does anyone supplement there momma cows?

[MtnCows93]

Ive heard people say i give my cows a little feed now and then and ive heard people say nope just mineral and grass/hay and i wanna hear what yall do. in the summer i give my cows a little bit every other day like 3 pounds of 16% per head every other day but im not convinved they need it, i always put hay out when they get short on grass but they like to ball at me when they havent had there feed for a few days

 

[kenny thomas]

Nothing here, feed the calves just before weaning and afterwards till I sell them.

 

[farmerjan]

If there is grass, then no feed unless you are teaching them to come to call like into a catch pen. After about a week or so they will quit with the bawling. I will feed a 5 gal bucket which is about 25 lbs to about 15-25 when I am wanting to get them to come to me. That's like 1 lb per head usually and that is only to get them to do what I want. In the winter, they get all the hay they want, the first calf heifers might get 1 lb per head twice a week, the calves will get 1 lb in the catch pen that has a creep gate 2-3 times a week to teach them to come in, the old grandma cows will get 1-2 lbs per head 3-4 times a week. Mineral and salt and hay is free choice. But in the summer, if they can't make milk and take care of their calf and keep up their own body condition on decent pasture, they are the wrong kind of cows for us.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Ive heard people say i give my cows a little feed now and then and ive heard people say nope just mineral and grass/hay and i wanna hear what yall do. in the summer i give my cows a little bit every other day like 3 pounds of 16% per head every other day but im not convinved they need it, i always put hay out when they get short on grass but they like to ball at me when they havent had there feed for a few odays

sure they do their a creature of habit,, you wean them off of it they'll quit balling...do they need it? Don't want a cow that does,,if their easy fleshers... grass,water,and minerals in the summer,.is all...

 

[jedstivers]

I didn't but do now.
Corn is cheap compaired to the price of cattle and a little goes a long way. Keeps cows in good shape and turns out some nice calves.
Now keep in mind I'm feeding corn I grow. I price it the same as what I receive for it so I'm feeding cheaper than someone who buys all their feed. I do buy ddg but it comes in trailer truck loads so I'm not buying from a feed store.
I don't give two syits for all the talk about raising on grass or they will melt later.
I'm selling by the pound and want all the pounds I can get. I don't care about dock on fleasly calves. I send to Oklohama city and that's what sells there.
If it cost me 47 cents to put a pound on that brings a dollar forty seven I'm a dollar better.
Now that's calves and feeding cows doesn't relate exactly that way but it does pay for me to do it.
Right now I have a huge bunch of calves and their mamas are in great shape. No sucked down ol nags.

 

[MtnCows93]

are you feeding straight corn out of the combine? im pretty sure i could buy some of that for market price and wouldnt have to haul it 100 yards to the barn, but i believe im gonna try and just quit giving them feed just hay since its been so dry here

 

[kenny thomas]

The difference is its his combine and what he can get delivered to the terminal in bulk is much less than we would consider market price here in the east.

 

[kenny thomas]

Now if your gonna have to feed hay figure your cost and supplementing might make sense.

 

[farmerjan]

Fleshy calves will get docked here, the buyers are looking for calves that are in good shape but look like they will take off once they get some feed.
When you originally asked if anyone fed their cows, I was reading that you meant that they were on pasture in the summer, with decent grass. If it is dry, and hay is needed, then with the price of corn and other stuff, it might pay to feed a little. We try to have more grass than cattle so we are always rotating them around. Right now we have 40 weaned calves at the barn and are feeding a little because there is no grass where they are, so hay and a little feed. We just don't supplement cows on pasture with grain if the grass is decent.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Grass and mineral only here.
If I have to prop up the cow on my grass and hay I need a better cow.

 

[jedstivers]

are you feeding straight corn out of the combine? im pretty sure i could buy some of that for market price and wouldnt have to haul it 100 yards to the barn, but i believe im gonna try and just quit giving them feed just hay since its been so dry here

Right out of my bins. Corn and ddg. I'm grinding the corn but I'm about to either go to cracking or whole corn.
Whole is better for the calves but the cows do best on ground or cracked.
A little feed stretches grass a long way too.

