Fat cows from TSC sweet feed?

[Rmc]

My post was a reply to the post I quoted saying No cows need alfalfa .tell me what rations you recommend then for the six months of the year when there isn't any grass to eat?
Let me know if anyone knows of a better ,cheaper,easier ration with similar tdn that you can feed for six months of the year ,if not alfalfa

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

@Rmc if you have Alfalfa that is cheaper than good quality hqy - but I don't know anyone able to get Alfalfa cheaper as a feed - per hd/day.
Mature cows get all they need from quality grass and grass hay. I raise mine on just grass/hay and they are big cows - hay 6 months of the year. Only supplement is good quality mineral.
Guess if you raise poor doers - they would need to be supplemented with higher nutrients?? Only easy keepers survive in my herd. Obviously, the cows OP is talking about don't need supplement at all.

 

[Brute 23]

Your right. Buying sacks of feed is better.

It may be for some people... it may not be for other... same with rye grass.

Take a person with maybe only 10 or 15 ac , 5 head, no cross fencing. You can sling all the rye grass your heart desires but it won't outpace those cows and would be a total waste.

Not sure why a few people one this forum can't get that through their heads. The thought of some one not doing it like them blows their minds... or brings out their own insecurities.

 

[callmefence]

It may be for some people... it may not be for other... same with rye grass.

Take a person with maybe only 10 or 15 ac , 5 head, no cross fencing. You can sling all the rye grass your heart desires but it won't outpace those cows and would be a total waste.

Not sure why a few people one this forum can't get that through their heads. The thought of some one not doing it like them blows their minds... or brings out their own insecurities.

You kinda got off in the weeds a bit didn't you??.I just answered your question. My bad ..

 

[TexasBred]

Cows fed straight alfalfa will get fat. Toss a little bit of grain, even a grain as sorry as TSC "sweet feed" and add time to the equation and watch them get fat.

It is pretty worthless feed but it is usually made by Purina Mills.

 

[Richnm]

My cows lost weight this year not feeding alfalfa. I went back to about 30 percent of their feed being alfalfa. They are gaining their weight back and milking more. Alfalfa has to be mixed or they will just squirt it out. I ordered some straws from Herbster , I asked "what to feed"? His response was, "do you have alfalfa out there." We did not get into how much to feed, but alfalfa has its place.

 

[Dave]

I certainly never said to not feed alfalfa. Last winter I fed 83 broken mouth cows. They got 2 big square bales of grass hay a day. Except on Tuesday and Saturday when they got 1 bale grass and 1 bale of alfalfa. So 12 bales of grass and 2 bales of alfalfa a week. That worked out to being equal to 4 pounds of alfalfa a day. Those old cows came through the winter in great shape. There is a lot of alfalfa raised in this part of the world. Cows get grass hay and supplemented with alfalfa on 99.9% of the ranches.

 

[littletom]

I see people doing exact same with horses. Pets you gotta feed them. My mom does it with 4 old horses twice a day everyday. And we put up sqaure baled hay because they can't eat round bales. I wish she would just get 4 old steers.

 

[faster horses]

I certainly never said to not feed alfalfa. Last winter I fed 83 broken mouth cows. They got 2 big square bales of grass hay a day. Except on Tuesday and Saturday when they got 1 bale grass and 1 bale of alfalfa. So 12 bales of grass and 2 bales of alfalfa a week. That worked out to being equal to 4 pounds of alfalfa a day. Those old cows came through the winter in great shape. There is a lot of alfalfa raised in this part of the world. Cows get grass hay and supplemented with alfalfa on 99.9% of the ranches.

I think alfalfa makes a better supplement than it does as a full feed. Too washy, too much
protein. Alfalfa goes through them pretty fast. In our country, cows feed straight alfalfa never look full and cows need the grass hay to stay warm when the weather is cold because it isn't digested as fast. Alfalfa makes an excellent supplement tho.

 

[Silver]

Very little hay is put up in this country that doesn't have some percentage of alfalfa in it. If your land can grow it you'd be a fool not to put it in your mix. Good for cattle and good for the soil.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I am sure not arguing the feed value of alfalfa. In my neck of the woods - only dairy feed alfalfa. Too expensive - too high in protein. But, I have to remember that I can put up grass hay that is 13-16% protein. My hay does not need ANY supplement.

 

[Ky hills]

We do feed a little supplemental feed in the winter. Our hay is predominantly fescue that generally is cut past the ideal point. When hay is low in quality they can literally starve to death and be full at the same time. Yes it raises input costs but in my opinion the cows come through the winter better, with all of the cold rains and mud that we have.

 

[faster horses]

We do feed a little supplemental feed in the winter. Our hay is predominantly fescue that generally is cut past the ideal point. When hay is low in quality they can literally starve to death and be full at the same time. Yes it raises input costs but in my opinion the cows come through the winter better, with all of the cold rains and mud that we have.

