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fodder requirements

  • 13-11-2010 09:37PM
    #1
    iano93
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 182 ✭✭


    Lads am doin an Ag science project for the leaving cert.. Could you please give me an approximation on:
    1. How many t (tonnes) of pit silage a lactating cow will eat/needs in a month?
    2. How many t of pit silage a dry cow requires per month?
    3. How much pit silage a weanling and
    4. a sheep need per month?
    Just want a rough idea the ag science teacher (who grades them) isnt a farmer so u know yourself just an approximation :D..Thanks


Comments

  • #2
    blue5000
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 13,064 Mod ✭✭✭✭blue5000


    cow will eat about 1.25 tons silage per month
    no idea about the sheep.
    weanlings eat 2% of their weight in DM per day, so the bigger they are and the less meal they get the more silage they eat, ballpark is about 0.75 ton per month,
    but hopefully if I'm wrong someone else on here will correct me.

    If the seat's wet, sit on yer hat, a cool head is better than a wet ar5e.



  • #3
    Bizzum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,034 ✭✭✭Bizzum


    Teagasc used to be fond of throwing around this information like snuff at a wake!
    They are probably worth a look.


  • #4
    sh1tstirrer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,485 ✭✭✭sh1tstirrer


    http://www.ruralni.gov.uk/pub41_dpdb.pdf

    • Assess the amount of forage necessary to carry various classes of stock through the winter - see Table 1.
    • Estimate the amount of forage available on the farm - see Table 2.
    (Forage balance sheet in Appendix 2 and 3 at the back of this booklet)
    • Have the silage analysed to determine ME and intake characteristics, that is, feed value.
    Table 1: Monthly feed requirement for various classes of stock
    Silage Small hay/ Hay/straw
    (tonnes/month) straw bales/month 1.3m round bales
    DAIRY COWS
    - milking 1.5 17.0 1.25
    - dry 1.0 10.0 0.75
    SUCKLER COWS
    - Dry spring calving 1.0 10.0 0.75
    - Autumn calving 1.2 14.0 1.0
    OTHER CATTLE
    - 350kg + 1.0 10.0 0.75
    - 250-350kg 0.8 8.0 0.6
    - 200-250kg 0.7 7.0 0.5
    - calves 0.3 4.0 0.3
    EWES 0.15 2.0 0.15
    Note: Assume grass silage dry matter content of 22% - adjust intakes for different silage dry matters.
    • The quantity of silage eaten will depend on concentrate feeding level and silage intake potential.
    • A 600-650kg dairy cow would be expected to eat 1.5 tonnes per month of silage with an intake potential of 85-90.


  • #5
    iano93
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 182 ✭✭iano93


    Thanks gr8 help


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