Bamboo leaves

[Hereandthere7990]

If anyone has experience with feeding bamboo to their cattle please give me your experiences with it.
(what kind of bamboo, how much you feed, etc)

I have been granted access to a very large grove that needs thinning. In other countries it’s a staple for both grazing animals (sheep, cattle) and those that would readily go after leaves off a branch (goats).
I haven’t found much info about feeding it in the US though.

 

[TexasBred]

You probably have what we always called switch cane. Seldom gets any larger than your thumb and use to be used for fishing poles. Bamboo will get 4-5” in diameter and be 40 feet long. Leaves sof either should be ok if they will eat them but would question the nutritional value.

 

[Hereford2]

If it is the Switch Cane our Goats love the leaves, the cows won't touch it.

 

[sstterry]

If anyone has experience with feeding bamboo to their cattle please give me your experiences with it.
(what kind of bamboo, how much you feed, etc)

I have been granted access to a very large grove that needs thinning. In other countries it’s a staple for both grazing animals (sheep, cattle) and those that would readily go after leaves off a branch (goats).
I haven’t found much info about feeding it in the US though.

Where are you located? That will help answer your question.

 

[Hereandthere7990]

No this is red margin bamboo. Lol I’m not asking to identify the bamboo.
just curious others experience with feeding it.
there is plenty of video online of cattle eating bamboo leaves, and the more you expose them to it the more likely they’ll try it. My plan is to offer it in the morning- mid afternoon then give them their hay. Hopefully that will give them a little push to try it. If for whatever reason they don’t, I can feed it to my goats.
texasbred- yeah the large variety is moso. Used for lumber purposes.

 

[FungusProudKY31]

Imported bamboo is a grass species so it is going to be a common sense level of feeding. If you want to keep the stand alive you'll selectively drop bigger canes and leave some to feed the roots. If you want to eliminate it you'd drop all canes and graze or spray all new growth until you starve it out. Historic literature for our region tell of cattle being grazed in the switch canebrakes. It is like dallisgrass and is all the same genome (no genetic diversity of the species) , if that is the correct term. Some does get selectively larger and the native Americans were said to establish stands of the bigger type near villages.

I do not see either species being a huge producer per area measured.