Distillers’ Grains Work in Heifer Rations

By Ron Johnson Dairy Editor
Wednesday, October 1, 2008 9:19 PM CDT

Distillers’ grains can make sense as part of a ration for dairy heifers. Alvaro Garcia, a dairy specialist at South Dakota State University, says they can be blended with inexpensive ingredients like crop residues to make a ration that contains the right amount of energy and nutrients.

In one research trial, 16 pounds of wet distillers’ grains (WDG) were blended with 14.5 pounds of cornstalks. Adding 1.64 pounds of a vitamin-mineral supplement brought the cost per heifer per day to $1.19. That was $1 or more less than other rations the researchers tested.

What’s more, on that ration, the Holstein heifers grew slightly better than the benchmarks for their various ages. At nine months old, they measured 48.1 inches tall, bettering the “suggested” mark of 46.2 inches, Garcia reports. At 13 months old, these heifers were 50.5 inches tall, beating the suggested height of 50.4 inches.

One way to prepare a ration of WDG and cornstalks is to blend them in a total mixed ration mixer right before feeding. To minimizes sorting, Garcia suggested making sure the blend is wet enough, processing the stalks enough so they are not overly long, feeding the blend more than once a day, and making sure the heifers have access to plenty of water.

Another feeding trial used wet distillers’ grains, soybean hulls. Here, WDG made up 70 percent of the ration dry matter.

The hulls and distillers’ grains were blended and ensiled in plastic bags. The resulting ration dry matter was 49.7 percent, with crude protein at 21 percent. The silage had a pH of 4.1.

Garcia said the silage achieved “very good preservation” and was “very palatable,” too. In addition, Holstein heifers gained well.

Two other rations using distillers’ grains and soybean hulls were formulated, too. One contained 50 percent brome grass, 17.9 percent corn, 6.4 percent soybean meal, and 24.4 percent wet distillers’ grains. The next ration was 50 percent brome grass and 48.7 percent distillers’ grains, along with the usual vitamins and minerals.

The results of both rations were good: 2.75 pounds of average daily gain. Garcia called the gains “almost beef cattle.”

Goals

Whichever ration a dairy farmer or heifer grower chooses needs to built around two goals, Garcia says. One goal is earlier breeding. The second goal is returning profits sooner.

Heifers that are too small when they calve can create problems, he reminds. They can have difficulty calving, suffer from low conception rates, and milk below their genetic potential. Research has found that heifers weighing 1,161 to 1,274 pounds when they calve are prone to those difficulties.

Dairy cows in the Midwest often do not reach their genetic potential, according to Garcia. While many of them should be able to milk at around 30,000 pounds, they peak at 24,000 to 25,000 pounds instead.

“Large-frame” Holstein heifers, says Garcia, should weigh 775 pounds when they’re bred. A good average daily gain to shoot for is 1.9 pounds, so the heifers weigh 1,230 pounds when they calve.

But don’t focus solely on daily gain, he urged. Look at overall growth, too.

Research from Wisconsin and dating to 1996 found the “optimum” weight of Holstein heifers at calving to fall between 1,331 and 1,387 pounds, Garcia notes. That makes for an average daily gain of 1.7 to 1.9 pounds.

Heavier heifers run the risk of being overconditioned, Garcia says. That overconditioning means some feed was wasted on them.

Higher weights to be avoided are 1,444 to 1,500 pounds at calving, Garcia says. These weights can result from average daily gains of 2.1 to 2.3 pounds per day.

It’s probably best, says Garcia, to shoot for the National Research Council (NRC) recommendation. That’s an average daily gain of 1.9 pounds.

Benchmarks

He offered these “nutritional benchmarks to use to gauge the weights of Holstein heifers.

- From birth to breeding they should gain 1.3 to 1.8 pounds per day.

- From breeding to calving they should gain 1.9 to 2.1 pounds per day.

- Aim for a body condition score of 2 to 2.75 from birth to breeding.

- Shoot for a body condition score of 2.75 to 3.5 from breeding to calving.

- “Constantly” monitor the body condition scores.

Holstein heifers can be introduced to distillers’ grains when they are three to four months old, Garcia says. But he suggests waiting until they weigh 450 pounds before distillers’ makes up very much of their rations.

His official recommendation is to begin feeding large-framed Holstein heifers very much distillers’ grains when they weigh 467 to 522 pounds. By then the heifers should stand 43 to 44 inches tall at their withers, and 45.3 to 46.3 inches at their hips.

They should also measure 48 to 50 inches long at that time. And, says Garcia, the heifers should body condition score between 2.4 and 2.5.

At any rate, he recommends waiting to feed distillers’ grains in quantity until the heifers have achieved “good growth,” a “good frame,” and “larger rumen capacity.”

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