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Department of Animal Science, North Carolina State University at Raleigh 27607
ABSTRACT
It appears that the blending of the concentrate and roughage portions of a dairy cow's ration is advisable in certain management situations. It allows the dairyman to control the concentrate roughage ratio in the ration without the extra labor and problems associated with the separate feeding of these ingredients. Fattening by cows during the latter stages of their lactations is one of the problems associated with ad libitum feeding of a single complete ration to the entire herd. However, limited evidence is presented to support the theory that deposition of some body tissue during this period may be desirable. Certain cow health and milk fat depression problems have been encountered by dairymen uisng complete feeds, but these difficulties seem to be more related to the physical form and roughage content of the rations than to the blending of the ingredients.
The following items would appear to merit special consideration by research workers in this area.
a) Development and evaluation of new sources of roughage, b) Re-evaluation of vitamin and mineral supplementation practices, c) Development of complete rations for dry cows and heifers, d) Evaluation of the long-term effects of feeding complete rations, e) Further study of levels of roughage needed during different stages of lactation, f) Development of methods for preventing health and fat-percentage depression problems related to the physical form and roughage-concentrate ratio in the complete rations, g) Development of suitable methods for handling and feeding complete feeds.
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