Chicken Manure as feed??

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tbase2000

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North Florida here. Over the winter we had a terrible time keeping our cows fat and sassy. We always have hay on hand, but without grazing grass it seems that the cows just lose weight. We didn't use protein tubs because there was nothing to forage on. The rye grass we planted was way too late coming up. Our two options were sweet feed 12% protein, or 50%chicken manure--50% corn mix. I would like to hear from anyone who's used the manure as a feed source. From what I have read about the chicken manure, its high in protein....but it's not like the bags come with a label or anything. You might be questioning why use it at all....? 50lb bags of sweet feed $5.00 vs 80lb bag of manure/corn mix for $5.00....more for the buck.

I've been told 10lbs of manure mix per head....does this sound right.
I have 50 head of long horn cattle....and all I'm trying to do is fatten them up without going broke.

By the way....I've got tubs I use for feeders strung all over the place to keep the cows from hooking each other while they eat and so everyone gets a share. Any thoughts on other solutions. It's a pain dragging these 80lb bags all over the pasture. If I put all the feed in a traugh then only a couple cows monopolize the food. Some serious hooking going on at the traugh.

Thanks
Tony
 
Ask our friendly neighbors up north about feeding animal's other animals byproduct. Yea, I did that about 25 years ago. I mixed it with feed. Now that I have grown older and hopefully wiser I wouldn't do it. Why didn't you use the protein tubs. I would rather get the protein from a tub than a chickens A??.
 
tbase2000":k1wq5q4o said:
I have 50 head of long horn cattle....and all I'm trying to do is fatten them up without going broke.

while your at it draw a square circle
 
brokenmouth":370c1hsn said:
tbase2000":370c1hsn said:
I have 50 head of long horn cattle....and all I'm trying to do is fatten them up without going broke.

while your at it draw a square circle

Brokenmouth, I couldn'ta said it better meself :D :D :D :D

george
 
Why are you trying to get Texas Longhorn cow "fat and sassy"? Isn't that the antithesis to what a Longhorn IS.

The Texas Longhorn was fashioned entirely by nature right here in North America. Stemming from ancestors that were the first cattle to set foot on American soil almost 500 years ago, it became the sound end product of "survival of the fittest". Shaped by a combination of natural selection and adaptation to the environment, the Texas Longhorn is the only cattle breed in America which - without aid from man - is truly adapted to America. In his book The Longhorns, J. Frank Dobie states this situation well: "Had they been registered and regulated, restrained and provided for by man, they would not have been what they were."

This genetic potential includes genes for high fertility, easy calving, disease and parasite resistance, hardiness, longevity, and the ability to utilize the browse and coarse forage material on marginal rangelands more efficiently than most other cattle breeds.

Of course if you are getting them ready for a sale then by all means fed them but don't feed them chicken manure, they are not carnivores.

And if the horns are a problem dehorn them. :shock:
 
isn't there a lot of citrus pulp down there, it is supposed to be a high energy feed, would just need more bunk space for the horns
 
Chicken manure should not be considered an alternative to recycle to cattle,I'd mortgage the farm before I'd feed that stuff. Isn't corn cheap enough down there? Put em' on a good tub, or buy some 250 lb. supplement blocks you could off load them once instead of dragging those 80lb. bags. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken crap.
 
There was a proposal to ban the feeding of chicken litter, but it was recinded. There are lots of cattle producers over in the Mt. Pleasant and Pitts burg area that use litter mixed with corn to supplement their cows.

I would prefer to use it on the pasture for fertilizer for the ryegrass. It is generally thought that a ton of litter provides 60-60-40. There is a catch to that in that only 65% of the N is available out of the first ton (25% is lost to volitalization and 10% is not available until second year). The recommended rate is 2 tons per acre.
 
I think we got into a real peeing contest over this some time ago.

As a "northern neighbour" I can tell you this is not the thing to do. You are opening a huge can of worms and taking some risks that you probably have not even considered. Just because someone else does this does not mean it is right, or even a good thing to do.

