Average hay consumption

[herofan]

How many round bales of hay do you expect cows to eat, per cow, in the winter?

Specifics: Cow is with calf, location is KY, average winter, round bales are 5x5 rolls, hay is fescue, orchard grass mix, no additional feed is given, and they roam a large area.

 

[cowboy43]

A cow needs about 3 per cert of its body weight in roughage a day, a 1000 lb cow needs 30 lbs of hay if it has no other source of roughage.

 

[greybeard]

Cowboy beat me to it but, it depends how bad the weather is but I figured about 30 lbs per day on wet cold nasty days when they need more energy. For every 5pr that's about 5 bales/mo.

 

[B&M Farms]

Don't forget waste and that can depend on how you feed. I figure 1 5x6 bale per month per cow/calf pair and usually have about 20% left over.

 

[jedstivers]

Also don't forget the weight of the bales. Most are a lot lighter than people think. If you can weigh some at random. Most big truck have scales. Doesn't cost much to much on them.
I weighed 26 on a load the other day thinking they would be 900-1,000. Averaged 800.

 

[1982vett]

How many round bales of hay do you expect cows to eat, per cow, in the winter?

Specifics: Cow is with calf, location is KY, average winter, round bales are 5x5 rolls, hay is fescue, orchard grass mix, no additional feed is given, and they roam a large area.

I guess it depends on your operation and a good bit on location. Looks like I fed about 52,000 lbs to roughly 60 head (not counting calves) between late Nov and Mid-Feb last winter. That kind of surprises me. I didn't think I fed that much.

Looks like winter before that I fed 5,000 Lbs. to 54 head (not counting calves). Both years I planted 35 acres of oats...@~$100 and acre.

We won't talk about what I fed during the Summer of 2010 through the end of 2011.

 

[fenceman]

How many round bales of hay do you expect cows to eat, per cow, in the winter?

Specifics: Cow is with calf, location is KY, average winter, round bales are 5x5 rolls, hay is fescue, orchard grass mix, no additional feed is given, and they roam a large area.

I guess it depends on your operation and a good bit on location. Looks like I fed about 52,000 lbs to roughly 60 head (not counting calves) between late Nov and Mid-Feb last winter. That kind of surprises me. I didn't think I fed that much.

Looks like winter before that I fed 5,000 Lbs. to 54 head (not counting calves). Both years I planted 35 acres of oats...@~$100 and acre.

We won't talk about what I fed during the Summer of 2010 through the end of 2011.

Vette that's very good mileage your getting imo. Are you grazing stockpile along with the oats and hay,?

I usually try to have a roll per day per twenty head going into winter and usually come out with a pretty good surplus.

 

[tom4018]

If they are good 5x5 bales a average winter here in KY would be about 5 bales. A lot depends on the quality.

 

[1982vett]

How many round bales of hay do you expect cows to eat, per cow, in the winter?

Specifics: Cow is with calf, location is KY, average winter, round bales are 5x5 rolls, hay is fescue, orchard grass mix, no additional feed is given, and they roam a large area.

I guess it depends on your operation and a good bit on location. Looks like I fed about 52,000 lbs to roughly 60 head (not counting calves) between late Nov and Mid-Feb last winter. That kind of surprises me. I didn't think I fed that much.

Looks like winter before that I fed 5,000 Lbs. to 54 head (not counting calves). Both years I planted 35 acres of oats...@~$100 and acre.

We won't talk about what I fed during the Summer of 2010 through the end of 2011.

Vette that's very good mileage your getting imo. Are you grazing stockpile along with the oats and hay,?

I usually try to have a roll per day per twenty head going into winter and usually come out with a pretty good surplus.

Usually have winter grasses that come along if we get decent rains. We get burned by frost but in a couple days it's greening back up (unless it's January and February). The oats is the ace in the hole. I wasn't around every day year before last to manage grazing so they had full access to one of 3 oats patches. Last year I was trying to manage "the runs" by feeding some hay. It also took constant pressure off some pasture. I've also got 100 or so bales of over matured oat hay from 2012 I am trying to get out of the barns.

Being under stocked, I'm not having to keep hay out in front of them.

 

[herofan]

If they are good 5x5 bales a average winter here in KY would be about 5 bales. A lot depends on the quality.

That's the number I fed last year.

I asked because shortly before we started back 5 years ago, we had a couple of local farmers tell us to expect 10 rolls per cow during the winter. We were a little nervous about coming up with enough hay, but we've never fed that much; it's averaged about 5 rolls. I guess 5 is in the normal range.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

I like to have 7 900lb rolls per cow. Most years I have 2 to 3 per cow left at spring time unless we have an unusually cold winter. The last bad one we had was the winter 2009-2010. It snowed the first of December and I did not see the ground again to the middle of March. I had 8 rolls left at springtime and I had started with 150 for 22 cows. That is much closer than I like to cut it. Some years the ground is not covered but a couple of weeks and I can get by with nearly half that much hay.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

If they are good 5x5 bales a average winter here in KY would be about 5 bales. A lot depends on the quality.

That's the number I fed last year.

I asked because shortly before we started back 5 years ago, we had a couple of local farmers tell us to expect 10 rolls per cow during the winter. We were a little nervous about coming up with enough hay, but we've never fed that much; it's averaged about 5 rolls. I guess 5 is in the normal range.

They might have had some of those little 3x4 bales that the old Heston balers rolled. There could not be 350 lbs of hay in one of them.

 

[Supa Dexta]

10 would be more in line up north, being 4x5 soft core bales, 450-500 lbs a piece. I feed longer than many and plan on 7 or 8 4x5 hard core bales, around 1000lb a piece.

 

[Banjo]

If I had to feed just 5 rolls of hay per cow for the winter I would be out of business, much less ten. That's buying it.
If I had to grow it, it would take over half the farm just to grow hay.

 

[greybeard]

If I had to feed just 5 rolls of hay per cow for the winter I would be out of business, much less ten. That's buying it.
If I had to grow it, it would take over half the farm just to grow hay.

You saying you get by on a lot less than 5/cow?

 

[Banjo]

If I had to feed just 5 rolls of hay per cow for the winter I would be out of business, much less ten. That's buying it.
If I had to grow it, it would take over half the farm just to grow hay.

You saying you get by on a lot less than 5/cow?

Yes....But I've been able to graze until the middle of Feb. for the last three years doing rotational grazing. And I'm also swimming in fescue.
Last year I think I fed hay 32 days.

 

[Supa Dexta]

I feed from oct to may and stay in business just fine.

 

[herofan]

If I had to feed just 5 rolls of hay per cow for the winter I would be out of business, much less ten. That's buying it.
If I had to grow it, it would take over half the farm just to grow hay.

You saying you get by on a lot less than 5/cow?

Yes....But I've been able to graze until the middle of Feb. for the last three years doing rotational grazing. And I'm also swimming in fescue.
Last year I think I fed hay 32 days.

That's rather amazing for KY, especially with the winter we had last year. How many acres of pasture do you have per cow?

 

[Bigfoot]

I retire in about 4 years, when I do, I'll have time for some of this MIG stuff. When I get closer to the date, I'd like to come over and see how it goes.

 

[Stocker Steve]

You saying you get by on a lot less than 5/cow?

Yes, I did back when I had only two cows.
But, now I have to feed a larger herd that is usually out of stockpiled forage in November or December.