cows per hay bale

[denoginnizer]

I know alot of times we talk about how many pounds of hay per day per cow and that is important but how many round bales do you like to put for how many cows?

I mean 1 round bale per 10 , 15 , 20 head ?

 

[Scotty]

1 to 15 is good for me. I usually have two rings and don't let both run out and have no problems. Well few problems. Boss cows will be boss cows.


Scotty

 

[poorboy]

I guess it depends on the size of the bale. But for me I put out one ring for every 10 so everyone has enough space.I have a few younger cows. But I have gone as many as 15 per ring. Good question I guess I never really thought about it

 

[jcarkie]

i put out more about 1 per 5 head so i don't have to put them out so often. it last almost a week sometimes more.

 

[dph]

I am with the guys that say 15 cows to the bale. That figures out for us just about right. Generally, though bales vary in size, that will last us two days. Cuts the number of trips in half, and still keeps the hay fresh. Also seems to cut down on waste, because you have them spread out enough around the ring, they aren't jostling for position.

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

80 - 90 lbs/cow. That usually lasts them a couple days unless its cold out. Edit: when the temperature drops to -20 or so, I'll end up increasing that to 120 lbs/cow. Dunno how they eat as much as they do, since I've only got 1200 - 1400 lb cows, but they somehow manage to cram it in.

Rod

 

[Bez!]

I bet frenchie wishes he could use those numbers as a feed reference!

Bez!

 

[stocky]

With good, tight, full 4x6 bales, I figure 1 bale per 30 cows per day. Or 1 bale will last 1 cow 1 month. I keep hay in feeders full time and unroll hay of better quality also. That way all the cows can have some better quality hay and also have a feeder full to fill up on. I buy some 5x6 bales that I figure 45 cows per bale per day, but that is baled really full and is really good orchard grass, fescue, and clover, so it goes further than some of the other hay. I like the 5x6 because it is so much cheaper and less percentage waste, but not many people use that size baler anymore.

 

[denoginnizer]

With good, tight, full 4x6 bales, I figure 1 bale per 30 cows per day. Or 1 bale will last 1 cow 1 month. I keep hay in feeders full time and unroll hay of better quality also. That way all the cows can have some better quality hay and also have a feeder full to fill up on. I buy some 5x6 bales that I figure 45 cows per bale per day, but that is baled really full and is really good orchard grass, fescue, and clover, so it goes further than some of the other hay. I like the 5x6 because it is so much cheaper and less percentage waste, but not many people use that size baler anymore.

You just put out one bale per day with 45 cows? How do they all get a chance to eat?

 

[El_Putzo]

We put out 3 4x5 (@900-1000lbs) per day for 80 cows. So, if my math is right, that is a minimum of 35 lbs per day. Kind of like Diamond S only the opposite, I wonder how they manage to stay in good condition on that little hay. Especially when there hasn't been a stitch of grass left for at least 45 days or so. These are high percentage angus with some fleckvieh in them also. My herefords seem to convert as well of better than my dad and brothers angus cross cows. JMO.

Not trying to hijack the thread here, but to go along with hay feeding, what % of their body weight do you guys think the average cow eats, in hay? The only reason I ask, is that it didn't really hit me until I did the math above, 35 lbs of hay for a 1100-1300 cow doesn't seem like much.

 

[mitchwi]

We have 4 poly rings and we have the small 4x5 bales we can squeeze in 3 bales on end and put 1 bale on top, 4 bales to a ring x 4 rings = 16 bales for 49 animals, 47 of which will be yearlings come spring and this lasts us approx 7 days.

 

[stocky]

Denog, I was figuring how much they eat. If I have 45 cows in one pasture and I am feeding the 5x6 bales, I will unroll one bale per day. If there are more or less cows, I will have 3 hay rings in the field and I will keep hay in them so the cows have 3 bales to eat out of. I make sure my cows always have hay in the winter, on warm days they dont eat as much and on cold days they eat more. Most of the pastures, I unroll about half of their hay from a bale of high quality 2nd cutting and keep 1st cutting in the feeders. This way, all the cows can get some real good hay and also have plenty of regular hay to eat at will.

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

Not trying to hijack the thread here, but to go along with hay feeding, what % of their body weight do you guys think the average cow eats, in hay? The only reason I ask, is that it didn't really hit me until I did the math above, 35 lbs of hay for a 1100-1300 cow doesn't seem like much.

I'd read at one time that a cow can only digest about 2.5% - 3% of their body weight in dry roughage. I think the article had it wrong though, and meant that a cow needs 2.5% - 3% of their body weight in good quality DM to maintain their weight in reasonably warm weather (50F or so). Right now, its -10C avg and I'm feeding 90lbs of hay at 21% moisture. So DM intake is around 71 lbs. Alot of that isn't being digested, as the manure is pretty fibrous. Don't ask me how much though. I'm not gonna weigh it I'm probably wasting about 10lbs/animal/day because I'm not using my hay saver feeders, just rings.

The neighbor tub grinds his feed. He's been able to drop to 70lbs/animal/day at 21% moisture. So 55 lbs of DM per animal: 4% of their body weight. Figure on a little waste, he's right in that 3.5% area.

Rod

 

[jcarkie]

i have noticed that mine will eat one almost completely gone before eating the other. the ones lower down will start on the second one . i figured once they get the middle out it is looser and easier to pick through.