Budgeting hay quanity

[Dusty Britches]

When I buy hay in the late spring, I've budgeted for 1.5 large round bales per cow for the winter. Is that the right calculation?

 

[bigbull338]

that sounds a tad low.i usuaqlly figure 2 bales pre cow.but then again i have alot of pasture.for safty sake id say 3 bales a cow tho.scott

 

[Crowderfarms]

that sounds a tad low.i usuaqlly figure 2 bales pre cow.but then again i have alot of pasture.for safty sake id say 3 bales a cow tho.scott

After the dry spell we went through this year, and lack of pasture, I'm figuring about 5 rolls per cow.We started feeding hay almost 2 months ago.I'm going to run out at the rate I'm going and have to go buy some more.

 

[skyeagle]

Good luck finding good hay. I don't see any for sale in
my area. Glad I had 20 left from last year.I aslo go with
two bales per cow.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Good luck finding good hay. I don't see any for sale in
my area. Glad I had 20 left from last year.I aslo go with
two bales per cow.

There's good Hay around for 20-25.00 a roll. On our big place, we had only one cutting. Sold about 75 rolls out of the field,for 20.00 a roll, kept over 150. Wish I never had sold the first one. We roll hay on some smaller places, but the yields were not that great.

 

[certherfbeef]

Our dry bales push 1700 lbs. Most the hay is ladino clover/timothy/orchard grass and the occasional stalk of alfalfa. We have somewhat harsh winters. We plan for 4 bales per mature bred cow. But normally only need about 2.5 bales per. One can never have too much hay going into winter.

 

[cypressfarms]

One can never have too much hay going into winter.

Cert, you can say that again.

We normally plan on three bales per cow per winter. But if your talking a 4' bale versus a 6' bale, that's a lot of difference. Most winters we have extra; last year we didn't, the spring grass came in later than usual.


We feed bermuda hay, and you can find it, but it'll cost ya $40/bale because of the dry summer.

 

[preston39]

dusty....,

Hay planning is a gestimate at best. If there is good fall moisture and stockpiling is part of the plan one can get by with 1.5-2 13-1500 pound bales per cow. We plan on pasture providing 1/3 or more of the winter hay feed needs.

We had good late growth this year...... even though it was dryer than normal mid sept thru November.......and are on grass with hay...which they are not eating yet. We don't know how bad the winter will be(Almanic has mixed reviews...but the caterpillars are heavy haired which suggest it may be cold) but I always plan for 2 1/5 bales per animal and have only once had to get a few more bales for the season. We had several bales left from last year which was under cover and we will feed that in dead winter.

 

[cypressfarms]

Preston,

I agree with you about the guestimate. There are a lot of variables that will affect how much hay to put up, like:

-length of winter and severity for your area
-your operation (if you fall calve, increase)
-if you have winter grass, like ryegrass, decrease
-hay rings will save you ~30% hay needed

There are a bunch of factors that will affect how much hay one needs. Sould have mentioned that earlier instead of just saying 3 bales per cow per winter.

 

[certherfbeef]

-hay rings will save you ~30% hay needed

We unroll the bales down the hill. More cows can get to it, they have a warm place to lay, the horned cattle don't get stuck in the rings, less mud in one area, and best of all I get a cheap re-seeding of that section of pasture.

 

[cypressfarms]

-hay rings will save you ~30% hay needed

We unroll the bales down the hill. More cows can get to it, they have a warm place to lay, the horned cattle don't get stuck in the rings, less mud in one area, and best of all I get a cheap re-seeding of that section of pasture.

Cert, I've seen some people post about this. Seems like a good idea, but I don't have the equipment. And we have no hills, so I couldn't just bring the bale to a hill top and roll down.

 

[dun]

-hay rings will save you ~30% hay needed

We unroll the bales down the hill. More cows can get to it, they have a warm place to lay, the horned cattle don't get stuck in the rings, less mud in one area, and best of all I get a cheap re-seeding of that section of pasture.

Cert, I've seen some people post about this. Seems like a good idea, but I don't have the equipment. And we have no hills, so I couldn't just bring the bale to a hill top and roll down.

I've seen people unroll it by pushing it with a tractor, one guy uses his truck. I've never developed the knack, all I do is skid it along the ground with an occasional clump falling off

dun

 

[southpaw]

We have a round bale unroller that works real well. It hooks up to the three point hitch and is ground driven. Spreads the bale out real nice and gives each cow plenty of room to feed. I think we paid around $1000 for it plus you'll need a hydraulic cylinder.

 

[dun]

Has anyone used the unrollers that run off the PTO or a hydraylic motor and unrolls it like the strips on the old coffeecans when you pulled one end, kind of screw shaped? How does it work, any problems?

dun

 

[southpaw]

A farmer we bought some hereford heifers from got one this year that I think your describing. It hooks up on the three pt. hitch and the motor turns the spear shluffing(spp.) off the hay. He likes it real well but it costs a lot more than the one we purchased.

 

[dun]

A farmer we bought some hereford heifers from got one this year that I think your describing. It hooks up on the three pt. hitch and the motor turns the spear shluffing(spp.) off the hay. He likes it real well but it costs a lot more than the one we purchased.

It kind of uncoils it rather then unrolls it? If so, that's the one I'm talking about. They sell them around here for a couple of hundred bucks and the direct ground unrollers run about half as much. I've seen both types and the uncoiler type seems to waste less hay.

dun

 

[southpaw]

Yep that's what it does, uncoils it. The only drawback to the ground driven one that we use is that you have to unroll it in the same direction that it was baled. So if the bale is on wrong you have to go in reverse to unroll it. Also it doesn't unroll bales made in an enclosed chamber type baler as well.

Not sure what you mean by wasting hay. Both put the hay on the ground in a similar fashion. Our cows get fed everyday and waste very little maybe 15-20% at the most.

 

[dun]

Yep that's what it does, uncoils it. The only drawback to the ground driven one that we use is that you have to unroll it in the same direction that it was baled. So if the bale is on wrong you have to go in reverse to unroll it. Also it doesn't unroll bales made in an enclosed chamber type baler as well.

Not sure what you mean by wasting hay. Both put the hay on the ground in a similar fashion. Our cows get fed everyday and waste very little maybe 15-20% at the most.

With the flat unrolled deal it alwasy seems the girls want the stuff that's on the far side and trample a lot getting to it. WIth the uncolied thype the strings of hay are only about 2-3 foot wide instead of 6 foot and it seems they're more content to eat whats in front of them instead of trying to get to the farhtest part.. But there are only a vo=couple of people around here that unroll or uncoil it so I don;t have more then a couple of each type to judge on. Most folks just use feeders so they don;t have to feed everyday.

dun

 

[southpaw]

Feeders turn pastures into quagmires and I try to keep the cows out of the mud as much as possible!

Our unroller is for 4X4 bales so the swath is only 4' wide. The cows really spread out to get access. Some will stay and eat at the beginning but some will follow the tractor until the whole bale is unrolled then stop and eat.

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

<chuckle> I think I'm gonna move south. 1.5 bales per cow for the winter? Dang

Up here in the frozen north, I figure on a cow eating 3% of her body weight per day. So that calculates out to approximately her weight in hay every month. 1200 lb cow eating ~1100 lbs of hay. Then I add 60% for error, and for backgrounding her calf to 800lbs. So 1900 lbs of hay per month per small frame cow. If you don't feed the calves any grain, count on a couple hundred more pounds of feed per month.

BTW, we feed between 6 and 8 months out of the year. I wish I could get away with 1.5 bales per cow per winter, lol.

Rod