Cows Won't Eat.........

[robertwhite]

Hey folks,

New here and new to cows and I have a bit of a problem.

I only have 4 calves (9-11 mths old, 600-850lbs), all are Beefmaster/Semital crosses.

I had gotten some round bales form a local guy and the bales contain a mixture of field grass and sericia (Lespedeza cuneata). Bales were stored under cover and are from this springs cut.

Now, I have read both good and bad about serecia as some say it is a weed and should be done away with, yet others say it is highly nutritional. Either way, cows should eat it as they will pretty much eat any type of hay/grass, yes?

Problem is that when I first put the round bale into the ring feeder, the cows ate the hay. Now, they are not. Round bales are not moldy, nor wet. They do have a musty smell in the centers, etc. but I figure that is normal.

I am in the South and there is still a bit of grass here and there in the pasture(s) and during the day, the cows graze. The last few nights we have had frost, so obviously, they can't graze first thing in the morning. I expected to see them eating the serecia, but they won't. They just hang around the field edge scrounging for weeds and such.

I went out and threw a square bale of hay (Bermuda/Field) into the feeder ring and they are eating it without hesitation. I really don't want to use up all my square bales, when I have 20 round bales in my barn.

Any info, thoughts, ideas would be a great help.

 

[whitewing]

Can't be a lot of help as I'm not familiar with the material you're feeding. My cattle eat most everything and the stuff that they don't care for initially, they eat after we put a bit of molasses water on it. ;-)

 

[dun]

Serecia has a tendency to get woody and they won;t eat it. That could be the problem. Mine won;t even eat it when it's growing. Doesn;t matter what the nutritive value is if they won;t eat the stuff.

 

[Angus Cowman]

get ready to have your pastures taken over with the sericea every seed the cow eats will be a plant on that stuff

I am one that considers it an invasive weed and fight to get rid of it

 

[vclavin]

get ready to have your pastures taken over with the sericea every seed the cow eats will be a plant on that stuff

I am one that considers it an invasive weed and fight to get rid of it

DITTO!! My cows will eat it at times but most often it is too bitter and they will not eat it.
Valerie

 

[robertwhite]

Thanks for the replies folks. I guess I will sell it off.

 

[dun]

Thanks for the replies folks. I guess I will sell it off.

If you scatter it they may pick throughit and eat the good stuff and leave the junk.

 

[robertwhite]

Thanks for the replies folks. I guess I will sell it off.

If you scatter it they may pick throughit and eat the good stuff and leave the junk.

Good theory, but I'm really not into unrolling and scattering 20 rounds bales, 1 at a time. :lol2: Easier to just sell it. Plenty of horses and cows around here, someone will take it.

 

[piedmontese]

Thanks for the replies folks. I guess I will sell it off.

If you scatter it they may pick throughit and eat the good stuff and leave the junk.

Good theory, but I'm really not into unrolling and scattering 20 rounds bales, 1 at a time. :lol2: Easier to just sell it. Plenty of horses and cows around here, someone will take it.

i doubt anyone will want it when u tell them that u r selling it bcause your cows wont eat it.

 

[danbrady]

I don't know anything about that type of hay either, but before I tried to sell it I would sprinkle it with salt. I'd put in a particular area where there wasn't salt all over the pasture, or at least in a lot. Just curious, I've heard of people doing that with old hay, I know it's not old but if it wasn't in a barn it may as well be. It might make it tasty for them.

 

[jkwilson]

My guess is they aren't hungry. They'll walk a hundred miles for a handful of green grass versus hay that may not taste the greatest. If they aren't antsy and pacing, they are probably getting by on the grass. Fence them off the grass and see what they think of the hay.

 

[robertwhite]

My guess is they aren't hungry. They'll walk a hundred miles for a handful of green grass versus hay that may not taste the greatest. If they aren't antsy and pacing, they are probably getting by on the grass. Fence them off the grass and see what they think of the hay.

Well that's just it. They are in a big pasture during the day which still has some green grass and such. They are content with the feeding as they eat and lie down, and so on.

I then bring them into a smaller pasture (open to the barn) at night and there is no grass left in this pasture. This is where the hay ring is. I figure that by morning, they will have be hungry enough to eat the serecia hay or would have eaten during the night. Except for the last couple of mornings, they are just walking the fence line looking for scraps of weeds and such instead of attacking the hay ring where there is plenty to eat.

I think I will just keep them penned in the small pasture all day tomorrow and see if they will eat it. By nightime I will know if they will or not.

 

[dun]

Reach in without looking and grab a big handfull and crush it between your hands. If the lespedeza has gone woody you will know why they don;t want to eat it

 

[Lucky_P]

Jeez, I've not seen sericea hay in decades, but remember when my dad & granddad used to put some up from one of the farms they had; you had to cut/condition and bale all in the same day or ALL of the leaves fell off, and you were left with bundles of woody sticks. And even put up in the best of conditions, they were still mostly bundles of woody sticks! I remember feeding them in hay racks over feed troughs in the barn - and the cows just sort of picked through to get the leaves and whatever other plants may have been incorporated into the bales. Glad I wasn't old/big enough to be having to handle those things out of the field - those squares would undoubtedly have eaten the skin off your arms in short order, lifting & stacking 'em.
I know they've selected better varieties in the past 50 years, but I'm with dun on this one - if it's all woody stems, you may not be able to MAKE them eat it.

 

[hillsdown]

I bought some canola bales a few years ago and the owner said that his cattle loved them like candy, well I guess mine hate candy because they never ate any, even when ground up . Now I just have round up ready canola growing willy nilly all over my yard .. :roll:

I also doubt a horse will eat it if a cow will not . ;-)

 

[kenny thomas]

Serecia has a chemical (can't remember the name) that taste bad to the cow. If you can force them to eat is when it is small and green they will do good on it but I don't think you could force them to eat it once big. As already said I bet it is nothing but stems after haying.

 

[rdbigfarmboy]

Are the rolls tightly rolled? Is it difficult to pull lumps of grass out? Bustem them open where they can pick thru and get the edible (digestible) or give it away.

 

[robertwhite]

Are the rolls tightly rolled? Is it difficult to pull lumps of grass out? Bustem them open where they can pick thru and get the edible (digestible) or give it away.

Rolls are very tightly wound. I actually pulled some apart with a hoe and they started eating it.

There are some stems in the 1st roll I put out so I pulled another roll out and dropped it in the feeder. The hay seems better in this one and they are eating it every morning.

I think the 1st roll was a combination of confusing to them (never even saw a round bale before), too tightly rolled and some sticks/stems. They are still feeding in the big pasture during the day, so they are not hungry until morning and they are eating the new round bale.

Problem may have been solved. :banana: