Eating weeds

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How do you get to the article you want us to read?

OK I found it , under current projects : training cows to eat weeds.

I never trained mine. They eat certain weeds year round. Some weeds like blood weed they will go after until every leaf is gone. Some weeds they will only eat during the early groth stages. Problem is, it is the weeds they will not eat that will take over a pasture.
I have often wondered what the protein content of different weeds is. There are also many warm season native legumes that people consider weeds and will poison out.
 
novatech":epzuzlrg said:
How do you get to the article you want us to read?

OK I found it , under current projects : training cows to eat weeds.

I never trained mine. They eat certain weeds year round. Some weeds like blood weed they will go after until every leaf is gone. Some weeds they will only eat during the early groth stages. Problem is, it is the weeds they will not eat that will take over a pasture.
I have often wondered what the protein content of different weeds is. There are also many warm season native legumes that people consider weeds and will poison out.

After a lifetime of improving pastures to maximize grass to run the most cattle per acre. Why would you want cattle to eat weeds this sounds like a case of poor pasture management.
 
Capt Call":203sz14w said:
novatech":203sz14w said:
How do you get to the article you want us to read?

OK I found it , under current projects : training cows to eat weeds.

I never trained mine. They eat certain weeds year round. Some weeds like blood weed they will go after until every leaf is gone. Some weeds they will only eat during the early groth stages. Problem is, it is the weeds they will not eat that will take over a pasture.
I have often wondered what the protein content of different weeds is. There are also many warm season native legumes that people consider weeds and will poison out.

After a lifetime of improving pastures to maximize grass to run the most cattle per acre. Why would you want cattle to eat weeds this sounds like a case of poor pasture management.
http://www.behave.net/projects/pasture-eatingtoxins2006.html


Sorry. Can't get this link to work. You may be able to copy and paste it. It might somewhat answer your question.
 
novatech":mf75f6ja said:
How do you get to the article you want us to read?

OK I found it , under current projects : training cows to eat weeds.

I never trained mine. They eat certain weeds year round. Some weeds like blood weed they will go after until every leaf is gone. Some weeds they will only eat during the early groth stages. Problem is, it is the weeds they will not eat that will take over a pasture.
I have often wondered what the protein content of different weeds is. There are also many warm season native legumes that people consider weeds and will poison out.

And nova... hence the question: to spray or not to spray?
 
When to spray? When the rag weed is 4' tall and grass will no longer grow under it. When Huisache is the most abundant plant in the pasture.
Intresting article bleustem. May be the reason I have never had a bloat problem with cattle grazeing native burr clover. Tannin aids in prevention of bloat.
 
Capt Call":vpyxurf9 said:
novatech":vpyxurf9 said:
How do you get to the article you want us to read?

OK I found it , under current projects : training cows to eat weeds.

I never trained mine. They eat certain weeds year round. Some weeds like blood weed they will go after until every leaf is gone. Some weeds they will only eat during the early groth stages. Problem is, it is the weeds they will not eat that will take over a pasture.
I have often wondered what the protein content of different weeds is. There are also many warm season native legumes that people consider weeds and will poison out.

After a lifetime of improving pastures to maximize grass to run the most cattle per acre. Why would you want cattle to eat weeds this sounds like a case of poor pasture management.

Because, believe it or not, weeds contain protein just like grass does. The amount varies, but it is still there. You can call it whatever you like, but after you've been around pasture long enough, you will realize that there will always be weeds in pastures - regardless of what you do to try to prevent/eradicate/outthink them - they will still be there in varying degrees. Nature gave them them the advantage, and they use it to full avail! ;-)
 
Capt Call":1fnihar3 said:
novatech":1fnihar3 said:
How do you get to the article you want us to read?

OK I found it , under current projects : training cows to eat weeds.

I never trained mine. They eat certain weeds year round. Some weeds like blood weed they will go after until every leaf is gone. Some weeds they will only eat during the early groth stages. Problem is, it is the weeds they will not eat that will take over a pasture.
I have often wondered what the protein content of different weeds is. There are also many warm season native legumes that people consider weeds and will poison out.

After a lifetime of improving pastures to maximize grass to run the most cattle per acre. Why would you want cattle to eat weeds this sounds like a case of poor pasture management.
It is a matter of perspective. When you maximize with a single variety of grass, are you doing what is best for the cattle, and the land? In a cow calf operation, I beleive a variety of forages does more for a balanced diet. Cattle seem to eat what their body requires. Otherwise why would they eat mineral. I like my pastures to be mostly high protein grass, but haveing access to brush, vines, weeds, legumes, and other plants helps in their over-all nutritional needs. I have observed cattle prefering some weeds,at young growth stage, over what I would consider the better grass right next to it. I have seen cattle do well on nothing but forest land for grazing.
Many plants which are considered weeds by some are now being cultivated by others for their beneficial atributes, Illinois Bundleflower being one of them.
 
ga. prime":2050cpti said:
I'd be real interested in getting ahold of some cows with a taste for carolina horsenettles.

Yup, and spiny pigweed.
 
Up here ours will eat everything except toadflax and scotch thissle...they fight over the canadian thissle. Even seeded some lamb's quarter in a weak section just to see how it will develop next year...cows love the stuff.
DMc
 
Lambs Quarters, are you kidding? That's high preference forage. Mostly been eradicated in this neck by over browsing from the over abundant deer.
 
Ag agent surveyed my place and warned me to get rid of the musk thistle before it bloomed or they would take over the place.

Before I got around to spraying the cows had eaten all of them. Got a flyer at the feed store one day about sericea lespedeza. They were warning it was a dangerously invasive weed. We have some at our place around the main pond, inside the fence, about as far inside as a cow's neck will reach.

I sure am glad that my cows can't read.
 
BAGTIC":2yc91er2 said:
Ag agent surveyed my place and warned me to get rid of the musk thistle before it bloomed or they would take over the place.

Before I got around to spraying the cows had eaten all of them. Got a flyer at the feed store one day about sericea lespedeza. They were warning it was a dangerously invasive weed. We have some at our place around the main pond, inside the fence, about as far inside as a cow's neck will reach.

I sure am glad that my cows can't read.

Reminds me of something my brother said to me when we were working on some equipment in the farm shop a few weeks back. During a boring moment while I was working on something and he was just standing around he read the back of the can of brake cleaner we use to spray off gunk that "this product has been found to cause cancer by the State of California" or something to that effect.

My brother said, "man, I'm sure glad I'm not in the state of California; everything causes cancer there."
 

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