Cheapest Supplement

[britej]

I have read on here for a while and have a couple of questons:

*What is the cheapest way to supplement hay?? range cubes?? tubs???

and

is it even worth supplementing hay??? I have bahaia grass hay, so I am sure it's not largely potent. but I have read you guys saying 'u rip your profit everytime you rip a feed sack'.... do yall supplement?

 

[Howdyjabo]

If you are low in protein the cattle cannot digest the hay well. Thats the first reason to supplement and is always cost effective.
As far as how- that depends on how much time you have, if they need more energy too, and if you need to stretch the hay.

 

[TexasBred]

I have read on here for a while and have a couple of questons:

*What is the cheapest way to supplement hay?? range cubes?? tubs???

and

is it even worth supplementing hay??? I have bahaia grass hay, so I am sure it's not largely potent. but I have read you guys saying 'u rip your profit everytime you rip a feed sack'.... do yall supplement?

Bahia grass hay seldom tests very high in protein but seeing where you are and at this late date, supplementation isn't going to make you or break you either. You'll have spring grass in a few weeks. Your best buy and easiest way to do it would probably be some 38-40% cottonseed meal cubes and give them a couple of pounds a day. You should be able to get them for $10-11 a bag. Keep some good free choice mineral available at all times as well.

 

[BC]

Test your forage. You may or may not need supplentation. It depends on forage quality, class of animals being fed and stage of production. of animals. Forage quality is determined by fertility AND stage of maturity when cut.

If your hay is low quality, you may need to change how you produce it. Cutting it younger is the easiest. Shoot for producing 10% Crude protein. Replacement heifers and cows nursing calves will need a little help. Other classes will not.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have read on here for a while and have a couple of questons:

*What is the cheapest way to supplement hay?? range cubes?? tubs???

and

is it even worth supplementing hay??? I have bahaia grass hay, so I am sure it's not largely potent. but I have read you guys saying 'u rip your profit everytime you rip a feed sack'.... do yall supplement?

All mine get is bahia hay or bahia grass if the cow can't maintain body condition on my hay and grass while raisng a calf. I am changing the cow.
It is cheaper to keep a good cow, I don't need hard keepers.
I have used cottonseed meal in a hay shortage its about the cheapest.
Edit Mix 30 numbers look pretty good as well, no local suppliers here.

 

[bse]

Just started the mix 30 about 3 weeks ago cow piles started piling up so i started mix 30 loosened them up in a few days seems to be working well.

 

[B&M Farms]

If you need to supplement hay with protein, cubes or a range meal would be cheaper than tubs. Just figure total pounds of protein per dollar, not total pounds of feed. The only advantage i see to tubs is they are less time consuming. As TB said, the higher protein cubes are the cheapest way to go if feeding cubes. Keep a good mineral out at all times.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Good hay is about as cheap as it gets.

 

[TexasBred]

Good hay is about as cheap as it gets.

"Good" is the key word tho. He don't have "good" hay but wants to make what he's got work. Since he doens't know what he has quality wise I'd err on the side of caution and feed a little protein and "feed that rumen bacteria".

 

[backhoeboogie]

Yes. And it would be cheaper to just buy good hay. Maybe even mix good hay with the hay he has.

It makes no sense to me to buy hay "for cheap" and spend a fortune on supplements and feed.

 

[TexasBred]

Yes. And it would be cheaper to just buy good hay. Maybe even mix good hay with the hay he has.

It makes no sense to me to buy hay "for cheap" and spend a fortune on supplements and feed.

Don't know if he bought it or raised it or how much he has invested in it but it's what he has. Without adequate protein to feed the bacteria very little of it gets digested. A cow will go downhill in a hurry with a full belly and you have a pasture full of hard packed cow turds that are mostly undigested hay. I'm not saying "fill'em up" with feed out of a bag...just enough supplement to be beneficial. We're just assuming the hay is low protein as bahai typically is. A good test would help. Without it we're just assuming our hay is as good as we think it is. It all looks good in a bale. An NIR test cost $12 and is well worth it.

 

[Jogeephus]

Cheapest supplement I know is gin trash, its free other than the cost of delivery.

 

[TexasBred]

Cheapest supplement I know is gin trash, its free other than the cost of delivery.

Jogee...really?? Wow, down this way the gins have realized they have a valuable commodity on hand and sell it. Haven't priced any in a couple of years but back then it was around $85 a ton delivered.