Heifers nutrition
The 0 – 6 months period represents less than 10% of a dairy cow’s life but accounts for about 25% in terms of weight growth and 54% of height growth.
In the past decades, heifers and dry cows had very little consideration as they are unproductive animals, not generating any cash for farmers. This time is now behind them and the new approach is to adapt the nutrition of these animals to the farm objectives.
Full nutrition programs including nutrition of dry cow for a good colostrum quality (and consequently an improved heifer’s immunity), milk replacers and starter feed dedicated to heifers are now commonly used.
There are 3 main strategies for heifers:
- Early weaning strategy (6 weeks weaning)
- Standard strategy (8 weeks weaning)
- Intensive growing (> 950 g/day ADG)
Farmers can adapt their strategy according to different parameters of their farm: labor force, building capacities, grouped calving or not, feeding equipment…
The chosen strategy for heifers nutrition does not matter, all of them aim to first calving at 24 months which remains far from the current average age at calving in most of world’s countries
In all cases, investing in early-life nutrition permits to boost the future economical performances of farms.
Nursy
Nursy is a feeding program that ensures the growth of your animals. It combines milk replacers (Newean) and starter feeds (Nursy) to create custom feeding schemes, adapted to your herd management strategy and your needs. Whether you choose an early weaning strategy, a classical method or focus on high performances, there is a Nursy program for you!
- Program Flex combines Newean Comfort and Nursy Flex. These products are made for farmers looking for a good compromise between performances and labor. Weaning is done at 9 weeks of age with a weight of about twice the birth weight.
- Program Quick combines Newean early and Nursy Quick. These products are made for farmers looking for the maximum economic efficiency and the lower labor. Weaning is done at 6 weeks of age with a weight of about 1.7 birth weight.
- Program Advance combines Newean Forward and Nursy Advance. These products are made for farmers looking for maximum performance only. Weaning is done at 10 weeks of age with a weight of about 2.5 times the birth weight.
