Feeding in winter

[dun]

I test my hay and supplement accordingly. Wet cows will get a little gluten this year with the hay we have out there and the dry cows won't get anything except hay.

I may supplement the 3 that calved this month but everything else gets hay or baleage unless we get deep snow or ice

You wrap your own hay Dun or have somebody do it? I think they charge $5/bale here.

The neighbor wraps it for us. I buy the film and he uses his inline wrapper. He and I do a lot of haying stuff back and forth. I wouldn;t be able to pay him to wrap it if I tried.

 

[wbvs58]

I'm finding this thread very interesting. Traditionally we just feed stockpiled grasses over winter and then try to hang on until we get some summer growth in late spring by putting out protein lick blocks and molasses/urea mixes but sometimes I think that is just comfort food for the person dishing it out thinking they are helping out. Forage crops are grown in some areas but very little around me as you have to put a lot into the soil to get anything out and there is a mentality of zero inputs. I've been inspired by what i read here and over the past year I have put together some basic hay gear and I want to have a bit of a go at doing my own hay, I did about 350 small squares of millet last year which worked out well and was very useful and now I have a round baler. I have a patch of oats that I have been grazing and I'm locking it up now to bale and I'm putting in some millet in a couple of months which I plan to bale. My biggest problem will be getting it dry, I think a wrapper might be a good investment.
As well as getting me through the tail end of winter in better shape, our soil is very light and the season in summer can go belly up very quickly if we get e few weeks in the heat of summer without rain and I see conserving a bit of forage useful to smooth out things if the season goes belly up and I don't have to knock my pastures around.

Ken

 

[Supa Dexta]

I typically cut grass a week or 2 tops after the dairy guys start in the spring - and they cut as early as they can. My grass is good, and the cows come out of hard winters in good shape on it. Leaving hay to grow may get you more of it, but you lose feed value - so there's a fine balance of picking the right time. Baleage also 'keeps the good in' it, if you make it at the right time to begin with. My hay itself is usually made right, but typically sits outside for the last of summer and fall, so losses are more than I like. Usually by late october I'm starting to feed.

Here's a couple pics of how they do - nose pump pic is january after a couple of months on hay alone, other is beginning calving late march. So they typically come out of a long winter not looking too badly (fed nov- til near june typically).

 

[TexasBred]

I don't have nearly the number of cattle as many on here at this time, but I have been feeding cattle that I own for about 20 years. I took a very large loan out when I was 20 and bought 90 head of Holsteins. I was in way in over my head but made some money and learned a heII of a lot. I spent a lot of money on feed.
Nowadays my cattle get grass and some hay in the winter, a little bit of mineral and a little bit of fly spray in the summer. They get woods for shelter in the harsh winters around here and they are thriving.
With good pasture, no overcrowding and low stress for the cattle there is no need for feed in my book. I understand finishing them out on grain if that's what brings you the most at sale time but it's not necessary for everybody.

The Key.

 

[cattle60]

I keep out hay and salt/mineral but only feed grain about once a week to keep them coming in and calm. Just like the convenience that comes with them easy keeping and not stupid. But the grain is done like that year round.

 

[Craig Miller]

Ok so looks like most everybody just feeds a little just for fun. That's what I do also. I think I've made him rethink his business plan. Lol. He is spending about $2000 a winter on about thirty cows on top of the hay he gives them. He says he's never put a pencil to anything he does.

 

[NolanCountyAG]

I go through about 20 tons of cubes during the winter. The only time I feed hay is if we get a lot of Ice for several days. Most of the guys around me feed every other day or every third day during winter.

 

[True Grit Farms]

I've been feeding hay off and on for a month now. The bottom line is you do what needs to be done.

 

[brunel]

Our mature cow's get free choice corn stalks. Either grazed or round bales. They also go in to a pen 1 hr. /day and get dairy quality baleage. 1st calf heifers and some 2cd. calf heifers get baleage . This is after calves are weaned. Mature cows get straight baleage around 30 days prior to calving. pasture during summer. Always free choice vitamin's and mineral.

 

[u4411clb]

I am the outcast here because we feed retained heifers feed from weaning time until they are turned out with the bulls.

With our adult cows the plan is on a good year to feed stockpiled fescue until Christmas and then go to rye grass in March. So between Dec and Mar we feed our cows. It works better for us to sell our best hay and lately our good hay to the horse people and then take that money and buy gin trash, cotton seed, sometimes soy bean hulls and only this year corn. Believe it or not it is cheaper to feed our cows the quote bad hay aka (johnson grass, rained on hay and crab grass) and sell the fertilized bermuda and fescue to the horse people. I can't fertlize hay and then use diesel to cut rake and bale and then store the hay just to give it to my cows and make any money. The only way I can see any money from all that is to sell to the horse guys.

