My neighbor is feeding chicken litter to his cattle. Is this a good feeding option? I know it can be cheaper but is the nutritional value worth the money you save?
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: My neighbor is feeding chicken litter to his cattle. Is this a good feeding option? I know it can be cheaper but is the nutritional value worth the money you save?<p>We used to feed it all the time. The nutritional value is great and the cows loved it. You just have to make sure it goes thru a heat like a compost pile to kill the bacteria before you feed it. It smells ok after the heat. <p>
Poultry litter is becoming a widely accepted supplement for cattle. It is a good, inexpensive source of protein and a number of minerals. One thing you do have to be careful with is, as already pointed out, that once it's pulle out of the house it needs to be piled up to go through a "heat." This is actually similar to an ensiling process. This kills all the nasty little bugs like salmonella, e coli, etc. that can cause a whole host of problems. It needs to stay stacked for at least 3 weeks. After that feed it with corn or some other type of grain source. I normally recommend that you don't feed anymore than 30 to 40% litter in the mix. Also be sure to keep out a mineral balanced for such a program. Litter is very high in certain minerals, especially some of the trace eleemtns and these high levels can actually cause an interference in absorption of others. If you would like more information, check out a couple of the articles in Cattle today back in late March and April. There's a fair amount of practiacl litter feeding info in these. Thanks.<p>
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