Best way to get cows to come out of the thick trees

[cmf1]

So I'm going to give these cubes a try. Is there any consensus on which cubes the cows like the best? I went to tractor supply to try to purchase the ones that were posted earlier in the thread but my local store didn't carry them nor anything like it. It looks like I will have to order the cubes. If I have to order them I'd like to get the best ones. I'm looking for something that my cows will run to like it's candy. Which cubes do you guys think are the best? What have you tried with good results?

Thanks

Nutrena

 

[Angus Cowman]

Get a better set of dogs

 

[skyhightree1]

My cattle don't like range cubes.. They will eat them after a while but for sweet feed and fine screen corn they will leave a hoof mark on your forehead if you aren't careful.

 

[Rafter S]

So I'm going to give these cubes a try. Is there any consensus on which cubes the cows like the best? I went to tractor supply to try to purchase the ones that were posted earlier in the thread but my local store didn't carry them nor anything like it. It looks like I will have to order the cubes. If I have to order them I'd like to get the best ones. I'm looking for something that my cows will run to like it's candy. Which cubes do you guys think are the best? What have you tried with good results?

Thanks

Any name brand (Purina, etc) should be fine.

Several people have mentioned getting troughs and using sweet feed, and I don't disagree. I suggested cubes because I thought it would be simpler, but if they aren't readily available in your area, then sweet feed may be the way to go.

 

[rynophiliac]

Does any company make sweet cubes? I'm looking for something small enough that I can feed the cows out of the palm of my hand and something sweet enough that will get the cows runnin to me when they see me coming.

 

[Deepsouth]

These are the one's I'm feeding right now. 24% protein. Not all the pellets are the same size and they can vary in size from different brands. These are about average size. If I had thought about it I would have taken some pictures when I was feeding and show you how much they love them.

 

[AllForage]

Here is another thread that just don't add up.

 

[M-5]

Here is another thread that just don't add up.

Can't get them out of the woods but wants them eat out of his hands .

 

[Brute 23]

Here is another thread that just don't add up.

Can't get them out of the woods but wants them eat out of his hands .

:lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

 

[Caustic Burno]

Range cubes. Feeding a couple of days then they'll follow you anywhere.

Plus get rid of the horse and dogs cause all the cows see is monster.
Nothing and I mean nothing is worse than a dog that doesn't know how to work cattle.

 

[Rafter S]

Nothing and I mean nothing is worse than a dog that doesn't know how to work cattle.

You're right about that. I used to work for a guy (in a non-cattle related job) who had some cows, and occasionally he'd ask me to help him work them. He had some "cow dogs". I remember a time or two when I'd have the cows calmly walking down the fence heading to the pens, and here would come his dogs and run the cows right back over me in the wrong direction. It takes a lot to get me mad, but that did.

 

[rynophiliac]

Here is another thread that just don't add up.

Can't get them out of the woods but wants them eat out of his hands .

The ranch is about 20,000 acres of high desert range land. We have some cows that hang by the headquarters water and they will eat hay out of our hands because they see us all the time. But the hay bill is getting pretty pricey and I would like to find something a little cheaper and something the cows like even more than hay if possible. The other cows that hang in the south end of the ranch in the thick trees wont even let me get close enough to them to throw them some hay. As soon as they see me coming they bolt for the woods.

I originally posted this thread trying to figure out how to get the wild cows out of the woods but all the recommendations about range cubes got me thinking about how I might be able to fix a different problem (my high hay bill). I hope this explanation helps this all to make sense. I won't be using the range cubes for the wild cattle (at least at first). In fact right now I'm looking into building trigger traps so I can catch them in a pen overnight and then feed them in the corral the next morning so they get used to being around me and maybe tame down a bit.

 

[rynophiliac]

These are the one's I'm feeding right now. 24% protein. Not all the pellets are the same size and they can vary in size from different brands. These are about average size. If I had thought about it I would have taken some pictures when I was feeding and show you how much they love them.

Hey Deepsouth,

What brand are those? I wanna look them up and maybe order a bag.
thanks

 

[Bigfoot]

Ryno,

How did you handle these cattle last year at gathering time?

