Getting cows to eat hay

[Robert Wayne]

Hi, I'm fairly new to cattle raising so here's a question for the pros. I bought some hay and the cows won't hardly touch it. It isn't moldy or dusty. From what I can tell it was probably just a field of dried grass that was baled up (there is no green in the color at all). Is there anything I can do to encourage them to eat it at least as roughage. I talked to the guy who sold it to me and he said "It beats a snowball" but in fact even with snow all over the ground, they are hardly touching it. I put out protein tubs yesterday...

Could this hay have been sprayed with some kind of chemical that is putting the cows off their feed?

rob

 

[bigbluegrass]

HI from another newbie :welcome: I am by no means a pro and I am new here, but I can tell you what I have seen in my limited experience. First a few questions, do they mess up the hay at all? Nose around in it? If they aren't even touching it, I would suspect the hay is bad. Normally they would at least make a mess of it.

What else do they have access to eat? A few years ago I bought some really good hay and put it out for my cows. They would nose around in it but wouldn't eat much. The hay smelled good and was nice a green. It was stored inside from the day it was made. Took me about a week (yeh, I'm that slow) to realize that they had plenty of grass to eat. Sure it was the middle of winter (February at the time), but they went out every day and I never paid attention to it. They were just heading out and finding grass. In the morning and at night they were around the barn, so I didn't even think of it. Point is, if they have access to grass, any kind of grass, they won't eat the hay 99% of the time. But they will at least pull the bale apart and pick out the good stuff. Just based on my experience.

 

[angus9259]

Anything's possible. Tear some of the hay out of the bale and post a picture of it.

 

[haase]

you can put some molasses on it, sounds like it is some old hay, hopefully you didnt pay much for it.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

If the quality of hay is really poor (which it sounds like it is) you did the right thing putting out a protein tub. As suggested, are they eating something else?? Good bad or indifferent, they will eat it sooner or later if they are hungry enough. But, if it was at all decent, they would have gotten right into it just because it's something DIFFERENT than what they are eating.
Sounds like your seller knew exactly what he was selling, if he said it was better than a snowball. It's also better than rabbit tracks! :lol: Hopefully, you only bought the 1 bale & can find another source.

 

[Isomade]

Hi Robert, welcome to the board. If you just got the cows and there wasn't any stock on the field for most of the year they could just be eating the grass. If there isn't much grass, I would put out some 37-40% range cubes for a few days. With the high protien content of the cubes they will eat limbs off trees, they'll clean up that hay. Let us know what youmfigure out.

Isom

 

[kenny thomas]

If there isn't much grass, I would put out some 37-40% range cubes for a few days. With the high protien content of the cubes they will eat limbs off trees

Isom[/quote]

I need some of your range cubes, I have some brushy land I need cleaned up. :lol2:

 

[Anonymous]

Sprinkle some loose salt on it and they will eat that hay

 

[Susie David]

Spend the nickles and get the cattle some quality hay...alfalfa...it should be green and leafy.
Poor feed will only lead to more problems than you are able to deal with. The animals need nutrition and getting it out of a sack is expensive.
Believe the old addage...You can't starve a profit out of a cow.
Search past posts on nutrition and feed, alot of very knowledgable folks have shared lifetimes of experience.
Good Luck,
Dave Mc

 

[tsmaxx47]

if you're stuck with alot of hay you may try a pour on that will make the bales more palatable. i saw some at the last farm show in tulsa but don't remember the name; maybe someone on the CT will know. at least it may save your investment.

 

[Suzie Q]

That pour on was most probably molasses as posted by hasse above.

 

[Suzie Q]

You can water down molasses of course.

 

[novatech]

There are a lot of different things you can pore on so they will eat it. The problem is you can also starve them to death with a full belly. They must have protein to make use of it. Supplement them with any sort you prefer. Don't forget they need mineral too.

 

[cypressfarms]

Nova made a good point about starving a cow to death with a full belly. I'm lucky, I can get molasses in bulk pretty cheap.

It's obviously poor hay. I'd pour a lot of molasses over it, and I think you'd be surprised how they clean it up. If the cows have never eaten molasses before, they will just smell it and lick it. My cows know what molasses is. When they see me filling up a feed trough with it (I keep molasses in 250 gallon totes), all of the cows come running. I actually supplement my cows hay in the winter by giving them raw molasses and corn syrup (another freebie) in bulk. I'll dump 50 gallons or so in a feed trough and they eat it like good gumbo! It may not be as good as a protein tub, but whatever works. It sure is cheaper for me than those godawful expensive tubs.

 

[dun]

Nova made a good point about starving a cow to death with a full belly. I'm lucky, I can get molasses in bulk pretty cheap.

It's obviously poor hay. I'd pour a lot of molasses over it, and I think you'd be surprised how they clean it up. If the cows have never eaten molasses before, they will just smell it and lick it. My cows know what molasses is. When they see me filling up a feed trough with it (I keep molasses in 250 gallon totes), all of the cows come running. I actually supplement my cows hay in the winter by giving them raw molasses and corn syrup (another freebie) in bulk. I'll dump 50 gallons or so in a feed trough and they eat it like good gumbo! It may not be as good as a protein tub, but whatever works. It sure is cheaper for me than those godawful expensive tubs.

Check the linked table. If molasses is acting as a protein supplement your hay must not test any higher then water.

 

[Jovid]

Before I make any comments I have a few questions

Where do you live?

What kind of grass is in your pasture?

Is there still grass in your pasture?

 

[angus9259]

If the cattle would rather starve than eat it, it seems odd to me to trick them into eating it. Perhaps they know what they shouldn't be eating. I'm not saying that a cow previously on great hay won't turn up their nose for a while on lesser stuff, but that doesn't seem like the case here.

 

[Robert Wayne]

First, thanks for all the responses! You guys are great.

Second, where can I get molasses. My local feed store doesn't carry it.

Third, I put out salt/meal mix yesterday and they seem to have gone for the hay a bit more, and yes until it snowed there was some small rye grass growing and they certainly preferred that.

All the best,

 

[Suzie Q]

I guess it is more readily available here. You can get it in drums or take a 2 litre milk bottle down to your local feedstore and they will fill that for you.

 

[dun]

Check with the local feed mills