Livestock Daily Feed
Calculator

It's primarily driven by body weight, production stage (growth, maintenance, lactation, or finishing), and the energy density of the feed offered, since a lactating or rapidly growing animal needs proportionally more intake than one at maintenance. Body weight alone gives only a starting estimate.

Expressing intake as roughly 2-3% of body weight (dry matter basis) scales the requirement appropriately across animals of different sizes, since a 300 kg animal and a 600 kg animal have very different absolute needs even on the same diet. This percentage varies by species, life stage, and feed quality.

The daily amount is calculated on a dry-matter or as-fed basis, but the animal's actual energy and protein needs are met by the feed's nutrient density, not just its weight. A daily amount that's correct for a high-quality feed can be inadequate if you substitute a lower-quality forage of the same weight.

Divide the dry-matter requirement by the feed's dry-matter percentage (a hay at 85% dry matter versus a silage at 35% dry matter require very different as-fed weights to deliver the same dry-matter intake). Skipping this conversion is a common source of underfeeding when switching feed types.

Treat the figure as a starting point and adjust based on body condition scoring over time, since individual variation, weather, and activity level all shift actual requirements. Consistently over- or under-conditioned animals signal that the daily amount needs adjusting.