Dry alfalfa

[bigbruh]

I traded some scrap metal for some 1 ton bales of alfalfa that was baled dry so I took it and had it pelletized. The mill added molasses, mineral & grain. The two bales weighed 3870 lbs and I got just under 3 ton of pellets back. The owner of the mill said approximately 11 pounds of pellet per day for 1100 pound cows. Does that seem like enough feed? Did I take a staple and turn it into a treat?

 

[Nesikep]

You'll have to feed something else along with it to keep the belly full!.. Sounds like he added a lot to it!
I'm not a feed expert, but you can probably feed some low quality crap to keep the belly full, and those pellets for a good nutritional boost... I don't know what the cost of doing that is, but I somehow doubt it would pencil out.

There's a reason I bale in the middle of the night too!

 

[Son of Butch]

I traded for some 1 ton bales of alfalfa that was baled dry and had it pelletized. The mill added molasses, mineral & grain. The two bales weighed 3870 lbs and I got just under 3 ton of pellets back. The owner of the mill said
approximately 11 pounds of pellets per day for 1100 pound cows. Does that seem like enough feed?

Nope.
Depending on nutrient density and digestibility, on a dry matter basis a cow will eat 1.6 - 2.5% of it's body weight.
1100 lb cow = 17.6 - 27.5 lbs of dry matter per day
11 lbs of pellets at 10% moisture = 9.9 lbs of dry matter
so your cows will need an additional 7.7 - 17.6 lbs of dry matter from another source.
Have you had the pellets tested?

 

[bigbruh]

Theres no way it would pencil out if i would have paid for the hay.

 

[pdfangus]

so the mill added nearly 2130 lbs of molasses, mineral and grain...what was the grain? what was the protein level of the finished pellet?