There are a great many things in chicken manure - other than chicken schitzen and straw.

There are medications that are routinely fed to chickens, dead chickens (yeah most are picked up - some are still missed) there is spilled feed containing supplements that are ok for chickens, but bad for cows. even though deep litter operations exist and the deads usually compost out - there are the reminants of the deads. Not good for cattle.

If you feed chicken manure, you will violate feed bans that are applicable to the ruminant industry in Canada - and possibly your own country. If you do not have that ban in place - trust me - it is coming.

If you feed chicken manure to your animals, you are continuing the potential health risks - in fact promoting them.

Cows do not have sharp teeth, and are not carrion scavengers - so why force them into this? They are grazers and part time browsers.

In my country you would get into big - no - HUGE trouble - if you were to do this.

I would ask you this question:

If you fed your animals schitzen - would eat them?

I certainly would not. I would not feed that animal to my family and that is my true test of compliance and safety. If my family can eat it, anyone can.

There are some real good cowmen and women here - some perhaps more blunt than others - they would not feed these animals to their families either. I know if I were to visit them, and eat a meal I would be served high quality beef. You need to seriously consider what I just wrote.

Cattle - like people - are what they eat.

Unlike some breeders on this and other boards - I tend to not be completely breed loyal - Iwill recognize a good animal for what it is - even though I am a HH guy - there are a lot of quality animals out there - you need to be thinking QUALITY animal. Not a schitzen fed 'thing" that ends up going to market and feeding the general public - OUR CLIENTS!! When they hear things like this it sends them to our competitors - the hog and poultry guys. They in turn LOVE it when that happens.

Not disparaging our competition - they are good producers and need to make a living as well - some are good friends of mine. But why send them OUR business?

Longhorn cattle: A fine animal that belongs in most commercial herds as an outcross. They are tough and capable. They do well in almost any condition from hot and dusty to cold and wet - right through to our minus 40 and 50.

They will always come through if you have hay, mineral and water for them. The secret is to HAVE ENOUGH available. Sounds to me like you either just had a little bad luck with the pastures, or you need to thin out the numbers a bit.

As for the fighting around the feed and mineral areas - we raise horned animals - they sort out the pecking order - relax and let everything unfold as it should.

If I were you I would re-think my entire feed program. Call up the county ag guy and the local vet and any other experts you have in the area. This type of info is exactly what they love to provide. Those folks want you to have healthy and good growthy animals. It is good for the entire industry.

Chicken schitzen is only good for one thing.

Fertilizer!

Bez
 
tbase2000":3o5f9jyb said:
North Florida here. Over the winter we had a terrible time keeping our cows fat and sassy. We always have hay on hand, but without grazing grass it seems that the cows just lose weight. We didn't use protein tubs because there was nothing to forage on. The rye grass we planted was way too late coming up. Our two options were sweet feed 12% protein, or 50%chicken manure--50% corn mix. I would like to hear from anyone who's used the manure as a feed source. From what I have read about the chicken manure, its high in protein....but it's not like the bags come with a label or anything. You might be questioning why use it at all....? 50lb bags of sweet feed $5.00 vs 80lb bag of manure/corn mix for $5.00....more for the buck.

I've been told 10lbs of manure mix per head....does this sound right.
I have 50 head of long horn cattle....and all I'm trying to do is fatten them up without going broke.

By the way....I've got tubs I use for feeders strung all over the place to keep the cows from hooking each other while they eat and so everyone gets a share. Any thoughts on other solutions. It's a pain dragging these 80lb bags all over the pasture. If I put all the feed in a traugh then only a couple cows monopolize the food. Some serious hooking going on at the traugh.

Thanks
Tony
=============

Tony,

Are you trying to push our buttons...or something? :shock:

In addition to the comments on your posting, there is another thread on this very subject,,, a few weeks ago...extensive comments...including the fact that people all over this world are reading these posts and are watching our progress of stopping a very bad past practice of ruminant products in ruminant feed. In addition the news has carried extensive commentary over the past year or so including many countries stopping imports of our beef in big part because of that practice. Further, that we are on the threshold of resuming the export of beef to those countries.