I know nothing about fescue except my company has a mineral designed to be fed when the forage is fescue.

10% protein hay is okay for range cattle. We have fed a lot of grass hay, we just made sure they had enough. If they couldn't digest it right away, we didn't cut them back to a lesser amount, but left it and they always cleaned it up in the afternoon. Cutting back on hay that is lesser quality doesn't work. I know producers that cut cattle back when they don't clean it up right away but that can be a big mistake. We tested our hay so we knew what we had nutrition wise. We didn't supplement anything except mineral. For 22 years we did this. I agree that a mixture of grass/alfalfa is desirable and we would have liked to have had that, but we didn't. Our hay was mostly dryland crested wheat and it was hard to get it all up at the optimum time. Boy, crested wheat can turn color fast in hot temperature! Our cattle always were in good shape, bred back really well and their health was excellent. I hope no one reading this thinks I am bragging, that is not my intention; rather, this is meant to show what worked for us without buying a lot of protein supplement.

 

[faster horses]

NO mature cows need Alfalfa OR any kind of grain. Old cow raising twins - yeah, that would be nice - but normal cows - NOPE. He did say they were PETS. Pets are for fun, not for money. I just have a hard time equating the cost of a cow for a pet.

It's different in different regions. In our area, protein requirement is easily met, but we are short on energy. If grain can be fed when it's below zero, it sure can help keep a cow warm. It's hard to feed range cows grain, so it doesn't happen much of the time, but to say NO mature cows need any kind of grain, I say it depends on the conditions. Grain is energy and that creates warmth.

 

[TexasBred]

I disagree mature cows can and do benifit from alfalfa . More tdn per ton then grass . Why feed grass hay then have to add more supplement and minerals if alfalfa hay is available.?
It is more about total nutrition then a single component

So you believe providing more nutrients that actually needed is cost effective and makes for more productive cattle.

 

[TexasBred]

I know nothing about fescue except my company has a mineral designed to be fed when the forage is fescue.

10% protein hay is okay for range cattle. We have fed a lot of grass hay, we just made sure they had enough. If they couldn't digest it right away, we didn't cut them back to a lesser amount, but left it and they always cleaned it up in the afternoon. Cutting back on hay that is lesser quality doesn't work. I know producers that cut cattle back when they don't clean it up right away but that can be a big mistake. We tested our hay so we knew what we had nutrition wise. We didn't supplement anything except mineral. For 22 years we did this. I agree that a mixture of grass/alfalfa is desirable and we would have liked to have had that, but we didn't. Our hay was mostly dryland crested wheat and it was hard to get it all up at the optimum time. Boy, crested wheat can turn color fast in hot temperature! Our cattle always were in good shape, bred back really well and their health was excellent. I hope no one reading this thinks I am bragging, that is not my intention; rather, this is meant to show what worked for us without buying a lot of protein supplement.

As they say, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[TexasBred]

My post was a reply to the post I quoted saying No cows need alfalfa .tell me what rations you recommend then for the six months of the year when there isn't any grass to eat?
Let me know if anyone knows of a better ,cheaper,easier ration with similar tdn that you can feed for six months of the year ,if not alfalfa

Grass hay free choice.

 

[Ky hills]

I know nothing about fescue except my company has a mineral designed to be fed when the forage is fescue.

10% protein hay is okay for range cattle. We have fed a lot of grass hay, we just made sure they had enough. If they couldn't digest it right away, we didn't cut them back to a lesser amount, but left it and they always cleaned it up in the afternoon. Cutting back on hay that is lesser quality doesn't work. I know producers that cut cattle back when they don't clean it up right away but that can be a big mistake. We tested our hay so we knew what we had nutrition wise. We didn't supplement anything except mineral. For 22 years we did this. I agree that a mixture of grass/alfalfa is desirable and we would have liked to have had that, but we didn't. Our hay was mostly dryland crested wheat and it was hard to get it all up at the optimum time. Boy, crested wheat can turn color fast in hot temperature! Our cattle always were in good shape, bred back really well and their health was excellent. I hope no one reading this thinks I am bragging, that is not my intention; rather, this is meant to show what worked for us without buying a lot of protein supplement.

Unfortunately some of our hay is going to be under 10% protein and is basically filler, A lot of folks demonize fescue, but it makes for good grazing and can make decent grass hay when cut early enough. You just have to work with and or around certain things and conditions. I've not been physically able to put up our hay, so I've had to hire that out and also buy some hay. Last year, we bought most of our hay, and grazed and rotated pastures more often and was able to not feed hay till just last week.

 

[Ferd]

I keep some sweet feed around. It currently goes for between $8 and $9 at Tsc. No tax charged

 

[Rmc]

So you believe providing more nutrients that actually needed is cost effective and makes for more productive cattle.

No I believe that providing the nutrients that are needed is more cost effective and makes more productive cattle .
In my area that includes feeding alfalfa hay.