 

[bball]

Whole is better for the calves but the cows do best on ground or cracked.
A little feed stretches grass a long way too.

Jed, I have never heard this before that whole is better for calves then cracked. Do you know why this is? I would love to get away from grinding my corn.

 

[Bigfoot]

I supplement cows starting in mid February. It's probably not necessary, but I do. I start calving as early as February 22nd. Cows have been on hay quit a while by then. When they quit hay, they're on grass that's mostly water. Just seems like a bad time to be on a poor nutritional plain. I can't prove my cows breed back any better, but I'm convinced they do.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I supplement cows starting in mid February. It's probably not necessary, but I do. I start calving as early as February 22nd. Cows have been on hay quit a while by then. When they quit hay, they're on grass that's mostly water. Just seems like a bad time to be on a poor nutritional plain. I can't prove my cows breed back any better, but I'm convinced they do.

They no doubt do,,but it's hard to distinguish when ones easier to keep and which one needs to roll...

 

[jedstivers]

Whole is better for the calves but the cows do best on ground or cracked.
A little feed stretches grass a long way too.

Jed, I have never heard this before that whole is better for calves then cracked. Do you know why this is? I would love to get away from grinding my corn.

Lot of studies and papers on it.
The nutritionist I and my neighbor use tell us it's better, doesn't cause some of the problems feed lots have.
Now remember I'm talking about calves and not cows. My cows on pasture aren't getting therse amounts. I'm just giving them a little to help along.
8wt calves are getting 8lbs of corn and 4lbs ddg and free choice hay. They have some grazing till its depleted.
The calves I ran this summer that I just sold never ran out of grazing and never had hay but in winter I'm stocking such numbers grazing doesn't last long.

 

[bball]

Jed, I have never heard this before that whole is better for calves then cracked. Do you know why this is? I would love to get away from grinding my corn.

Lot of studies and papers on it.
The nutritionist I and my neighbor use tell us it's better, doesn't cause some of the problems feed lots have.
Now remember I'm talking about calves and not cows. My cows on pasture aren't getting therse amounts. I'm just giving them a little to help along.
8wt calves are getting 8lbs of corn and 4lbs ddg and free choice hay. They have some grazing till its depleted.
The calves I ran this summer that I just sold never ran out of grazing and never had hay but in winter I'm stocking such numbers grazing doesn't last long.

Thanks for getting back with an answer. I been grinding my corn and feeding the cows and calves..so grind it for cows( which I supplement sparingly ) and leave whole for the calves. I will try to dig up some more info too.. thanks for sharing the info..learn something all the time on here.

 

[jedstivers]

Jed, I have never heard this before that whole is better for calves then cracked. Do you know why this is? I would love to get away from grinding my corn.

Lot of studies and papers on it.
The nutritionist I and my neighbor use tell us it's better, doesn't cause some of the problems feed lots have.
Now remember I'm talking about calves and not cows. My cows on pasture aren't getting therse amounts. I'm just giving them a little to help along.
8wt calves are getting 8lbs of corn and 4lbs ddg and free choice hay. They have some grazing till its depleted.
The calves I ran this summer that I just sold never ran out of grazing and never had hay but in winter I'm stocking such numbers grazing doesn't last long.

Thanks for getting back with an answer. I been grinding my corn and feeding the cows and calves..so grind it for cows( which I supplement sparingly ) and leave whole for the calves. I will try to dig up some more info too.. thanks for sharing the info..learn something all the time on here.

Yep. Or even just crack for cows.

 

[Bigfoot]

Personally, I think it's a waste to crack/grind corn. Plus I have no way to crack/grind. I can get bin run corn at or slightly above market price. I go buying the processed stuff, and the price goes up sharply.

 

[callmefence]

Grass and mineral only here.
If I have to prop up the cow on my grass and hay I need a better cow.

Whats all that cottonseed meal for ? Organic gardening

 

[Caustic Burno]

Grass and mineral only here.
If I have to prop up the cow on my grass and hay I need a better cow.

Whats all that cottonseed meal for ? Organic gardening

No for sorry hay in the winter