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Writer's pictureDr. P.K. Shrivastava

FEEDING DAIRY ANIMALS -ROUGHAGE (DRY & GREEN FODDER)

As we all (those who are into Dairy Business), know that feeding Dairy Animals with a balance ration, which includes dry fodder + green fodder + concentrate + mineral mixture + feed additives + water is most essential to gain the best health of animals and maximum milk production. However, such technical feeding system is generally not seen in India mainly due to the fact that majority of dairy animals are reared on low input-low output system, where the farmer feeds animals whatever is available with them, without caring what is needed for a dairy animal.


Second, there are instances where rich people rearing their dairy animals with passion and love, feed the animals with extra and unnecessary nutrients only to spoil the breeding physiology of the dairy dairy animals, which is mainly a result of ignorance.


Third, we find that dairy animals are fed on "common resources properties" (the pasture land-in India which is with forest department OR on the road side available grasses) and scanty concentrates (Cattle feed), mainly due to the low resources available at the farmers. As the common resource properties are depleting day-by-day, the animal is kept half fed and it produce milk according to its feeding, many good animals gets spoiled just because of deficient feeding.


Fourth, we observe that the dairy entrepreneur keep animals at the fringe of cities, to supply milk at high rate to elite customers in apartments and elite colonies, feed their animals mostly with concentrate mixed with dry fodder as they do not get the sufficient green fodder. This phenomenon also disturbs the animal physiology and they suffer with acidosis and could not remain healthy to produce healthy-milk, as the feeding material lacks a balanced ratio of required nutrients. The elite customers feel that they are getting a farm fresh healthy milk, which may not be healthy at all.


Therefore, I have coined my own slogan "Feeding, Breeding and Animals Management, rest is just arrangement"


If a dairy entrepreneur understands the meaning of the above slogan, he/she will be able to do Dairying successfully. Else like all others, he will also put the blame of loss making dairy business on then poor dairy animals, who can't speak and loudly cry to say that "you" lost in your dairy business only because you did not know the meaning of the above "slogan".


Over and above in India, the social media is bombarding wrong information day-in & day-out and the poor dairy farmers and dairy entrepreneurs get carried away with these videos and data sharing, of which most of them are fake or wrong, certainly not a science. There are videos on social media for manufacturing cattle feed of 25-30% protein in it, while no animal nutritionist will agree that the animals should be fed more than 16-18% protein in cattle feed, as it will spoil the animal. Not only in animals science, social media bombards wrong info in medical science also and boast to cure diabetes in 3 days, 3-5 inches tummy fat reduction is claimed though smoke in 4-5 minutes, a person grows 5-6 inches height in few months, such is the standard of our social media. When we viewers can be fooled, why not the easy mind farmers?


Keeping all these scenario in mind, I delivered 2 talks (1) on 03rd Oct 2023 and other (2) on 3rd November 2023 through M/s Agriculture information, Bangalore. Our basic aim to be associated with M/s Agriculture Information, Bangalore is to provide the free technical knowledge in correct doses to the needy farmers & dairy entrepreneurs, especially those, who still feel that they know that "how to rear the dairy animals healthy".


It is just to give an ideas that keeping animals in India is certainly not on technical standards, especially on following parameters;


(1) Feeding, (2) Breeding and (3) animal housing


On 04th of Sep 2023 I delivered a talk on "how to design shed /farm layout for 50 dairy animals", which was liked by many viewers. Most of the animals in India are kept under-fed, bred at the mercy of available semen with the Govt Animal Husbandry departments, hence the entrepreneurs should avoid copying the wrong floating data from social media and should avoid copying the old conventional patterns of rearing dairy animals to finally earn loses. They are here to do business and the maximum potential of the dairy animals should be achieved through proper rearing, feeding, breeding and animals management.


Please go through the following video, which speaks about DAIRY ANIMAL FEEDING- roughage (dry and green fodder). Animals' stomach is basically made for fiber-rich diet, not for feeding then ripened banana, loafs of bread, kilos of Jagary, home made Halwa-Puri, etc. animals relish green fodder, if you can afford to feed GAU MATA the green fodder, please feed and void those items which you or your ancestors preferred to eat. Our old traditions to feed dairy animals (especially Gaushala animals) with the items we like, spoils the animal's health. Please avid it.


I Dr PK Shrivastava, a veterinarian with experience on dairying for past 42 years, spoke on the subject FEEDING DAIRY ANIMALS -ROUGHAGE (Green and dry fodder) on 03.10.2023, you may like to see the video. Please use the link as URL and you get the video.




Published By

Dr Prem Kumar Shrivastava

Dairy Business Consultant, Bangalore

M/s Dairy Consultancy, India Bangalore

"Dairy Guru"

Email: dairybusinessindia@gmail

Ph: +91 8073147467 / 9448768472


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