greenfeed questions

[jillaroo]

We have always fed hay to our bred cows over the winter, but now we are bringing in barley greenfeed for the herd. They are on average, 1000 lbs cows that will start calving March 1st. Some are a little thinner than I like and the temperatures range from -20 to 0 C or so right now. We use a bale buster and bale truck to feed.

What sorts of problems should I look out for associated with feeding greenfeed?
What about mineral requirements as compared to hay?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

 

[randiliana]

We have always tried to mix the ration so they are getting hay and greenfeed. Greenfeed will be higher in phosphorous where as alfalfa hay is higher in calcium. The biggest problems you might run into are mouth/jaw abscesses due to the beards on the grain heads such as durum, barley, rye etc. Eye problems can be caused when feed gets into the eyes, usually not a big problem if you are feeding on the ground. Bearded feeds and oats are the worst for that. The other big problem can be bloat and this depends on the maturity of the grain and how much grain vs straw is in each bale.

 

[hillsdown]

Jill ,just be sure your green feed has been tested for nitrates .

Cattle can do as well or better on good green feed than hay .
Last year my bull and replacement heifers were fed just that as we had no extra hay, my DAG and YW were the highest yet .