Feeding Cattle

1. Manger

The manger must be designed in a way to reduce, as much as possible, feed losses and to make it easily transformable, if need be.

In case of local cattle sheds, a manger made of wood, metal or half of barrel is acceptable. Dimensions of a manger are as follows:

- Width: 60-80 cm

- Length equals to the whole width of the cattle shed

- Inside length 10-40cm

- Height from soil level to the manger: 80 cm

- Depth: 20 cm

 

2.  Feeding

• The cow is herbivorous. It is fed on grass from pastures, fodder crops, agro-industry by-products, or concentrates;
• Fodder crops for cows include: “Tripsacum, Setaria, Pennisetum, Desmodium and Alfalfa
• In case of zero grazing, one cow requires 30-40 Ares of fodder crops , graminae and associated legume plants per cow and per year according to whether fields are in marshland or on hillside;
• While fertilising fodder plantations, apply 10 tons of organic manure and 300 kg of inorganic fertilizer/Ha;
• Fodder must be partly put aside and preserved for bad season in form of silage or hay;
• Additional feed in form of concentrated feed must be provided for pregnant cows as of the seventh month of gestation, and for those in lactation period. This additional feed shall be either individual or collective. If milk production is more than 6 litres/day, just provide 0.5kg of concentrates per additional litre.

4. Production

According to breeding mode, traditional or modern, milk production per local cow and per lactation is 325 to 2,280 l/year

• 180 days of lactation: (traditional breeding): 325 l of milk ( minus calf consumption);
• 300 days of lactation (modern Breeding): 2,280 l, the calf consuming 350 L;
• The output of one slaughtered local breed cow (meat production) is 48 -50% of its total weight.

Production from other breeds available in Rwanda

	Sahiwal	Jersey	Brown Swiss	Friesian Holstein	Jersey Sahiwal Ankolé
Milk production( l)   Duration of lactation (days)   Output ( meat production)	2300   359     50%	2500   330     45%	4000   330     50%	5000   305     50%	3757   333     50%