Feeding cows (pics)

[randiliana]

Here are some pics of chores this morning.

Aome pics of the main herd

The bred heifers and some older cows

The replacement heifers and some steers

 

[cowboy44]

Your cattle are in good condition, because of weather conditions it looks like the only feed they get is what you feed. I was just wondering what you feed besides hay to keep them in good condition. Down here I feed hay,minerals and protein supplement,but we do not have the snow to contend with. When the high during the day is in the fiftys we think it is cold.
Today it was the high sixtys and cows are browsing all day.so far I have not fed hay just minerals and protein and cows are in good condition I will start haying soon because we got the first freeze at the end of November

 

[randiliana]

Your cattle are in good condition, because of weather conditions it looks like the only feed they get is what you feed. I was just wondering what you feed besides hay to keep them in good condition. Down here I feed hay,minerals and protein supplement,but we do not have the snow to contend with. When the high during the day is in the fiftys we think it is cold.
Today it was the high sixtys and cows are browsing all day.so far I have not fed hay just minerals and protein and cows are in good condition I will start haying soon because we got the first freeze at the end of November

They are in good condition off the grass this summer. They have a protien supplement at the moment, because we had them out grazing, and thought it wouldn't hurt. But normally, they only feed they get is in a round bale. We do not grain per se, but they do get barley and rye bales, and there is a fair bit of grain in the barley bales. about 1/3 of the ration is Alfalfa hay, 1/3 is barley greenfeed and 1/3 is rye greenfeed. The only animals getting any grain is our open heifer calves, and they get about 8 lbs of whole oats.

 

[HAY MAKER]

Good looking stock randiliana,thanks for taking the time to post the pictures................good luck

 

[randiliana]

Some more pictures

The 4H steer

 

[Gate Opener]

Wow land as far as the eye can see. How nice is that?!

How close is your nearest neighbor and hospital?

 

[Alice]

Randi, I do love you pictures!

Alice

 

[TxCoUnTrYbOy]

What is that white stuff on the ground, never seen that stuff before...

 

[randiliana]

Wow land as far as the eye can see. How nice is that?!

How close is your nearest neighbor and hospital?

I know, I love the open spaces. Although our yard looks like a forest.

Our nearest neighbour is about 1/4 mile away, and we are 1 mile out of town (40 people). The next closest neighbour is about 1/2 mile away. Our nearest hospital is 15 min, but they don't do much there. The closest emergency is an hour for us.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Great pics - cattle look super.
I hear about farms that roll out their hay. How do you control waste? Do you not feed until they've cleaned up. Obviously, you have enough open land to never have to feed in the same location. WOW

 

[randiliana]

Great pics - cattle look super.
I hear about farms that roll out their hay. How do you control waste? Do you not feed until they've cleaned up. Obviously, you have enough open land to never have to feed in the same location. WOW

Thanks Jeanne. We feed only the amount of feed that they need for 1 day. Which means that we feed them every day. On the rare occaisons when we won't be around for a day we will roll out the next days feed in a different location. They won't find it until at least late in the afternoon, and if they are content they won't look for it until the next morning. There is 128 cows in the big bunch and we feed 3 bales for 2 days and 4 bales on the third day. Works out to right around 30 lbs/cow/day. As for feeding location the bunch is on about 145 acres. So we can spread the feeding around quite a bit. So we move the feed ground every week or so. That manure is sure good for the soil ;-) . As long as we feed reasonably good quality and not too stalky feed they clean it up pretty good. Better than a round bale feeder in my opinion.

 

[Gate Opener]

Sounds like a good plan. How long does it take them to clean it up? I'm used to having a round bale in front of them 24/7 when there is no grass.

 

[randiliana]

Sounds like a good plan. How long does it take them to clean it up? I'm used to having a round bale in front of them 24/7 when there is no grass.

They will have most of it cleaned up by late afternoon. When we bring the feed out and they just head over to where we have been feeding instead of coming to the tractor we know that they aren't hungry. If they come over and wait at the fence its usually an indication that they didn't get enough feed the day before. It is a balancing act. We sample weigh all our bales so we have a good idea of how many bales they need each day.

 

[Gate Opener]

So I guess it doesn't hurt them to go without through the evening and night as your cows look good. This sounds like a way that drought people can stretch their hay.

 

[cfpinz]

Nice looking cattle. What is your average temps this time of year? As for snow, do yall have a bunch of little snows or is it common to have a foot or more at a time? And do you unroll the bales with the front end loader? Ever tried an unroller on the back end?

Thanks
cfpinz

 

[randiliana]

So I guess it doesn't hurt them to go without through the evening and night as your cows look good. This sounds like a way that drought people can stretch their hay.

Nope, not at all. They clean up the undesireable stuff later in the day and then sleep at night. Our calves have bale feeders in their pen, and if you go out in the evening, or early morning they won't be at them anyways. As long as the cows are getting the nutrients they need in the amount of feed put out that is what matters.

 

[randiliana]

Nice looking cattle. What is your average temps this time of year? As for snow, do yall have a bunch of little snows or is it common to have a foot or more at a time? And do you unroll the bales with the front end loader? Ever tried an unroller on the back end?

Thanks
cfpinz

Thanks!! The average temps (so they say) are a low of about -18* C and a high of around -8*C. But, we have had a really cold stretch where it was staying around -20*C and now we have had about 10 days where the temp has been above freezing every day. Some nights it hasn't even gone below freezing. Just hasn't been warm enough to melt off the snow. Usually we get little snows, although it isn't that uncommon to have a big one. We are in a chinook area and it isn't too rare to have a real warm spell around the 20 of Jan. Can be -30* then too ;-)

We roll the bales out with the bucket and/or the tire. Once you get the hang of it, it only takes a couple minutes to unroll a bale. Haven't ever tried a 3 point hitch one, but we did at one time have one hooked on the truck.