**3.3.2 Feeding regime**

In most of these zero-grazing units, the forage types were mainly mature-wilted or mature non-wilted Napier (*Pennisetum purpureum*), Rhodes (*Cloris gayana*) or mixed wild grasses. Only in one of the units were the cows fed on succulent forages. The Napier grass was fed to the cows in chopped small pieces but the Rhodes and wild grasses in whole lengths without chopping. In addition to forages in 16% of the zero-grazing units, there were supplementations with succulent maize stover or Napier grass silage.

In 81% of the zero-grazing units, concentrate feeding was regular at every milking time which was at least 2-3 times a day and in some there was additional concentrates given to the cows between the intervals from one milking time to the next. In the remaining 19% of the units, concentrate feeding was very occasional and inconsistent, being done mostly for one week in a month only when the farmers had money after they were paid for the milk sales of the previous month. The concentrate feeds used were commercially available and were known as "*Dairy Meal*" (manufactured by *Unga Farmcare Limited, Kenya*). Information provided by the feed milling firm indicated that the average constituents of the concentrate feed were protein (15.5% to 16%), oils (6% to 8%), fibre (9% to 10%) and moisture (12%). The concentrates were in fine ground-grains physical form. In the zero-grazing units that provided regular concentrate feeding, each cow was fed with 6-8 kilograms per day. The zero-grazing units that provided concentrates only occasionally were also inconsistent with the quantities provided per cow. No single zero-grazing unit used any standardized concentrate to forage ratios.

Cows in 47% of the zero-grazing units were fed regularly (once per day) with 50-100 grams of mineral supplements and in 10% of the units they were fed *ad libitum*. In 40% of the units, they were occasionally (at most 1-2 weeks per month) supplemented with 50 grams of minerals per day. In the remaining 3% of the units, the cows were not given any mineral supplements at all. The mineral supplements given were the locally available commercial mineral mixtures for dairy production such as "*Unga High Phosphorus*" (*Unga Farmcare Limited, Kenya*) or "*Supper Maclick*" (*Cooper Kenya limited*). The standard mineral supplements used in these zero-grazing units averagely consisted of sodium chloride (18% to 20%), calcium (16% to 18%), phosphorus (11% to 12%), magnesium (2.5% to 3%), iron (0.5%), copper (0.16% ), manganese (0.4%), zinc ( 0.5%), sulphur (0.4%), cobalt (0.02%), iodine (0.02%) and selenium (0.0015%). The powdered mineral supplements were fed to the cows when mixed with concentrates, but the mineral-lick blocks were provided *ad libitum*.
