Field note · 3 min · 2026-09-07

Intake before the next additive

Penn State’s lever is dry-matter intake. A heating fresh TMR is an energy hole no bolus can cover.

If fresh cows leave refusals that smell hot, or heifers leave the lockup empty, the printed energy density is fiction.

Walk leftover feed, bunk inches, and night lying on the same day. Then talk to the nutritionist and veterinarian with a picture, not a product list.

Protect the bunk she can actually eat. That is the transition lever.

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