 

[Brute 23]

Here is another thread that just don't add up.

Can't get them out of the woods but wants them eat out of his hands .

The ranch is about 20,000 acres of high desert range land. We have some cows that hang by the headquarters water and they will eat hay out of our hands because they see us all the time. But the hay bill is getting pretty pricey and I would like to find something a little cheaper and something the cows like even more than hay if possible. The other cows that hang in the south end of the ranch in the thick trees wont even let me get close enough to them to throw them some hay. As soon as they see me coming they bolt for the woods.

I originally posted this thread trying to figure out how to get the wild cows out of the woods but all the recommendations about range cubes got me thinking about how I might be able to fix a different problem (my high hay bill). I hope this explanation helps this all to make sense. I won't be using the range cubes for the wild cattle (at least at first). In fact right now I'm looking into building trigger traps so I can catch them in a pen overnight and then feed them in the corral the next morning so they get used to being around me and maybe tame down a bit.

Your on the right track. If you can pen them and feed them for a week or two. It just needs to be in a trap where they can see you. Drive there every day and honk or get a siren then feed them. Sweet beef is best in that scenario then ease them over to cubes. Train them just like any other animal you have.

 

[rynophiliac]

Ryno,

How did you handle these cattle last year at gathering time?

I hired several other cowboys and their dogs to go in with me. We got them out but it wasn't easy, pretty or cheap.

 

[Deepsouth]

Ryno, I'm not sure that range cubes will replace your hay. I don't actually feed mine range cubes. I just give them some every now and then to keep them interested in me. They are a high protein supplement and I know a guy that is finishing out some heifers by feeding them two pounds a day and they look good. They run anywhere from 18% protein up to 28%. I really don't know why y'all don't have them available out there. I aways figured it was because y'all have alfalfa. Purina and nutrina both make cubes and every feed store in the south sales several different brands. Around here they run $12 to $14 a 50lb bag right now. Thats really not that bad though because most of the steer feed around here runs about $8 a bag but is only 11% to 12% protein. So if you feed the same amount of actual protein the cubes are actually cheaper.

 

[rynophiliac]

Ryno, I'm not sure that range cubes will replace your hay. I don't actually feed mine range cubes. I just give them some every now and then to keep them interested in me. They are a high protein supplement and I know a guy that is finishing out some heifers by feeding them two pounds a day and they look good. They run anywhere from 18% protein up to 28%. I really don't know why y'all don't have them available out there. I aways figured it was because y'all have alfalfa. Purina and nutrina both make cubes and every feed store in the south sales several different brands. Around here they run $12 to $14 a 50lb bag right now. Thats really not that bad though because most of the steer feed around here runs about $8 a bag but is only 11% to 12% protein. So if you feed the same amount of actual protein the cubes are actually cheaper.

Hey Deepsouth,

thanks for the feedback. We don't feed our cows hay for feed or nutrition, it is strictly to help tame them down. They get all the nutrition they need (minus the mineral block licks) off the range land. We only feed them hay because they like it and they come running to it. And we like the interaction with the cows. I spend about $16 on a 100 lb bale of alfalfa, I split that bale about 5 ways and can throw it to about 5 small groups of cows. If I can get a bag of cubes for $15 and make the cubes last longer it may be cheaper and the cows may even like them better than the alfalfa. I'd like to at least try them and see if the cows like them. Thanks

 

[rynophiliac]

Probably what I need to do for those wild cows in the trees is build a little trigger trap and bait it with something that is sweet to the taste and cheap to the pocket book. If I can entice them into the trap with some sort of sweet feed then I can cull the real wild ones and try to work with the others to tame them down. I remember seeing one other rancher that had a big tub filled with some dark red/brown liquid and the cows would lick the rollers in the tub to taste the liquid. Does anyone know what that was? I think I really just need a good trap and something sweet and cheap that I can afford to keep there year round to get those cows to come in and tame down a bit.

 

[Brute 23]

Molasses

That is what makes sweet feed sweet. Lots of molasses.