Anyone else having trouble with Southern States feed?

[Little Cow]

I bought the sweet 12% All Purpose feed for our cows (it is comparable to what we were feeding but our regular store was out of our regular brand before the holidays). I introduced it slowly. No mold, no foul smell, no discoloration. It's been stored properly, as far as I can tell. All the cows got the runs and our steer won't touch it. I stopped feeding it, contacted the manufacturer, and I'm letting the cows clear up before re-introducing their regular feed. What a mess!

No other symptoms. Just very loose stools and increased thirst. The ones that will eat it, weren't very enthusiastic.

My cows are not picky, so I fear something is actually wrong with the feed.

It sounds like the manufacturer is going to honor their policy about allowing me to return the uneaten bags. I have the lot and bag numbers for her. Has anyone else had any trouble?

 

[snake67]

I bought the sweet 12% All Purpose feed for our cows (it is comparable to what we were feeding but our regular store was out of our regular brand before the holidays). I introduced it slowly. No mold, no foul smell, no discoloration. It's been stored properly, as far as I can tell. All the cows got the runs and our steer won't touch it. I stopped feeding it, contacted the manufacturer, and I'm letting the cows clear up before re-introducing their regular feed. What a mess!

No other symptoms. Just very loose stools and increased thirst. The ones that will eat it, weren't very enthusiastic.

My cows are not picky, so I fear something is actually wrong with the feed.

It sounds like the manufacturer is going to honor their policy about allowing me to return the uneaten bags. I have the lot and bag numbers for her. Has anyone else had any trouble?

They may be a big company and they may not. There are indeed so many feed stores in the world.

However, it is highly unlikely due to the nature of this very, very international internet board that more than 1% of the participants here have even heard of this company let alone dealt with them.

Hope all works out for you

Bez

 

[LRTX1]

I haven't had any bad things come from Southren States feed. Maybe somebody will chime in that lives in the Southern US that has heard something.

 

[Little Cow]

I used their feed some when I lived in Virginia and don't recall any problems. If there was something going around, or a more persistent problem, I'm sure more people would have piped up. I'll chalk it up as "doesn't work for me". Thanks! :wave:

 

[Tim/South]

I buy their bulk cow feed and have never had a problem.

 

[chippie]

did you compare the ingredient label against the feed you used to feed?
We fed a mix that had more urea in it than our cow was used to, and she scoured. It made her stomach sore.

 

[Bigfoot]

Every single time I switch feeds it happens. Southern States feed is fine. I actually quit them on my bulk delivery because they were constantly making switches on ingredients. I feed a triple third now from a different company. It's very consistent. Southern states was causing me crap away all my profits. It wasn't the feed itself for me. It was there inability to bring the same feed every run.

 

[Little Cow]

Thanks for the responses. It appeared to be very similar, but checking the urea is a very good point. Some feeds are just more consistent than others. I'll stay away from SS and arrange for our local feed store to have regular orders of the feed that works best. Sometimes the holidays can get a little crazy.

 

[redcowsrule33]

Is it possible there was a mixing error and too much salt is in the feed?

 

[Little Cow]

That's an interesting thought. I hope to hear back from their quality control person today. I have the lot and bag numbers so if they do regular sampling, perhaps they can determine if there was a mixing error. If not, I can send some of the suspect feed.

BTW, I would never post anything about a company unless I had already contacted the company. In this case, they guaruntee their feed and will replace or reimburse. That's the sign of doing business right and I would still buy from them if they had a product I needed. I could have also involved my local feed store and leave it to them to get reimbursed. I'll mention next time I'm in, but I hate to take money from them. They are a mom and pop place that just gets by. This way, if a recall is needed, the company can do it.

 

[Little Cow]

Wow, I'm very impressed with SS. They are checking their samples and will call me back. I can send some of the unfed portion of the questionable bags, if they need it. Otherwise, very professional. If this were serious and I actually had cows with other signs, such as lethargy or fever, I have a lot of confidence in their ability to take action after speaking with their quality control person. All feed was stopped when the symptoms first showed up and the cows are clearing up now, so it does appear to be feed related. Maybe just wrong feed for my cows' nutritional status, we'll see. Anyway, good response by Southern States.

 

[TexasBred]

Wow, I'm very impressed with SS. They are checking their samples and will call me back. I can send some of the unfed portion of the questionable bags, if they need it. Otherwise, very professional. If this were serious and I actually had cows with other signs, such as lethargy or fever, I have a lot of confidence in their ability to take action after speaking with their quality control person. All feed was stopped when the symptoms first showed up and the cows are clearing up now, so it does appear to be feed related. Maybe just wrong feed for my cows' nutritional status, we'll see. Anyway, good response by Southern States.

May just be a mixing error ... too much protein. No unusual for it to happen from time to time. Could happen to anybody. Purina has more recalls than any feed company in the country so even the big boys mess up. work with them. They'll probably treat you right.

 

[Little Cow]

They checked their samples and no mixing errors. It isn't high in urea. I guess just a little richer than my normal brand. There is more to. it, sometimes than a simple comparison of protein, fat, et... percentages. I'm glad they got back to me. I'm goingt to re-introduce feed very slowly and mix their regular with 1/3 of the SS feed so I don't waste it.