month you got good yield because of protein reserves

so my inference is something is wrong with the feeds

my suggestion would be like
get a detailed feeding history of your cows from where you purchased–this is very important
standard safe “suggestion”== CONSULT A VET

till then you can try a balanced feeding strategy

first DEWORMING
you said deworming was done on 1st april
try deworming with a different combination

use ready made concentrates initially they are balanced ones(eg: godrej agrovet,kapila pashu aahar,KMF nandini,SKM)

green fodder is a must atleast 30 kgs dry fodder about 8-10 kg( you are giving opposite)
generally for a cow yielding 20 ltrs
concentrates required would be
for 1 kg concentrate 3 ltts of milk
for 20 it comes around 6.7kg concentrates
in addition to that for body maintainance and metobolic activity you have to add 1.5 kg
so in total around 8 kg is needed

while starting a new ration DO NOT ABRUPTLY CHANGE RATION
gradually change over( a week or so)
start change over with present situation
eg: cows was giving 20 ltrs/day now giving 10 ltrs only so you have to give
3.5 kgs for 10 ltrs + 1.5 kg for general body maintainance + about 1 kg for improvement, depending on the rise in milk yield and general health, increase feed quantity
add chelated good quality mineral mixture like VIRBAC AGRIMIN FORTE,NDDBs GAUMIX etc about 50gms /animal/day

continue with calcium supplements(though agrimin forte is rich in calcium give additional calcium till compplete recover

for failure in conception give shots of VIT-A oral/injection

if you cannot manage to get good sufficient quantity of green fodder –
treat your wheat straw
follow simple steps
MOLASSES UREA TREATMENT
mix urea,molasses,salt in 1:5:0.1(1kg urea,5 kg molasses, 100grms salt )ration and spray over wheat straw lighly shade dry and keep in airtight container(for anaerobic fermentaion) and feed after 1 week

if molasses is not available ferment jaggery and use

making our own feed concentrates is not always cost effective
kindly provide each ingredients and its cost for you
keep posting ,feel free to ask
niks,sri,chandra,vinayaktvmwill surely guide

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3

Thanks a lot Praveen for your prompt advise.
I will start following your advise from today itself.
As you have stated that my cows are suffering from less protein, so what should I add for making my feed rich in protein.

Is providing just Kapila Pashu Aahar will be good enough along with mineral mix and calcium concentrate added to it or I have to give it over and above to what I give as feed ( masoor dal/ red gram @2kg, + mustard seed cake @1.5 kg + rice bran @1.5 kg).

Also please let me know how this feed can be given to the cow. Presently I am soaking this feed mix overnight and then mixing this feed with the fodder that I am giving.
What is the best practice in this case ?
The mineral mix @30 gms per cow and calcium concentrate @100 ml , I am mixing both in half kg rice bran and then giving it to the cow to drink. Is it a good practice ? Or should I change the way I am giving this mineral and calcium mixture.?
As you stated that I can treat my wheat straw in case green fodder is not there. So how much wheat straw I should treat with 1kg urea + 5kg molasses + 100 gms salt.?

For the cost of the feeds that I am providing, following is the breakup.

2 kg masoor dal/red gram @ 25 Rs/kg. = 50 Rs.
1.5 kg mustard seed cake @21 Rs/kg. = 30 Rs.
1.5 kg rice bran @ 10 Rs. = 15 Rs.
Total. = 95 Rs.

Calcium and mineral mix extra.
And after this I am just getting 3-4 ltrs of milk per cow.
Parag( cooperative) is taking my milk @20 Rs/ kg. ( since lactometer is always less than 25, fat @2.5-2.7 % and SNF @ 6.5

They are saying that HF cows have less fat and lactometer is also less for HF cows. Is this true.?
There is not even a drop of water in my milk still why its showing such less readings ?

It will be very helpful of you if you can give some advice on these issues.

Thanks and regards,
Durgesh D.

4

hi durgesh
daily requirement of a cow giving 20ltrs milk
total 8 kg of concentrate
6.7 kg for milk and 1.3 kg for metabolism
about 30 kg of green fodder
about 10 kg of dry fodder
about 50gms of mineral mixture
calcium supplement

you can add GNC(ground nut cake) to increase fat%
rice bran for better health
give about 500gms of GNC and about 500gms of rice bran/day

all above mentioned are per day

regarding treatment of wheat straw

slideshare.net/vicky14381/ur … heat-straw
fao.org/docrep/003/w4988e/w4988e04.htm
ajas.info/upload/pdf/24-130.pdf

simplify according to your needs

also observe the dung for any undigested food particles

Always remember feeding too much is also not good you have to give time for digestion and rumination
its the optimal feeding which gives more profit

5

In response to our telephonic conversation
and for the benifit of forum members

whatever i have mentioned in the above post is followed by me and widely followed in our region
but I will repeat what i am feeding my cows
EXAMPLE
COW NAME:Tunge :4 teeth HF Cross breed ( my second cow) was brought from a local broker who inturn might have procured from KARUNGALPALAYAM(Erode)cattle market.cow was 9 months pregnant and sort of emaciated, I purchased this cow for 45k. image taken 19th aprill 4 days after calving
cow had little udder edema which subsided after a week


