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When I bought my first two bred Jerseys I knew I wanted to have grain-free dairy cows. It was really hard to find mentoring for how to implement this goal! Everyone I talked to said it couldn’t;t be done, Dairy cows were bred to NEED grain. SO, I thought if it was a need bred in then it could be bred out. I didn’t grain those first two Jerseys and kept the offspring that held condition better. Those who struggled were sold to people who understood they would have to feed her some grain. Each generation got better as I kept selecting for those that did well without the added inputs of grain. I supported them with high-quality hay, Alfalfa, and loose minerals. One day, while walking in the feed store I saw a stack of Black Oil Sunflower Seed (BOSS) bags for songbirds. I started researching and others were feeding this higher-fat seed to their dairy cows. The plant-based fat does wonders for their coats and cream line. I also found pea plant pellets at another feed store. Those don’t push production, adding more stress, but help hold condition due to the higher protein content. I saw huge improvements by Generation Three. We’ve never struggled with Milk Fever because that’s tied to grain consumption. We had Ketosis in the early generations but not now. I’m so glad I found a way to my goal. We can grow acres of grass hay but we can’t produce volumes of grain on our homestead.
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