Cows Wanting Hay When on Pasture

[JeffK-MN]

The other day I brought home some small square bales of hay. When we unloaded and stacked we had some break open and I gave them to the cows in the corral.
Now every night they come up and bawl for more hay.
They have grass in the woods and I let them in one of the hay fields after we bailed the hay off. They are on that most of the day. When they get the hay they act like they are starving.
Is it just something new they want or is something missing?
They have free choice mineral at all times. Thanks Jeff

 

[Alan]

A: the grass is always greener, like people, cows want what they don't have.

B: do they have enough grass? How is their body condition score? Are they hungry? Do they have calves on them taking nutrients from them?

C: I have more grass now than they will eat this season, I sold lots of my cattle this year. But every time the lawn mower fires up they are at the fence line screaming like they are starving.

:tiphat:
Alan

 

[Hook]

Probably just because it's something different.

 

[Alan]

Probably just because it's something different.

So..... That would be "A"? :lol: :lol:

 

[Aaron]

Something different. A lot of people here keep a bale/feeder in each pasture to keep dry matter in the diet, so the wet soft grass isn't just shooting out of them. 30-40 cows will go through about a bale a week. Wouldn't be an issue if we lived in hard grass country. Grass only starts to toughen up here by the end of August.

 

[JeffK-MN]

Thanks for the help
They have calves on them and I have one that I might have to take the calf off for her BWS. Her calf is 3 1/2 mouths old but the cow does this each year. the rest are ok.
They have a lot of grass and are not hungery
Jeff

 

[Tim/South]

I am betting the hay is a different type grass than they have in the pasture. I have one group of cows on a good Bermuda pasture. They come up to the barn and reach through the gate to eat Bahia hay. Just something different, not a hunger issue.

 

[Nesikep]

When they're on grass, they'll LOVE the most rotten hay you have.. it is just for something different (and less work).

 

[Chuckie]

Jeff, if you have a good bit of clover in your pasture, dry stemmy hay is buffer for any gas forming in their stomach. Some high moisture lush legumes and grasses cause gas and can cause bloat.
With frothy bloat, the stemmy hay causes the bubbles to bust, and keeps the gas down. I feed dry hay with my clover pasture, and you would think that they would never go to a dry stemmy hay.
In the spring, my first cutting is stemmy from wild grasses coming up, so I feed that to them in the summer. They don't eat it like they do in the winter, but they will go to it twice a day. 17 cattle have gone through about 7-8 bales this summer.
My cattle crave the hay too.

 

[Rafter S]

I agree with the others that it's because it's different. If we ate steak three times a day for a while a bologna sandwich might start to look pretty good.

 

[LauraleesFarm]

Cows are lazy. Why walk around eating while in motion when you can stand in one spot and get mouthful after mouthful?

Same reason they will drink out of a muddy puddle rather than walk 30 yards to the water tank.

 

[Chuckie]

For medical purposes when cattle are grazing clover, it is a fact that a dry stemmy hay is a buffer for frothy bloat. I have never had one to bloat because of it. Also, add Rumensin or to the mineral as it greatly prevents bubbles from forming. It is cheaper than the Poloxaline blocks.
When a cow has much lush green grass in the rumen, and foam is forming, she will look for it. There is no reason to keep clovers out of your pasture, as this really puts the weight on them.

How To Deal With Cattle Bloat

http://www.southernstates.com/blog/index.aspx?topic=How-to-Deal-with-Cattle-Bloat
New cattle to be turned out for the first time – do not do so first thing in the morning. Again, the rumen is empty and they will gorge on forage. Feed loose hay to fill the rumen and then turn out. Keep hay available in a location they can easily get to during the day as long as conditions exist that cause bloat.

 

[Jbonnot03]

Cows are lazy. Why walk around eating while in motion when you can stand in one spot and get mouthful after mouthful?

Same reason they will drink out of a muddy puddle rather than walk 30 yards to the water tank.

This.

When we start putting out hay in the winter, the cows pretty much stop grazing. I call them welfare cattle.

 

[Hook]

When they're on grass, they'll LOVE the most rotten hay you have.. it is just for something different (and less work).

The one pair we have here at the house just last week started eating the old hay that's in the bale feeder from last year. And there's plenty of grass out there for them.