What is the minumum protein hay to feed?

I asked this question as part of another thread and no one answered, so I will ask again. I am trying to work a question backwards.

What is the lowest acceptable amount of protein in hay that can be feed w/no supplements?

8% protine is just about as low as good grass hay gets.an im talking bout costal hay.not a field that dont have any worth while grass on it.anything lower an youll have to sup feed the cattle.most all types of straw hay test 8% or better.

Not enough info. Depends on what you're feeding it to.

A grown cow needs about 3 lbs. of protein per day. If the hay is very low in protein, she cannot move enough hay/fiber through her digestive system to meet these requirements.

Since protein aids in digestion, the cow will seem and act full with low protein hay and you will think she is satisfied, but in fact she is not.

I had some unfertilized ryegrass hay one year that tested at 4%. The pasture of cows that this hay was fed to lost some condition until I realized what was going on.

Watch the manure piles. They tell a story.

MikeC":3tvh1i0h said:

Watch the manure piles. They tell a story.

Click to expand...

I got me a bucket and set all day waiting for that manure pile to tell me the story. Nothing yet.
Could you help me to better understand how watch manure?

http://foragesoftexas.tamu.edu/pdf/ForageQuality.pdf

Kind of lenghty but indept information.

Short answer is 10+ for dry beef cows and 12+ for lactating.

alabama":3cj271kw said:

MikeC":3cj271kw said:

Watch the manure piles. They tell a story.

Click to expand...

I got me a bucket and set all day waiting for that manure pile to tell me the story. Nothing yet.
Could you help me to better understand how watch manure?

Click to expand...

The pile should never (as the old saying goes) be higher than the toe of your boot.

1982vett":3bpmb580 said:

http://foragesoftexas.tamu.edu/pdf/ForageQuality.pdf

Kind of lenghty but indept information.

Short answer is 10+ for dry beef cows and 12+ for lactating.

Click to expand...

That eliminates 75% or more of the hay in my area.

The following is about as good of hay as I can put up and was adequate without supplementing. It was also 3 years ago before the drought kicked in. If all of my hay was like like this I would hardly ever buy supplements.

Very nice hay Mike. Wish I had a few hundred bales just like it. Good job.

The question was without supplementing.

Nice hay test MikeC.

My best, and probably won't get another one like it, is this:

View attachment 1

I planted 15 acres of TexasTuff bermuda in 2005 and this was the second cut of 2006. The first cutting was baled April 17, 2006 to keep the ryegrass from choaking the bermuda. Fertilized it and the ryegrass started overtaking the bermuda again so I cut it again. The second cutting was baled on May 13, 2006. Made 62 4x5 rolls. Called them my 600# range cubes. Fed it like that also.

Maybe you can read this one

Brazos Valley Hay Show???? Was this sample from a "pampered plot" or representative of the entire 15 acre field? Very high crude protein but also a very high ADF relative to the TDN. Would like to have seen the NDF as well.

If I were buying hay and both samples were for sale I'd probalby buy Mike's as I'd have to really limit intake on the 20% hay and treat it more like alfalfa.

Not from a pampered plot. Might not have been a scientific way of getting a sample. Unrolled the roll and took handfulls along the roll. Try to take consistent size grabs without choosing a spot. It was probably 50/50 bermuda to ryegrass and the ryegrass is what I think gave it the punch.

Oh yeah...rye grass propertly fertilized will test 30% crude protein on a dry matter basis.

A dry preganat cow can get by on about 8% CP hay with no supplement. Once she calves the cow needs 12% CP hay if you do not want to supplement.