feeding hay

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bigbull338

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the cows are sucking the hay up good this year.80 cows an calves are eating 6 by 5 bale a day.we put out 6 bales at a time.so that should last them 6 or 7 days.are yalls cows eating alot of hay this year.
 
Yep, gave one group their allotment for the day this morning, about 4:30 this afternoon they were back out in the pasture scrapping. Went and gave them another roll since the weather is getting worse. Nothing for them to find in the pastures so it means I need to up the hay a bit. Even the cows with calves that I'm turning on the oats for 2 hours every other day havn't slowed up on the hay but they are getting a lesser quality hay since they are getting the green grazing.
 
we will be feeding hay till mid march.i figure weve fed 30 to 35 bales so far.we are adding cows every year or so right now.
 
They are eating hay like there is no tomorrow.......

Lick the molassas tank, then eat hay until they are ready to explode.

Should start having calves soon, and they are in excellent shape!
 
Ours are about on what I'd expect. Been practicing stockpiling as I have been taught on here on one place and they haven't touch it much since Friday.
 
Mine won't touch it yet, have a good bermuda bale out but no takers. 32 heifers and 1 steer on 35 acrs., wheat, 15 acrs. thicket with honeysuckle, all the gin trash they can eat (it took awhile to get a taste for that but now they like it) 2 five gallon buckets of corn and 2-4 buckets cottonseed (depends on weather) and now 130 acrs.of cotton stalks when not muddy. The cottonseed have really slicked them off and they seem to be gaining good. I still can't post any pics. but I'll figure it out sometime.
 
Started feeding on December 14. Feeding 3/1150lb. hay bales and 3/900 lb. straw bales a day to 130 cows and May/June calves. Works out to 26.5 lb./pair for hay and about 21 lbs. of straw. They clean the hay right up but not all the straw, which is okay as it gives them a place to lay down other than bare ground.
Basically the straw is a freebie as it is mine own and is a nuisance if left in the field. Whatever it costs me to bale it and haul it a short distance. I value it at 1 cent a pound.
Winter came with a bang around here and it was minus 32 yesterday, minus 34 the day before. This morning it is minus 16 so I guess the chinook is coming in. It is still brutal cold in Saskatchewan and Manitoba though. Sure do appreciate those chinooks.
 
I've got 45 head eating 1 round bale a day. I put out 2 bales every 2 days. I bought a couple of hay rings this year, and there is hardly any hay being wasted. They are hitting the protein licks and range mill hard too.
 
I have put out 24 rolls of alfalfa and 48 rolls of filler. We have had 9 cold days and 3 raining days that I put out hay. We use a hydraulic unroller and hid the alfalfa between the filler bails. I just unroll the hay out in there next padlock and do a few at a time if I can. Not all the cows go after the hay and I don't always think they need it but it makes me feel better.

The creep feeder gets 2000 lbs creeper feed, one shredded alfalfa bail, and one shredded filler bail. I don't know how many bails I have ground so far this year off hand.

Our filler hay is the pastures that the cows don't get to in time.
 
grannysoo":1fin96dm said:
They are eating hay like there is no tomorrow.......

Lick the molassas tank, then eat hay until they are ready to explode.

Should start having calves soon, and they are in excellent shape!

Mine don't even try to graze. They just stand and wait patiently at the gate for Mr. Hay to bring them some. Reminds me of some people I know who are waiting for the new administration to take over.
 
Jogeephus":2stgghvg said:
grannysoo":2stgghvg said:
They are eating hay like there is no tomorrow.......

Lick the molassas tank, then eat hay until they are ready to explode.

Should start having calves soon, and they are in excellent shape!

Mine don't even try to graze. They just stand and wait patiently at the gate for Mr. Hay to bring them some. Reminds me of some people I know who are waiting for the new administration to take over.
I know exactly what you mean.
 
