Feed requirements for dairy cows
How much energy dairy cows need each day — at maintenance, in milk and through late pregnancy. Worked out by the same engine that runs our calculators, from its cited requirement equations — AFRC 1993 for the most part, with CSIRO and New Zealand sources where they are the better reference.
Also asked about as milking cows, springers.
What these figures are, and aren't
- They are requirements, not allowances. This is what the animal needs to eat, not what to put in front of it. On pasture you have to offer more than this — for what gets trampled, fouled and left behind.
- Dry matter assumes 11 MJ ME/kg DM — a good ryegrass/clover pasture. On poorer feed the animal needs more kilograms for the same energy, and may not physically be able to eat them.
- Rolling country, no cold stress. Grazing costs energy on top of the housed figure, and steeper country costs more again. The calculator takes terrain and an optional cold-stress allowance.
- Protein is metabolisable protein (MP), not crude protein — what reaches the animal after the rumen, which is what the requirement is actually written in.
- Mature weight 600 kg. Gain gets dearer as an animal nears its mature size, so a lighter- or heavier-framed line reads differently — that's a setting in the calculator, and on a mixed mob it moves these figures by more than 10%.
- Whether the animal can eat this much is a separate question. A requirement is what hitting the target takes, not what fits in the rumen — and on fibrous feed the gut fills before the appetite does. The calculator checks that against the feed you actually have.
Maintenance — holding weight
What it takes to stand still: no growth, no milk, no pregnancy. Every other figure on this page is this plus something.
| Liveweight | Energy | Dry matter | Protein (MP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400 kg | 51.6 MJ | 4.7 kg DM | 224 g |
| 450 kg | 56.5 MJ | 5.1 kg DM | 244 g |
| 500 kg | 61.3 MJ | 5.6 kg DM | 264 g |
| 550 kg | 66.0 MJ | 6.0 kg DM | 284 g |
| 600 kg | 70.6 MJ | 6.4 kg DM | 303 g |
| 650 kg | 75.1 MJ | 6.8 kg DM | 322 g |
| 700 kg | 79.6 MJ | 7.2 kg DM | 340 g |
| 750 kg | 84.0 MJ | 7.6 kg DM | 358 g |
In milk
Daily requirement at a given liveweight and milk yield, at the class default milk composition (5% fat, 4% protein) — richer milk costs more energy per litre. Each cell is MJ of ME, with the dry matter that takes underneath.
| Liveweight | 5 L/day | 16.5 L/day | 27.5 L/day | 39 L/day | 50 L/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 kg | 80.7 MJ 7.3 kg DM | 147.6 MJ 13.4 kg DM | 211.7 MJ 19.2 kg DM | 278.7 MJ 25.3 kg DM | 342.7 MJ 31.2 kg DM |
| 450 kg | 85.6 MJ 7.8 kg DM | 152.6 MJ 13.9 kg DM | 216.6 MJ 19.7 kg DM | 283.6 MJ 25.8 kg DM | 347.6 MJ 31.6 kg DM |
| 500 kg | 90.4 MJ 8.2 kg DM | 157.4 MJ 14.3 kg DM | 221.4 MJ 20.1 kg DM | 288.4 MJ 26.2 kg DM | 352.4 MJ 32.0 kg DM |
| 550 kg | 95.1 MJ 8.6 kg DM | 162.1 MJ 14.7 kg DM | 226.1 MJ 20.6 kg DM | 293.1 MJ 26.6 kg DM | 357.1 MJ 32.5 kg DM |
| 600 kg | 99.7 MJ 9.1 kg DM | 166.7 MJ 15.2 kg DM | 230.7 MJ 21.0 kg DM | 297.7 MJ 27.1 kg DM | 361.8 MJ 32.9 kg DM |
| 650 kg | 104.3 MJ 9.5 kg DM | 171.2 MJ 15.6 kg DM | 235.3 MJ 21.4 kg DM | 302.2 MJ 27.5 kg DM | 366.3 MJ 33.3 kg DM |
| 700 kg | 108.7 MJ 9.9 kg DM | 175.7 MJ 16.0 kg DM | 239.7 MJ 21.8 kg DM | 306.7 MJ 27.9 kg DM | 370.7 MJ 33.7 kg DM |
| 750 kg | 113.1 MJ 10.3 kg DM | 180.1 MJ 16.4 kg DM | 244.1 MJ 22.2 kg DM | 311.1 MJ 28.3 kg DM | 375.1 MJ 34.1 kg DM |
Late pregnancy
A 500 kg dairy cow, counting down to calving. Most of the foetal growth is in the last few weeks, which is why the requirement climbs so steeply at the end.
| Weeks to go | Single |
|---|---|
| 8 weeks | 73.2 MJ 6.7 kg DM |
| 6 weeks | 79.0 MJ 7.2 kg DM |
| 4 weeks | 86.0 MJ 7.8 kg DM |
| 3 weeks | 89.9 MJ 8.2 kg DM |
| 2 weeks | 94.1 MJ 8.6 kg DM |
| 1 week | 98.5 MJ 9.0 kg DM |
Your stock, your feed
A table has to pick a liveweight and a diet quality. The calculator doesn't — put in your own weights, your target, the feeds you actually have, and it will tell you whether the diet gets there and which of energy, protein or gut fill runs out first.
Feedwise gives indicative models for decision support. It is not a substitute for a nutritionist or veterinarian — for animal-health decisions, talk to your vet.