feeding cows

[mikeandkathy]

Hello. I am hoping to get some advice. I have 5 red angus cows and 1 bull calf. Feed is getting expensive and with winter coming on only going to get worse. Through my job I have acess to large amounts of trimmings off of produce. I manage a grocery store. Is there any harm in suplementing the cows currnet feed, out hay and grain, with these trimmings. Its like lettuce leaves broccolli corn and so on. Feel dumb asking but I see you help a lot of people here. Keep up the good work and thank you. Happy Holidays.

 

[dun]

Small amounts won;t hurt, but the stufff is mostly water so the nutrition may not be worth the hassle.

 

[mnmtranching]

Corn, What do you mean? like ears of sweet corn?

That would be decent feed, as far as the lettuce and broccolli, go ahead and feed, won't hurt.

Keep up the hay and grain.

If You have plenty of the produce, I wouldn't worry about cutting back on the more expensive feed. I would make them clean up the produce then feed the hay accordingly.

mnmt

 

[kerley]

I used to keep HWY 88 hot between Stockton and Gardnerville, Nev. What is hay selling for in your area. If you cant find any reasonable let me know and I'll Give you some new numbers to call, Tom

 

[Jogeephus]

I know a guy who has a deal worked out with a grocery store and he does some of this and seems to do Ok with it. He also hand feeds his honey buns and doughnuts and says his cows love them.

On occassion, I'll get cull cucumbers and dump them in the field. The girls love them but they have little nutritional value. So I guess you'll need to be careful that what you give them will actually be beneficial to them.

 

[grannysoo]

I have a couple of bulls that are in the pen by my home. They got a couple of biscuits last night. I haven't gone as far as feeding them honeybuns yet....

 

[msscamp]

Its like lettuce leaves broccolli corn and so on. Feel dumb asking but I see you help a lot of people here. Keep up the good work and thank you. Happy Holidays.

No reason to feel dumb, it's a valid question. I have no idea how much you have access to, but I would be careful with the broccoli. If memory serves, I believe that broccoli fed at a rate of more than 20% of their total diet is toxic. As far as I know, sweet corn is fine. I'm not sure why you would want to bother with lettuce, as it is mostly water.

 

[js2743]

anything is better than a snowball.

 

[TheBullLady]

If you work at a grocery store, check out what they do with the bread and bakery throw aways. You'll get a lot more feed value out of that then you will produce.

 

[msscamp]

anything is better than a snowball.

Not if it's going to make your cows sick, or kill them. ;-)

 

[CattleHand]

We have thrown in corn shucks (what you peel off the ear) and such when we feed grain but it is usally left in the feed troughs. Then again we were out cutting brush and instead of eating the grass the game over and ate hedge leaves, beats the hell out of me why.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Yes, bread & bakery products have more feed value, and surprisingly, cattle love bread. You need to contact your local extension agent & see if he has a list of food value for byproducts.

 

[mikeandkathy]

I want to thank you all for taking the time to respond to my questions. There were an awful lot of thoughts on this and that helps tremendously.