FEEDING GRAIN FIRST TIME TO COWS?

[TANK30705]

We are in a drought in my area, hay is on short supply.
Thinking on feeding alternatives.
How much grain would a lactating cow per day would a cow need?

 

[Kingfisher]

That can burn you/fool you I suppose. How many cows are we talking about? Do you usually supplement ?

 

[HDRider]

We have an an abundance of hay here. I wish we could get it to you at a reasonable cost. I just had a friend of my Dad stop buy asking if i wanted any. Bermuda $20 4x5.

 

[dun]

I would start with maybe 1/2 percent of their body weight a day, then after several days do that twice a day. After a week or so more I would boost it to 1 1/2 to 2 percent of their weight a day divided in 2 feedings. Then it's a matter of keeping an eye on their condition. If they are falling off I would goose it again about 1/2 a percent, if that doesn;t work I may go to 3 percent. If that doesn;t work I would sell the calves and dry up the cows and cut the grain back gradually. A 13 - 16 % protein should do it.
Remember, I'm just sort of spitballing this, not knowing your cows makes it hard to be really confident in what would work. Our cows are easy keeping and generally don;t loose much weight while nursing but still wean heavy calves. If ours needed more than 1% I would sell my calves.

 

[City Guy]

Can't feed your way out of a drought. Start selling cattle.

 

[Supa Dexta]

Where do you come up with this stuff? ^ For a guy that doesn't even own a cow you sure have lots of 'answers'

 

[TANK30705]

Thanks for responses.
I have a bunch of hay but its gonna be tight by the end of winter!
HD Wished I could figure a way of getting that $20 hay here affordably!!!

 

[M-5]

Where do you come up with this stuff? ^ For a guy that doesn't even own a cow you sure have lots of 'answers'

It's all on the Internet in the basement of his mom's house. You know the type that thinks they know everything just because they read it.

 

[callmefence]

Where do you come up with this stuff? ^ For a guy that doesn't even own a cow you sure have lots of 'answers'

It's all on the Internet in the basement of his mom's house. You know the type that thinks they know everything just because they read it.

He's not completely wrong

 

[rain dance]

Hay is cheap in the northern states where we have gotten rain. Supplementing with grain might be a smart decision as cheap as corn is right now but you would be doing yourself a big favor to start calling around and get someone hauling in semi loads to you from out of state. Dairy quality hay is going for around $100 a ton here.

 

[Lucky_P]

Selling off or selling out may be an option, but it's not the only one.
We got through 2007 - by feeding 10# hay/day and 12-15# modified distiller's grain product/day.
There was NO local hay due to disastrous Easter freeze and severe drought following, and hay we bought in from out west ran me somewhere between $70-$90/roll - I swore I'd never pay that, but I did. Neighbor down the road was paying $100 for rolled cornstalks and CRP residue 'harvested' in late October... there was an ATV-sized pile of sticks and honeylocusts left over after her cows picked out the edible(though probably not very digestible) stuff.
University studies(TOSU) have shown that cows actually can get by on as little as 2.5# hay/day...so long as you meet other nutritional needs with an appropriate energy/protein supplement.

 

[NolanCountyAG]

Where do you come up with this stuff? ^ For a guy that doesn't even own a cow you sure have lots of 'answers'

It's all on the Internet in the basement of his mom's house. You know the type that thinks they know everything just because they read it.

He's not completely wrong

X2

 

[kilroy60]

We are in a drought in my area, hay is on short supply.
Thinking on feeding alternatives.
How much grain would a lactating cow per day would a cow need?

We're in the same shape you're in. Down the road a piece in Hart/Frankin counties. Had no rain from May to Aug and when we finally got some rain and pastures started greening, army worms hit and hit hard. We're feeding hay and supplementing with feed several times per week. We've been calving now for two weeks and got more due in mid October. So. we'll continue to supplement the feed. We probably feed too much but I'd rather spend the extra and know that my cows are OK. If you want some other advice you can contact local county extension agent. He can provide with actual amounts you need if you want exact numbers.

 

[cowgirl8]

Hard to believe it could have been dry anywhere after the year we had....Still rolling up hay. We'll have over 2200 rolls to store and thats after selling a lot.

 

[True Grit Farms]

We are in a drought in my area, hay is on short supply.
Thinking on feeding alternatives.
How much grain would a lactating cow per day would a cow need?

We're in the same shape you're in. Down the road a piece in Hart/Frankin counties. Had no rain from May to Aug and when we finally got some rain and pastures started greening, army worms hit and hit hard. We're feeding hay and supplementing with feed several times per week. We've been calving now for two weeks and got more due in mid October. So. we'll continue to supplement the feed. We probably feed too much but I'd rather spend the extra and know that my cows are OK. If you want some other advice you can contact local county extension agent. He can provide with actual amounts you need if you want exact numbers.

Y'all are close to lots of hay. SW Va and SE Ky have had an excellent hay year. I feel like if I can buy hay within 4 hours of me I'm better off doing that than supplementing with feed. The majority of what you feed just becomes fertilizer when you get right down to it.

 

[kilroy60]

Hard to believe it could have been dry anywhere after the year we had....Still rolling up hay. We'll have over 2200 rolls to store and thats after selling a lot.

It's been a bad year for us in NE Georgia and even over into western SC. Drought, army worms and a lot of hay that tested for high nitrates that can't be fed, it's been a terrible year. Many farmers are several hundred rolls short for the year. A lot of farmers don't have enough hay to get through winter. Sale barns have been covered up. If you can find hay, it's $50 - $60 a roll. It's just amazing how different things are around the country. You're covered up with hay and many farmers here barely will have enough for winter.

Just wondering, how much you been getting for your hay?

 

[greybeard]

Y'all are close to lots of hay. SW Va and SE Ky have had an excellent hay year. I feel like if I can buy hay within 4 hours of me I'm better off doing that than supplementing with feed. The majority of what you feed just becomes fertilizer when you get right down to it.

certainly right, especially considering diesel is a lot cheaper now than it was in the 2011 drought. Transport was a pretty good % of what it cost to get out-of-state hay that year.
(I wish I had copied some of the Texas directed ads I saw from Va, Ky, Tenn back then--scary high)

 

[Ky cowboy]

I'm in western ky along the Ohio river. We have been turning down fertilized hay fields to cut, all the barns are full and we're wore out. Already sold 200 bales still have around 400 to sell

 

[Dave]

Price grain by the ton and price hay by the ton delivered from outside your area. That is where to begin to figure if you should feed grain or not.

 

[TexasBred]

We are in a drought in my area, hay is on short supply.
Thinking on feeding alternatives.
How much grain would a lactating cow per day would a cow need?

Grain is intended to compliment hay and grazing and not be the sole ration. Cattle need long stemmed roughage.