MORNING 2kg concentrate(godrej gold) about 300 grams GNC about 500 grams of rice bran. all these will be soaked overnight and fed at 5:00 AM i will ad 25 grams of Agrimin Forte and about 50 grams of mineral mixture(supplied by KMF ) to the feeds just before milking
after milking we give ragi straw about 3 kgs

AT 7:00 AM about 10-15 kg of green fodder usually mix of maize and hybrid napier

At 11:00AM: 10-15 kg maize+napier

AT 3:00PM 10-15 kg maize+napier

EVENING 2kg concentrate(godrej gold) about 300 grams GNC about 500 grams of rice bran. all these will be soaked from morning and fed at 5:00 PM before milking,i will add mineral mixture and vitamin supplement to the feeds before feeding
at night about 3-5 kgs of ragi straws are given
Tunge is giving 15-16 ltrs/day and about 3.7- 3.9 % fat.milk has never been rejected

hope this helps

6

Hi Praveen,
Thanks for sharing info regarding the feeds and fodder.
Since last 2 weeks i was searching as to why i was facing problem with my cows.
Seems now i know the answer.
All the while the cows were looking for green fodder, and i was supplying instead wheat straw.
I did what was commen practice in my area of giving green fodder just around 5-6 kg and balance diet is wheat straw mixed with around 500 gms of mustard seed cake.
I just topped the wheat straw with mustard seed cake 1.5 kg and red gram lentil(daal) around 2 kg.
Due to unavailability of green fodder, my cows went weak and thin and lost their muscles
And due to wrong feed, the protein started depleting in the cows.

I have learnt my lessons very hard way. (6 milking cows giving a total of just 20 ltrs PER DAY with a fat %age of just 2.6 !!!) and all of them are in between 4-6 months of calving.

I think the main issue was less of greens and relying more on coventional wheat straw. Out of 3 acres of land holding that i am having, i alloted just 0.5 acre for fodder cultivation.
October onwards, when the paddy will be cut, i will try to go more of green fodder.

I hve started feeding kapila pashu ahaar @2 kg per cow per day. Along with mustard seed cake @1.5kg, wheat bran @ 3 kg, red gram lentil @1.5 kg, Hoping to see some improvement in few days of feeding.
I am planning for wheat straw treatment. Just not sure where to get molasses.

May new dairy farmers in UP east region who are planning to venture into dairy business, get their facts straight before venturing.
Hope many of you guys will get help from the solutions provided here by Praveen ji.

There are so many more thread too where you can get good advice.

Regards,
Durgesh D.

7

SILAGE MAKING

please go through
Silage making for indian dairy farmers (Note prepared by Dr.D.P.Bhoite).pdf (822 KB)

8

Dear Mr.Durgesh,

  1. The cows bought were on what stage of lactation?

  2. Find out what were the feeds fed to those cows in the place from where you bought these cows, a sudden change can create problems.

  3. You can make your own mix with groundnut/coconut/gingelly/cotton seed cake and brans like rice, wheat or maize.

  4. Fodder minimum 25 kg per cow per day (lactating cows).

  5. In the evenings, give little hay which helps the cow for regurgitation.

  6. Water intake is very important. Milk contains 85 to 88% water.

  7. Give enough of Calcium and Mineral supplements in powder or liquid form.

  8. De-worming very important. Reduce worm load in cows for better results.

  9. The best time for insemination is in the last part of heat. Normally, cows observed to be on heat in the morning should be inseminated in the afternoon
    and cows detected on heat in the afternoon be inseminated in the morning of the following day.

  10. Timing of insemination and quality of semen (cold chain very important) are 2 important factors plus management in general.

  11. Post teat dipping should be practiced with iodine based teat dip solution after milking.

  12. Calf rearing to be done professionally. Feed milk to calves using calf bottles ensuring milk fed to the calf as needed.

  13. Concentrate more on fat increasing diet ingredients like cotton seed, coconut cake, groundnut cake and good quality greens.

  14. To improve bone health, feed more greens, legumes. Avoid using salt in excess.
    Grass feeding improves the quality of cow’s milk.

  15. The cow adapts to increased calcium needs for lactation by mobilizing more Calcium from bones, absorbing calcium from gut and losing less calcium
    in the urine. When age of cow increases, her milk production rises and she fails to absorb calcium from the gut. A dairy cow unloads her entire blood pool of
    calcium into the udder to produce colostrum. Muscles that fail without calcium include those in the uterus, gastro intestinal tract, urinary tract, skeletal system and heart. A calcium deficient cow cannot push calves well and may prolapse the uterus and often retains placenta. Cows may bloat and cease to defecate and urinate.

Murali Krishnan
9447088234
srivinayakatvm@gmail.com

9

Hello Dairygkp

Kindly update your current status…
what is total milk production after changing feeding habit ??

Thanks