Page 43 - BCHNews-122023-Web

CHRISTMAS 2023  WC DAIRY NEWS 43
Nutrition Focus
Higher Milk Yield: A Palatable Robot Feed to Balance your PMR
Calvin Maarhuis, Dairy Sales Representative - British Columbia Chelsea Gordon, Ruminant Business Manager - Central Trouw Nutrition Canada
FIGURE 1 - FACTORS AFFECTING MILKING FREQUENCY
Robot feeding strategies often focus on the amount of pellet offered, the nutrients in the feed bunk (partial mixed ration or PMR) and the impact on robot visits. Too often we forget about the cow’s motivation to choose to go to be milked.
Several factors influence the cows’ visits to the robot (Figure 1). Focusing on motivation, nutrition plays a role in:
• Satiety
• Preference to visit the robot
• Milk production
Factors affecting milking frequency
We frequently find the cow’s satiety from the PMR impacts her desire to visit the robot, and therefore her ability to consume pellets (Figure 2).
Factors Affecting Amount of Pellet Consumed per Day
Palatability of the pellet is influenced by the ingredients and texture of the feed. Herds that have tried mash feeds at the robot tend to return to a commercial pellet (Salfer and Endres, 2016). Rodenburg and Wheeler (2002) identified that a high durability pellet resulted in more voluntary visits and higher milk production. When there are too many fines, or inconsistent grind size found in a mash/textured product,
calibration of the robot concentrate is challenging.
Pellet quality is not just about durability. High producing cows are usually fed more concentrate than lower producers. Meeting the nutritional needs of these top producers requires a pellet which is of higher nutritional density than the PMR. This not only supports the performance and health of these cows but also the producer’s financial performance.
Too often we forget about the cow’s motivation to choose to go to be
milked.
FIGURE 2 - FACTORS AFFECTING AMOUNT OF PELLET CONSUMED PER DAY
Cows
- Cow genetics - Milk speed
- Social order
Milk
production
Barn
- Cow traffic system / Barn design
Robot
- Cows/robot - % Free time
- Box time
- Milk access
NUTRITION
Feeding
- Time of feeding
- Push-up routine
- Palatable pellet
- Kg robot ration fed
- Kg milk fat
MILKING FREQUENCY
Health
- Lameness - Mastitis
- Metabolic
Cow comfort
- Clean, dry and comfortable - Access to feed, water,
stalls & robot
Cow factors
- Days in milk
- % 1st Lactation
- No. fetch cows
Amount Pellet Consumed per Day
Small amounts of quality robot concentrates can effectively be used to motivate cows into the robot. This allows the nutritionist to provide more nutrients at the bunk where it is most cost-effective in the total feed program.
Feed Table / Amount Offered
Dispensed Feed
Max Pellet per Visit
Number of Visits per Day
Left over feed
in trough dispensed for another animal (Robot cannot track this!)
Traffic Flow System
Feeding System
DIM
Milk Production
Rest Feed / Feed Not Consumed
Box / Stall Time
Dispensing Rate / Feeding Rate
Milk Access / Permissions
Milk Production
DIM
Time between milkings
Time available at robot
Cow behaviour around robot / lameness etc.
Free Flow Guided Flow
Conventional (PMR and robot pellet)
Simple
(free choice forages and no mixer wagon);
no PMR
Pasture
Whatever your goals are, you can count on us to help you achieve them.
YOUR ROBOT
HERD
partner
LEARN MORE about
our robot herd approach at
YourRobotHerdPartner.com