Hur inverkar olika andel vallfoder i utfodringen på produktion, hälsa och beteende hos mjölkkor?
Cows are ruminants and they need fibers in their feed and sufficient eating time to function psychologically and physiologically. Many of our cows don?t get enough forage and too much concentrates, which given in the wrong way may cause health and behavior problems. Too much concentrates at once makes the pH in the rumen sink and this may cause decreased fiber utilization since the microbes in the rumen are negatively affected by this. The cow may also get serious problems such as laminitis and abomasal dislocation. The milk yield and its protein and fat contents is also affected by the amounts of concentrates and forage in the diet. To walk around for hours and graze is a part of the cows? natural behavioral repertoire. Concentrates and a small amount of forage are finished too quickly by the cow and she doesn´t get her feedseeking behavior satisfied. This may cause her to develop stereotypic behaviors since she doesn´t have anything else to do with her time. Cows should be given a lot of forage but since they can´t produce enough milk from this they need to be given some extra energy in the form of concentrates. It is not an economically favorable situation for the farmer to give only forage, and since a higher amount of concentrates increase the milk production you can understand why they choose to give this. Increased knowledge about the consequences of feeding the animals in the wrong way is important to avoid disturbances in the production, diseases and a decreased animal welfare.