HOBBY FARMERS BASIC NUTRITION FOR CATTLE（爱好农民基本营养的牛）.pdf

HOBBY FARMERS BASIC NUTRITION FOR CATTLE Thisfact sheet applies to beef cattle and applies in most hobby farm situations. The nutritional needs of dairy cattle are different so, if you have a house cow that you milk for home consumption, please seek advice on its nutritional needs. Cattle are ruminants Cattle, like sheep, goats and alpacas are “ruminants”. Their digestive system is very different from humans, dogs and horses, the key difference being the presence of 4 stomachs (3 in alpacas), the first of which is called the rumen. The rumen contains a lot of bacteria, protozoa and a range of other microbes that have the task of digesting the cellulose in the plants that cattle eat. The cow regurgitates, chews and then swallows the food several times in a process known as “ruminating” or “chewing the cud”. The combination of the microbes in the rumen and the cow chewing and re‐ chewing the food enables that food to break down sufficiently for the nutrients to be absorbed by the animal. Cattle owners need to understand that the microbial composition of the rumen fluid adapts as the type of feed changes – so it is especially important for any change in feed to be introduced gradually. A sudden change of feed (from dry feed to lush, from pasture to grain etc) can make a cow very sick very quickly and can even cause death. Pasture is best But not all pasture is the same! Many hobby farms have poor quality pasture, for a variety of reasons. Most commercial cattle farms in Tasmania have what is known as “improved pasture”. This means pasture species that are not native and that are selectively bred for various qualities – production (ie grows a lot of feed), palatability (ie the livestock will eat it) and recovery (ie it grows back quickly after being grazed). The more commonly used “improved pasture” species include clovers, rye grasses and va