HOW TO TACKLE LIVESTOCK NUTRITION CHALLENGES IN THE WEST AFRICAN REGION

[@mmadimmadi8297]

Fred you rock, you're a true African patriot! ❤

[@kokyere2668]

Wow...a lot of information Guys thanks so much

[@simonakins]

💪🤞

[@chitwakasichula3240]

Interesting....quick question what is the maximum crude protein a dairy cow needs during lactation?early lactation, mid lactation and late lactation?

[@johnfrench4137]

Hi there. Crude protein during lactation should be around 16% for the total diet. That means that the balance of everything they eat should be around 16% (based on dry matter levels). But be careful, crude protein can easily deceive you. If there is too much volatile nitrogen (like with urea), then you can have an excess of nitrogen in the system while still having a deficiency of nitrogen available for fermentation. On the other extreme you can have what looks like enough or too much crude protein, but some of it can be locked up in the fibre such that it is not available to the rumen flora during rumen retention. So it is always good to follow your MUN (milk urea nitrogen) levels when determining if your crude protein is sufficient. While there may be differences in crude protein requirements at different stages of lactation, that only comes into play when you can control multiple diets with many options for how you feed the animals. So if you are on a tmr system with multiple teams and a large selection of raw materials, then you can fine tune the diets down even further. But I would recommend aiming for a 16% crude protein to cover your bases, and monitor MUN to know if you're in the right window. MUN's should be between 10-15 milligrams per deciliter. They will fluctuate based on grass/roughage levels, but that range is ideal to ensure there is enough nitrogen for microbial fermentation. Below that might lead to deficiencies and above to other health and fertility issues.

[@chitwakasichula3240]

@@johnfrench4137 thank you!!