suggestions ideas and stuff

[WoodSpryte Farm/Tiffany]

I am having a hard time keeping production up here. Clarice calved about 28 days ago, reba is going on 7 months. we have the elevator make our grain mix, small amount cracked corn, rolled whole oats, alfalfa pellets, a dairy pellet, molassas. we have loose minerals we add daily to feed, GOOD hay finally and fresh water. I think the feed is right around 12% protein. I know the high protein is not necessairly as good as once thought. Our weather is up and down. last week we were between 40-60* and now this week we have been between 4-10*. huge fluctuations in weather is throwing them off horriable. these 2 cows went from just under 11 gallons a day to barely 7/8 gallons. we pulled the calves off the milk and have them on goat milk and replacer because they were not making enough. We dont have cobb, or cotton hulls, or allot of stuff found in the south. we try to avoid all soy, but have had to resort to some soy oil in their feed and I want it GONE if I can. We dont over feed the grain. they get about 4# a milking each. the hay we are on now is something we found about a 6 weeks ago. its a first cutting hayledge with LOTS of alfalfa. when we first put them on it their production went up about a gallon a day each. they love it and eat it great.
Im looking for suggestions on the grain blend a recipe higher in fat or protein or what ever will work. I know their going thru hell right now with the weather doing what it is doing. its frustrating.
they are drinking good days, but nite time they bed down early and dont drink, I know this is also part of the problem. they bed about 10 feet from the water, but just not going to it at nite.
suggestions ANYONE please....
thanks
Tif

[mkl]

Hey Tiff, Have you read the thread on the fodder, that has been going on for over a week now? I have the grains sprouting now and from what I read, it is suppose to be a big help.
MK

[SnowHunter (X2 Farm)]

Tiff... watch water intake. I have noticed on the cold days, Jezzie doesn't drink much water due to it being so cold. I usually have to tote a few extra bottles of hot water and mix some in a big bucket so I can make sure she has a decent fluid intake. I got about 1/2 gallon more per day from her, doing this, but she's also only milking 2gal max per day so it might increase a higher producing cow more then that. It might help you some, it might not.. just thought I'd throw it out there for ya

[kellyhensing]

Do you have heaters in your water troughs?

No suggestions for the feed mix...sorry. The haylage sounds great though!

-Kelly

[3cows]

Are you opposed to upping their grain? I know cost has to be considered but it helps. My cows are outside most of the time too and I only lock them in the barn when it's really extreme -- like very cold wind, terrible windchills, ice storms, etc. I find that when the temps drop below about 20 or so and its windy, that my cows use more calories keeping warm and I get less milk. So to keep them more comfortable and the milk flowing, I frequently give them additional grain during bad weather, maybe an extra 3 pounds or so. Also, if you can give them warmer water they will drink more. Sometimes you can force them to drink more by throwing a small handful of salt on their hay to make them thirsty, if they aren't drinking what they normally do. Our winter has been pretty mild here so far, have only put them up for one 24 hour period so far, but have doled out extra grain several nights. You are north of me by quite a bit, so not sure if this would be economical for you to do.

[Joann]

I am having the same problem. I think 3cow's suggestions are about what I would also offer. It is such a problem. I too have been giving thought to sprouting grain but have not so far located any to sprout.

Joann

[Laura C]

As far as sprouting grains, last winter I went to considerable trouble to get seed oats for sprouting. I then discovered that the Semican Triple Cleaned Whole Oats would sprout very nicely. They are not treated with anything. Some whole grains are treated with a chemical or heat treated to prevent germination. You can just try a bag of whole oats, barley or wheat and see if they germinate.

[WoodSpryte Farm/Tiffany]

I dont dare up the grain. we did and they over loaded. in fact, on their same dose this am i seen allot of grain in their poop.
as for water we have a great tank heater, that actually keeps the water so warm that the snow and ice melt up to 2" away from the tank. the water is warm warm warm and you can see the steam raising off. checked to see if they had pooped in it, didnt see anything wrong. I guess if it continues I will empty the tank again and see if that helps. we do add minerals daily and salt several times a week.
Joanne.. i got a catalog in the mail other day for organic grain for field planting, but they sell smaller amounts I will see if I can locate it and let you know the name of the company. I do worry about input vs. output tho. it all sounds perfect and easy, but... just hoped someone had an idea that I was maybe not thinking of.

[Jenn]

I was going to suggest hot molasses water for a bed time snack.

-Jenn

[Manda]

all I can say is WOW to 2 cows producing 11 gals a day!! My hopes are just to be at 4gals a day when Fern comes into milk. Could they perhaps be holding back some wondering where their calves went or were they always seperated?

[3cows]

Tiff, I feel for you-- I know that you have customers to keep happy. Here I am spending time each day just finding uses for all the milk till we get enough calves on bottles. If you were closer I would gladly donate! Sorry I couldnt help.

[Deleted]

11 gallons each? Or between the two?

[Damon]

Enclose them at night with a little nightly meal of warm water soaked beet pulp. Beet pulp is a great source of energy that will help them keep warm....and soaked in water will up their water intake. The key to production is having them use their energy towards milk production. Sleeping outside in inclement weather takes energy from milk production into keeping their body warm. More hay/beetpulp/roughage and maybe a little extra grain (1-2# a day) will help with this.

[Janene]

BOSS is a good source of fat.....Maybe try top dressing with some calf manna until spring?
Just tossing some ideas at you.
Janene

[WoodSpryte Farm/Tiffany]

we add hot molassas water to their grain every feeding. have NOT tried BOSS, was doing calf manna but found this other stuff that they ate better, its some high fat (18%) i think) horse preformance stuff the vet told us about. seems to work ok. we did enclose them, they did good then got ornery toward each other. I guess we can put them back together for nites only. I tried beet pulp about a year ago on clarice and she wouldnt touch the stuff. but I will try it again and see if I can get them to eat it.
im open to new things.. this is what I was after trying to figure oiut a combination to make it work. its the up and down of the weather. so hard to keep up.