It’s been over a year now since we switched the milking herd to no grain. Overall I can’t complain. The cows have stayed fat enough through the winter on their usual local grass hay and the Alfalfa pellets. We did have a harder time getting the cows bred this past year and it was suggested (in the cold weather) that our crude protein/energy ratio was unbalanced. To compensate we fed the cows some dried Molasses at milking. It did seem to help as several girls promptly cycled and bred. I was getting pretty desperate and we even bought a Jersey bull in case it was my AI technique that wasn’t working. (I’ve been semi successful for 10 years)
I do think the grain rations are easier to use and adapt to the cow’s needs. This is largely due to cost. To add fat or carbs to a grain free diet you’re going to easily spend $1+/lb in supplements that are often less absorbable. In contrast adding fat/carbs using grains is easily available and normal feed cost (.30-.70/lb).
As I’ve mentioned in our previous grass fed post, a cow’s body type and metabolism has more to do with her ability to transition to grassfed than her genetics (though genetics often impact body type).
A forage fed cow needs a lot of rumen space to adequately eat enough and have big enough fermentation vats to do the tough work of fermenting grass and forbes into usable nutrients. Our star players in the herd this year was a large Brown Swiss named Dona and my favorite Red Holstein named GiGi.
Dona not only bred back in five months and on the first attempt using sexed semen, she also maintained good/decent milk production for a 16 month lactation until 4 weeks before calving. She put on enough weight that she didn’t calve in thin, and has done excellent again this year since calving in early March.
GiGi is a beautiful short Holstein. She has an amazing udder, and particularly breeds to one Holstein bull. She freshened the end of July, I attempted to breed her to a different bull with no luck. She’s now bred for a September calf (to the AI bull she likes), milking her heart out like a fresh cow, and is roly poly fat before Spring has even started!
Neither one of these girls sport grassfed genetics or previous lifestyles. GiGi has tremendous depth of rib and is quite broad throughout. Dona has less depth and more height and definitely doesn’t get fat and shiny as much as Gigi, but I can’t complain about her performance!
And what about the Jerseys? Everyone wants a Jersey. Well, the Jerseys can switch easier because they’re smaller. It takes less volume of food for them to meet requirements because they typically weigh 700-950lbs, instead of my Swiss and Holstein that are 1000-1400lbs. On the down side, the smaller Jerseys often milk less, my son’s Jersey is probably only 750lbs and when she freshens she milks 4-4.5 gallons a day, but quickly tapers down to 2ish.
At the end of the day, you have to prioritize what you want from your cows and decide what you’re willing to do to achieve that. If you expect a cow (or sheep or goat) to produce excess milk, she’s going to need additional food/calories. The idea of a cow producing 3-5 gallons of rich creamy milk on average pasture is like expecting a woman to successfully nurse triplets while only eating a 2000 calorie diet of lettuce…it doesn’t end well.
Feed your cow well and you'll both be happy!
**phots are from last summer/fall