Ain't it crazy that once you start feeding them they quit grazing. I feed in December when the weather is (usually, not this year) nice and turn them on stockpiled fescue and cornstalks during Jan and Feb so I can have them out of the mud while calving. Even though they have grass they come when they hear the tractor start.
 
ours bawl at us the instant we open the door, and they're a good half mile away!.. yes, they make our cat look like a hard worker
 
jedstivers":32bztbi5 said:
Jogeephus":32bztbi5 said:
grannysoo":32bztbi5 said:
They are eating hay like there is no tomorrow.......

Lick the molassas tank, then eat hay until they are ready to explode.

Should start having calves soon, and they are in excellent shape!

Mine don't even try to graze. They just stand and wait patiently at the gate for Mr. Hay to bring them some. Reminds me of some people I know who are waiting for the new administration to take over.
I know exactly what you mean.

I'm really looking forward to it. I won't ever have to make another mortgage payment or put gas in my car again. Happy days are coming soon! :banana:
 
kenny thomas":lcuo9a1e said:
Ain't it crazy that once you start feeding them they quit grazing. I feed in December when the weather is (usually, not this year) nice and turn them on stockpiled fescue and cornstalks during Jan and Feb so I can have them out of the mud while calving. Even though they have grass they come when they hear the tractor start.

I don't know if it is training or laziness on the cows part. Being way short on winter grazing or grazing of anykind this year, I do have a limited supply of oats to graze. This year I have sorted the herd into groups. The cows that have calves in one and cows without calves in the other. This allows me to give the cows with calves access to the oats for a few hours every other day. The cows without calves get hay. When the cows on the oats see me coming with the hay, they will start coming off the oats, head to the water and then the hay. Might be they know that if they don't come off they will have a dog after them.
 
Heard it is still reall dry in central and south central texas. Is the oats doing anything? How bad is it? I come to Texas and help with the wildfires sometimes.
 
I live in an area that normal rainfall is 32-34 inches a year. So far my total for the year is 15.8 inches. Bryan/College Station 20 miles to the east with 36-37 inch average is at at about 31 inches for the year. The farther west you go the drier it gets. The winds have been 10 - 15 mph higher lately which have let a few grass fires run a bit but the county commissioners have not yet imposed a burning ban. The dry areas really don't have much to burn and the rest aren't that dry. Yesterdays 30 degree weather might change that now since anything that was still green probably won't be now.

I had my oat ground ready when Ike gave us 1 6/10ths inches of rain. Got it planted September 20th then went 3 weeks with high winds, hot temperatures and no rain. About 1/3 came up, 1/3 germinated and died and the last 1/3 came up when we finally got another 1 1/2 inches over the second week of October. Since then we have had 9/10ths of an inch. Had a small amount of armyworm damage but not much (don't think we had enough green for them to survive). Folks that got a little more rain and had greening pastures had more damage. I have about 15 out of 50 acres that can stand a little grazing. It was in better shape for planting and more of it came up early. That which came up later is struggling for moisture and is dieing. Their is some oats along the Brazos River that looks pretty good. They have been getting some moisture. Everything else looks pretty bad or just isn't any.

Pasture drilled 70 acres of pasture with oats and clover which is pretty much a 100% loss.
 
I've been a bit surprised, it has been unusually cold for this time of year, so I figure it is a good indicator of what their consumption will be like. I figured that we would need 16 bales per week for the 25 head of cows. And they are eating just less than 14. These are 4x5's.

Michele
 
kenny thomas":wdps15pl said:
Ain't it crazy that once you start feeding them they quit grazing. I feed in December when the weather is (usually, not this year) nice and turn them on stockpiled fescue and cornstalks during Jan and Feb so I can have them out of the mud while calving. Even though they have grass they come when they hear the tractor start.

That is exactly why I dont usually feed any hay to my cattle until late afternoon or evening. I want them to forage around during the daytime. Unless there is ice or deep snow on the ground, then I put out the hay in the morning.
I have some of my younger cows that will stay out in the stockpiled pastures, grazing no matter what time I put the hay out; and its amazing the great shape they are in.
 

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