Jan and Feb are our worst winter months so feeding helps bring the fall calvers back in heat to get bred and keeps the spring calvers going until Rye grass and then fescue. We take the Fall cows off the rye and leave their calves on it and wean them and sell them in April. And then sell the spring calves in August.

 

[Craig Miller]

I am the outcast here because we feed retained heifers feed from weaning time until they are turned out with the bulls.

With our adult cows the plan is on a good year to feed stockpiled fescue until Christmas and then go to rye grass in March. So between Dec and Mar we feed our cows. It works better for us to sell our best hay and lately our good hay to the horse people and then take that money and buy gin trash, cotton seed, sometimes soy bean hulls and only this year corn. Believe it or not it is cheaper to feed our cows the quote bad hay aka (johnson grass, rained on hay and crab grass) and sell the fertilized bermuda and fescue to the horse people. I can't fertlize hay and then use diesel to cut rake and bale and then store the hay just to give it to my cows and make any money. The only way I can see any money from all that is to sell to the horse guys.

Jan and Feb are our worst winter months so feeding helps bring the fall calvers back in heat to get bred and keeps the spring calvers going until Rye grass and then fescue. We take the Fall cows off the rye and leave their calves on it and wean them and sell them in April. And then sell the spring calves in August.

Where do you get you gin trash and soybean hulls?

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

We feed for about 210 days each year. This last winter was long, and it did not warm up fast enough to get the grass growing, so we still were feeding some hay in May.

I only have bulls, weanlings up to 7 years old. The yearlings and up get clean grass/clover/alfalfa mix most of the winter. If we get a stretch of really rough weather, they will get baleage also, or sometimes just a lick tub. Weanlings get hay and a limited amount of high energy grain ration. I need them to grow, but not get fat, and be fit to pass a BSE by May.

 

[Dave]

The grass hay I get is too low on protein. Depending on the price supplement DDG or alfalfa. Last year I used DDG and corn mixed to make 16% protein. This year alfalfa has dropped a bundle here so I will limit feed it. For me feeding grain out of a bucket really helps tame them down which I feel helps at selling time.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

I supplement with a mixed ration, but this winter, since it looks like corn is going to tank, I may make use of that instead. I tend to stay away from DDG, since we have had way too many burnt out stomachs on the stuff. The grass mix I get usually has enough alfalfa in it to keep the protein up where I want it for maintenance on my big bulls.

 

[AdamsCreek]

I'm in eastern oklahoma and feed cubes in the winter for a few reasons/excuses. Biggest reason is thats what i learned from my dad and grandpa. Plus all the hay around me is bluestem and on a good day is maybe 10 percent protein. In a hard winter it ain't good enough by itself to keep them in the condition I like them in before and during calving. Also i like to make an easy catch by rattling a sack. Also i really just enjoy calling them in and walking around them when they're eating. I think it makes for an easier handling animal.

 

[u4411clb]

I am the outcast here because we feed retained heifers feed from weaning time until they are turned out with the bulls.

With our adult cows the plan is on a good year to feed stockpiled fescue until Christmas and then go to rye grass in March. So between Dec and Mar we feed our cows. It works better for us to sell our best hay and lately our good hay to the horse people and then take that money and buy gin trash, cotton seed, sometimes soy bean hulls and only this year corn. Believe it or not it is cheaper to feed our cows the quote bad hay aka (johnson grass, rained on hay and crab grass) and sell the fertilized bermuda and fescue to the horse people. I can't fertlize hay and then use diesel to cut rake and bale and then store the hay just to give it to my cows and make any money. The only way I can see any money from all that is to sell to the horse guys.

Jan and Feb are our worst winter months so feeding helps bring the fall calvers back in heat to get bred and keeps the spring calvers going until Rye grass and then fescue. We take the Fall cows off the rye and leave their calves on it and wean them and sell them in April. And then sell the spring calves in August.

Where do you get you gin trash and soybean hulls?

Madison County Co-OP Cotton gin. They grind the gin trash which is very important. It is aprox $15 a ton if they provide cotton seed bags to place it in and they ask you to bring them back. If you buy your own cotton seed bags or have some setup for them to load it in on your truck or tractor or 18 wheeler whatever it is less per ton. I get the soy bean hulls from either Ogle Feed which used to be a really big dairy but then turned into a feed company and they also buy and finish allot of cattle. Sometimes if they are competitive I will also check Harvest Feed and Seed for soy bean hulls. I try to pay around $125 a ton or less for the soy bean hulls. Anything over $150 a ton and you are starting to not be that cost effective.

I am hoping corn will be cost effective this year to add in the mix. As things are going now I really believe it will be.