Our Canadian friend's comments and others are right on.

Hopefully your further post, which we will look forward too, will include being informed and a decision ...NOT TO DO IT!!!. :stop:

In addition to the practice being...just wrong, american food safety and cattleman's ability to export beef is at stake. Your help is needed. 8)
 
Nope...didn't mean to push any buttons....and didn't read the earlier post about the topic. Pretty new to the site. Just trying to put some more meat on my cows is all...

The farms that sell their manure sell alot of it...so its not like I'm the only one here. The farms that do feed their cows 50/50 have fat ass cows...granted they're not long horns....but still...nice herds.

The protein tubs sound like the way to go but don't cows need more than hay and grass when they are on that stuff. Roughage like palm leaves and tree leaves...etc.

The cows eat the manure just as good as sweet feed so its not like I forced it down their throats... Lighten up a little in here.

Thanks for the input.
 
tbase2000":3m9wvsc4 said:
Nope...didn't mean to push any buttons....and didn't read the earlier post about the topic. Pretty new to the site. Just trying to put some more meat on my cows is all...

The farms that sell their manure sell alot of it...so its not like I'm the only one here. The farms that do feed their cows 50/50 have fat ass cows...granted they're not long horns....but still...nice herds.

The protein tubs sound like the way to go but don't cows need more than hay and grass when they are on that stuff. Roughage like palm leaves and tree leaves...etc.

The cows eat the manure just as good as sweet feed so its not like I forced it down their throats... Lighten up a little in here.

Thanks for the input.
Lighten up, hell.
Just because others do it doesn't mean that you need to.
Bez has already given you reasons not to use chicken schit in your feed so there is no point in me re-elaborating on it.
 
Thats the way to tell him La4...sometimes you have to be blunt...then sometimes theres slow learners to.LOL This was my favorite part of his posting
"The protein tubs sound like the way to go but don't cows need more than hay and grass when they are on that stuff. Roughage like palm leaves and tree leaves...etc."
Wants to feed leaves and crap instead of grass??? Say what??? I think he just wants to buy some feed instead of trying to make money. Course anybody that runs straight longhorns...well....to put it nice its more of a game than a business anyhow
 
This is just the kind of nut case that will have us fighting BSE, why don't you grind a few old dead cows to go with your chicken crap.
Rookies it is people that own cows that feed such garabage ( i wouldn't use Cattleman) that will have us regulated to death.
Learn to raise grass!!! :mad:
 
la4angus

Lighten up, hell.
Just because others do it doesn't mean that you need to.
Bez has already given you reasons not to use chicken schit in your feed so there is no point in me re-elaborating on it.

Tapeworm

Thats the way to tell him La4...sometimes you have to be blunt...then sometimes theres slow learners to.LOL This was my favorite part of his posting
"The protein tubs sound like the way to go but don't cows need more than hay and grass when they are on that stuff. Roughage like palm leaves and tree leaves...etc."
Wants to feed leaves and be nice instead of grass??? Say what??? I think he just wants to buy some feed instead of trying to make money. Course anybody that runs straight longhorns...well....to put it nice its more of a game than a business anyhow

MPR

Some people are set in the ways they do things and preachin aint gonna change them. Hell if his fellow cattlemen are doin it it must be good

Well, I agree with all of you. BUT .....

When we run down a guy (I have been guilty myself at times) for doing some of these things and I then sit back for a second sober thought - I always come back to this thought.

In my opinion these folks do what they do because there have been some serious mistakes made in the education of folks who raise cattle.

It has been done this way for many years and that in itself is the problem. The chances of people changing their ways is slim. Why?

I believe it is because they are doing what Gramps did. If it worked for him, it should work for me.

Other than the various legislations - which will come - what can be done to change the attitudes and the methods of feeding?

We can always drive a guy away from this forum, but can we change how he operates?

Thoughts?

Bez
 
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