Group-feeding complete rations to lactating dairy cows

WITH MODERN RAPID MILKING techniques today's high producing dairy cows often are not in the milking barn long enough to consume sufficient concentrates to fulfill their energy requirements for high milk production. Elaborate concentrate feeding guides based on varying milk production levels are useless if the cow does not have time to consume her allotted amount. In many barns and parlors, the correct amount of feed is given to high producing cows but often some is left behind for the next cow. Some dairymen have attacked the problem by feeding a portion of the concentrates with roughage outside the milking parlor. A base amount of 5 to 10 lbs per cow is fed outside daily and the remainder is fed in the milking parlor.