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Feeding cows when you don't have enough hay
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<blockquote data-quote="Lucky_P" data-source="post: 1761211" data-attributes="member: 12607"><p>2007 we had a disastrous freeze at Easter, then went with a 1" rain event between May 1 and Nov 30. Almost NO local hay made. Some people were paying as much as $100/roll for local cornstalks and/or CRP 'residue' released by USDA for haying in October - I saw one roll a neighbor fed that ended up with an ATV-sized pile of 1-2" diameter honeylocust trees once the cows picked out what edible material was present. </p><p>We started limit-feeding. Research has shown that cows can get by on as little as 5# of hay per day, so long as all other nutritional needs are met. We bought in some expensive hay out of OK (I swore I wouldn't pay as much as I did... but I did) and fenced off a hay-feeding area. Cows were allowed enough time in the hay lot to consume about 10#/hd/day, then tolled out and fed about 12-15# modified distiller's grain product per animal. </p><p>The cows stood around for about 23 hours a day complaining, but they all survived - and actually, they came through the winter in better shape than in the past when they'd had free-choice access to sorry, locally-produced hay (probably cut in late June or July). That feeding and close daily handling/sorting tamed 'em down a lot, too. </p><p></p><p>We continued the limit-feeding in subsequent years, but bumped daily hay consumption up to about 25#/cow - mostly fed by unrolling on pasture - and adjusted DDG levels, based on plugging hay analyses into a beef cow ration calculator. We only fed what hay the cows could consume in about a 1.5 hrs - unrolling while they were eating their DDG ration. Even at 25#, they still stood around and complained, but I knew they were getting what they needed, even if it was not as much as they wanted.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lucky_P, post: 1761211, member: 12607"] 2007 we had a disastrous freeze at Easter, then went with a 1" rain event between May 1 and Nov 30. Almost NO local hay made. Some people were paying as much as $100/roll for local cornstalks and/or CRP 'residue' released by USDA for haying in October - I saw one roll a neighbor fed that ended up with an ATV-sized pile of 1-2" diameter honeylocust trees once the cows picked out what edible material was present. We started limit-feeding. Research has shown that cows can get by on as little as 5# of hay per day, so long as all other nutritional needs are met. We bought in some expensive hay out of OK (I swore I wouldn't pay as much as I did... but I did) and fenced off a hay-feeding area. Cows were allowed enough time in the hay lot to consume about 10#/hd/day, then tolled out and fed about 12-15# modified distiller's grain product per animal. The cows stood around for about 23 hours a day complaining, but they all survived - and actually, they came through the winter in better shape than in the past when they'd had free-choice access to sorry, locally-produced hay (probably cut in late June or July). That feeding and close daily handling/sorting tamed 'em down a lot, too. We continued the limit-feeding in subsequent years, but bumped daily hay consumption up to about 25#/cow - mostly fed by unrolling on pasture - and adjusted DDG levels, based on plugging hay analyses into a beef cow ration calculator. We only fed what hay the cows could consume in about a 1.5 hrs - unrolling while they were eating their DDG ration. Even at 25#, they still stood around and complained, but I knew they were getting what they needed, even if it was not as much as they wanted. [/QUOTE]
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