How can you increase milk production from a cow at home?

Everyone who keeps a cow would like it to give a lot of milk. After all, it depends on whether its maintenance will be cost-effective and profitable. Let's look at how you can increase a cow's milk yield at home with the help of rational feeding, caring for the animal, creating optimal living conditions, taking care of health and proper milking.

What and how to feed

The foods that the cow eats affect the composition, taste, fat content and mineral content of the milk produced. Despite the fact that cows are herbivores, they cannot produce much milk on grass and hay alone. As feed, they need grain and grain waste, pulp, meal, cake and molasses - sources of carbohydrates and protein, vegetables and root vegetables - sources of vitamins and mineral elements. And also chalk, salt and feed sulfur, meat and bone meal and milk powder as mineral supplements.

In the diet of domestic cattle, not only variety is important, but also the ratio of roughage and succulent feed and concentrates. In order not to prepare the diet yourself, you can feed the cows with compound feed. It has an optimal composition, all components and their proportions are selected so that the product brings maximum benefit to animals. Feeding frequency is 3 times a day, the same number of times you need to milk. The distribution of food must be timed at certain times so that the cow gets used to it and her digestion is activated by this moment.

Proper launch and distribution

Start-up is a gradual reduction in milk production before calving. It is necessary so that the animal has time to regain strength and prepare to feed the next calf. Pregnant cows are prepared for childbirth by stopping milking a month before this event.

After calving, you need to feed the cow a little more feed than usual. The first week after giving birth, the cow produces only colostrum, which the calf drinks. He can be kept close to his mother. When the milk starts flowing, the animal needs to be milked 5-6 times a day, at equal intervals.Be sure to massage the udder before milking. Milk quickly and vigorously, milking all the milk from the udder so that it does not stagnate.

Attitude towards the cow

An aggressive attitude towards a cow, screaming and beating are unacceptable. The animal perfectly senses a person’s mood; when under stress, it can resist milking and quickly reduce milk yield. And, conversely, in a good mood, a cow will allow the milk to be completely milked from the udder. It won’t hurt to talk to her before milking, pet her, or give her something tasty.

Consumption of large volumes of water

In addition to feed, livestock need water. Liquid is the basis of milk; if there is not enough of it, you should not expect large milk yields. A cow needs to drink 100-150 liters of water per day; to produce 1 liter of milk, 4-6 liters are required. The liquid should be warm in winter and cool in summer, always clean and fresh.

Use of probiotics

Probiotics promote normal functioning of the stomach and intestines. To normalize and improve the microflora of cattle, these drugs are given. They stimulate metabolic processes, increase the efficiency of the cow's body using nutrients from food, and strengthen the immune system.

Maintaining a milking schedule

Cows produce milk constantly, and therefore the milking regime affects the productivity of the animal. Cattle are milked at least 2 times a day, usually in the morning and evening; you can milk 3 times (recently calved and very milky animals). You can increase milk yield only by adhering to the milking regime.

Calving Season Planning

Animals that calve in winter produce 7-10% more milk than those that gave birth in spring, summer and autumn. Timing the birth of a calf during the winter months can naturally increase milk yield.

Proper milking technique

It has already been said that you need to milk all the milk from the udder. This task is handled well by a milking machine, which removes milk from all 4 lobes at once. If there is no device, you need to milk the front and rear quarters by hand until the milk stops flowing.

Udder hygiene

Before milking, the udder must be washed with warm water and wiped with a cloth. Then a light massage is done, and after the procedure is completed, the nipples are wiped. If the skin of the udder has damage, abrasions, cracks or is dry, it is lubricated with a special cream.

It can be purchased at veterinary pharmacies. The creams act quickly and effectively and do not contain harmful substances.

Increased daylight hours

For animals during lactation, it is necessary to maintain a lighting duration of 16 hours. Artificial lighting in autumn and winter slows down the secretion of melatonin and thereby increases milk yield by 8%. If the windows cannot provide light comfort, artificial light lamps must be used. Of course, you will need to spend money on electricity, but this will pay off in increased milk yield.

Fresh air consumption

The cleanliness of the air that animals breathe is also important. Whenever possible, they should be allowed outside, even in winter, if there is no frost. When animals are in the barn, it should be ventilated every day.

Proper grazing

With grazing, cows go out to pasture every day. The distance to it should not exceed 2-3 km. Animals need to be moved to a new place 2-3 times a day so that they can eat. The total duration of grazing is 8-10 hours.

With proper organization of grazing in summer, milk yield increases by a third.

Temperature maintenance

Being in a cold room, cattle spend a lot of energy on heating.The temperature in the barn in winter should not fall below 10 °C. Drafts are eliminated, which harm animals even more than cold. In summer, the barn should be cool, no higher than 25 °C. This is achieved by using a ventilation system or ventilation.

Regular health monitoring

The reasons for a decrease in milk yield can be diseases: mastitis, paresis, cracks in the skin of the udder, gastrointestinal pathologies. Bringing an animal back to health may not be easy; the treatment process will take a long time. To prevent this from happening, you need to monitor the animal, conduct veterinary examinations, and vaccinate. A caring attitude towards livestock will allow you to identify a disorder or disease in time and begin treatment.

A reduction in milk yield can also occur due to such a defect as self-milking in cows. To eliminate the bad habit, a special device is put on the animal’s face, which prevents it from drinking milk, but does not interfere with the absorption of food.

Increasing the milk yield of livestock at home is an entirely achievable goal. To stimulate milk production, the livestock breeder has a lot of ways at his disposal. This includes proper feeding, organizing optimal living conditions, grazing, proper milking, and protecting health. A good owner who takes care of his animals does not have problems with the amount of milk he receives.