A cow gives more milk when she eats enough balanced feed, drinks clean water all day, and stays cool and healthy. Feed her for the milk she gives, not the same amount for every cow. No powder or injection can make up for an empty stomach.
1. Give enough feed, and the right feed
Many cows are simply underfed, or every cow gets the same amount whether she gives 5 litres or 15. A milking cow needs two parts in her daily feed:
- Upkeep: what keeps her body going. With plenty of green fodder, about 24–25 kg of green fodder a day. With only dry fodder, 8–9 kg of dry fodder. With no fodder at all, 7–8 kg of complete feed.
- Milk: about 0.8 kg of Truemeal TMR-E complete feed for every litre she gives, on top of her upkeep. A cow giving 10 litres needs about 8 kg for her milk.
These amounts are for TMR-E. Another feed has its own amounts, so follow what its bag says.
Feed also needs balance: energy (grains), protein (oil cakes and meals), fibre (fodder) and minerals. Too much of one and too little of another holds milk back. A complete feed brings all four mixed together, so the cow cannot pick out only what she likes.
Make my free Feed Plan — it does these sums for every cow on your farm.
2. Clean water, all day
Milk is mostly water. A cow that cannot drink when she wants gives less milk. Keep clean water in front of her all day, clean the trough every day, and give more in summer. Read more: Clean water, always.
3. Change feed slowly
A sudden change of feed upsets the stomach, and milk can drop for days. Move to any new feed over a week: Switch to TMR feed over a week.
4. Keep her cool and comfortable
Heat cuts milk. In summer give shade and moving air, and sprinkle or wash the cows in the hottest hours. Give a dry, clean floor and room to lie down. A cow lying down and chewing the cud is a cow making milk.
5. Milk at the same times, and milk out fully
Milk at the same times every day, calmly, by the same person if you can. Milk out completely: the last milk out of the udder is the richest in fat. Noise, beating or a rushed milking can hold milk back.
6. Watch her health
- Udder hard, hot or swollen, or clots in the milk: this can be mastitis. Call your vet early.
- Worms and ticks: deworm and treat as your vet advises.
- Vaccinations such as FMD (foot-and-mouth disease): on time, as your vet or the animal husbandry department advises.
- Not eating, fever, or a sudden fall in milk: call your vet.
7. Care before and after calving
How much milk she gives in a whole lactation depends a lot on the weeks around calving. In pregnancy, give extra feed a day: +1 kg in months 1–3, +2 kg in months 4–6 and +3 kg in months 7–9. Read: Feeding a pregnant cow or buffalo. Give her a dry rest before she calves; about two months is the usual advice. After calving, raise her feed step by step as her milk rises. If your cows have had milk fever before, ask your vet what to do before the next calving.
8. Know her limit
Every cow has a limit set by her breed and age. A local cow will not give as much milk as an HF cow, however well she is fed. Good feeding brings her close to her own best.
Does Milk Booster help?
Milk Booster is a sachet you sprinkle on her feed: 1 sachet a day for a cow giving up to 10 litres, 2 sachets above that. In our farm trials, milk started rising around day 7. It works on top of good feeding, not in place of it. See Milk Booster.
What not to do
Do not use injections, hormones or "milk powders" from unknown sellers to push milk up. Some are not allowed by law and can harm the cow. When milk falls, look for the cause first — feed, water, heat or health — and call your vet when you are not sure.
