Dalis Grass I think

[BRYANT]

[[URL=http://s429.photobucket.com/u...-4019-9b00-41087d223a82_zpsrv6xjmhp.jpg[/img]/url]
I think this is Dallis Grass it is in a small pasture where I live that is real good grass that I was saving to put some heifers on when I wean them but someone said it will kill cattle . Will it and if so what can I spray it with?
I thought about just spraying it with some Kill-All, there is not but about 2 small patches say about 5X7 so I didn't know if that was anything to be concern with or not ?? First time I have seen it in the pasture but I don't always let it grow like I did this year.

 

[kenny thomas]

Im pretty sure someone told you wrong. We have it here and I graze it all the time. The worst thing is like most warm season grasses it gets tuff and overmature soon.

 

[JWBrahman]

Clip the seed heads before you let cattle in to graze it. Never had problems with it, usually it gets grazed so hard it doesn't go to seed on my place. Cattle love it.

http://www.ncsu.edu/forage/dallis.htm

 

[Angus Cowman]

That looks like CRAB GRASS to me

 

[kenny thomas]

That looks like CRAB GRASS to me

It actually looks like a giant crabgrass, they like it just as well also.

 

[bird dog]

It appears to be Dallis grass mixed with something else and I think crabgrass is a good guess. I would turn them in on it. If all you got is those two small patches, it isn't enough to worry about.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I have had problems with Dallis Grass here. It is only dangerous if it gets the Ergot fungus in the seed heads. (And if the cattle bother to eat it.) If they have other stuff to eat, they won't touch it after it is tall and stemy. However if left to seed it will rapidly spread, every year you will get more and more. If they don't graze it down before it goes to seed, we mow it.
If they get symptoms of Dallis grass staggers you can quickly reverse it by taking them off of it and feeding hay. They don't usually "die" from it unless you totally ignored all the signs and they weren't eating much of anything else.

Symptoms could start with muscle tremors and excitability.

With that said, I doubt that you have enough in your pasture to worry about. And even then, it would have to have the fungus on it to be toxic.

There is a lot of information on Dallis grass staggers if you Google it, including some videos of what they look and act like if they have eaten it.

 

[cowgirl8]

Good grass with its drawbacks. Watch for Ergot fungus poisoning. Doesnt happen often, mostly in wet conditions when there are a lot of seed heads. Calves will be the most effective or young cows. Once they get old they know not to over eat the fungus heads. This time of year i watch for twitchers. You can look at a calf when its looking at you and if you see its ears twitching, he's eating too many heads. If there are too many seed heads when you have cows in the dalis grass pasture, cut them down and that solves the problem. It can grow quick on a pasture that is free of the fungus. We put some calves on a pasture of dalis grass one year. It started raining and sometime during the rain the fungus broke out. Had about 20 calves get effected. They all recovered, but took weeks. I have a video somewhere of the pen of twitchers. If i get time i'll post it.
Another problem you can have with it is if you feed dalis grass hay. Never put the hay bale in the same spot if the hay is dalis grass hay. The seeds will add up on the ground when fed in the same spot time after time. The cows will overeat the seeds in the winter and bloat.

 

[jedstivers]

Wish I could have a pasture of it. They love it and do good on it.
They like it so much though it is always eaten down.

 

[hurleyjd]

My daughter and her husband just attended a three day course on ranching at A&M. Dalis grass and Neches white clover was recommended for low lieing bottom land.

 

[cowgirl8]

Here is a video of the group of calves who got into a bunch of fungus.... They will walk like this if they are infected..

 

[fenceman]

Here is a video of the group of calves who got into a bunch of fungus.... They will walk like this if they are infected..

.Good video
Good to know, thanks.
I've never been able to get the a video to work using photobucket.

 

[cow pollinater]

Both of my valley pastures are dallis grass with some clover mixed in. The only time I've ever had a problem was when the entire pasture has seed heads at the same time and that time I mowed it short and fed hay for a couple days and everything went back to normal.
I love the stuff. There's better feed out there but it can stay dry up until a week before I need to put cattle on it and then with one irrigation I have good pasture that will hold up to heavy grazing.

 

[BRYANT]

thanks for all the info.
For some reason I had the idea that it would kill them and that it didn't very much of it to do it.