Alfalfa only

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JC Man

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Weird year, where I am (SE IDAHO) can only find Alfalfa for sale locally. Feeding a couple hundred dry cows due to calve in March. Usually I buy a bunch of 3-way or grass and mix it with high quality alfalfa, increasing the alfalfa content as the winter progresses but always leaving about half the ration as grass, 3-way, or straw.

We had late frost and it killed most the 3-way and grass. Nobody around here has any. Somehow the Alfalfa did really well and is cheap - bought 100 ton for 100$ a ton).

Am I ok to feed only alfalfa this year? Any concerns I should be aware of? Energy issues?
 
I guess it will depend on the quality of the alfalfa?? High protein is going to go right thru them. I'm not a good one to explain it (hubby was my nutritionist), but I believe they need more energy vs protein. They are going to be loose as a goose!! Dry cows only need like 6-7%? protein. But, you said you have grass (or did you mean grass hay?). I think you have a right to be concerned if it is normal high protein alfalfa. Can you get some cheap filler pellets? or even just ground cob corn?
 
$100 alfalfa is really cheap. Here on the Oregon/Idaho border it is $160. I see grain hay (oat, barley, or trit) for $90-$110. Either find some real stemmy over ripe alfalfa to add fiber to the diet. Or get some grass or grain hay from further west and pay the freight. You got the alfalfa cheap enough to pay more to have something shipped in and still have an afford able ration.
 
My only concern (and this may sound dumb) we have had some 8/9mo bred cows slip calves when we started feeding them straight 4th cuttings premium alfalfa. They get a belly ache from to much protein and strain when they poop.
 
JC Man said:
Weird year, where I am (SE IDAHO) can only find Alfalfa for sale locally. Feeding a couple hundred dry cows due to calve in March. Usually I buy a bunch of 3-way or grass and mix it with high quality alfalfa, increasing the alfalfa content as the winter progresses but always leaving about half the ration as grass, 3-way, or straw.

We had late frost and it killed most the 3-way and grass. Nobody around here has any. Somehow the Alfalfa did really well and is cheap - bought 100 ton for 100$ a ton).

Am I ok to feed only alfalfa this year? Any concerns I should be aware of? Energy issues?
Click to expand...
What is 3-way hay?
 
At calving time I try to keep cow feed down to about 50% alfalfa and the rest of the ration is pasture or grass hay. Too much alfalfa in the cow diet seems to cause more scours in baby calves.
 
Once we get filled up with 80 cows here I feed 12 big squares of grass hay and 2 big squares of alfalfa a week. Alfalfa gets fed on Wednesday and Sunday. And it sure isn't premium alfalfa. Just average run of the mill 16% protein hay.
 

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