HAY FOR THE WINTER

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RICHARDL

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I know this has been asked a lot, i did a search on it an there were too many to list, But how much hay do i need to buy for (2) -18 mth old heifers and (2) -10 month old heifers.? Or how many round bales per ? i'm in South LA. so our winters or for the most part mild. usually cold from mi to late Dec. to March. Thanks and sorry for asking AGAIN!!!!!
 
i bet you can get through the winter on 16 round bales.mostly likely youll have hay left over.
 
Richard,

The amount of hay you will need also is determined by how much cool weather foraging do you have available.
I seeded some rye grass last year just after Labor Day, keep the cows off it for 6 weeks and then turned them out on it. My cows didn't care for the hay until that pasture stopped providing around Jan 1st.

Also, what are you doing with supplemental feeding during winter weather ?
 
This will be my first year with cattle. But it seems to the pasture wasn't brown till mid Dec. If that's what you mean. the pasture there in now, is mainly bermuda & bahia. How much rye did you plant ? i was thinking about going that route also . And what type of supplements do i need for the winter?. Where they are now is a 5 acres pasture. i have 10 more acres to work with. I'm tweeking up those fence lines now so i can rotate if needed. I'm sure at some point i will.
 
arkcowman":142yrn4n said:
Richard,

I seeded some rye grass last year just after Labor Day, keep the cows off it for 6 weeks and then turned them out on it. My cows didn't care for the hay until that pasture stopped providing around Jan 1st.

Mix some clover seed in with that rye and you'll get a lot of N put into the ground. Much cheaper than fertilizer and it is great forage also. I prefer hubam clover but it looks like there is a shortage of seed this year. I am therefore opting for Madrid. The cows will love you for it and the grass will too next year.
 
you plant 30lbs of rye grass to the ac.an as said plant some clover to.for 10 to 15acs youd just need 1 sack of clover.an that would be 3lbs clover to the ac.
 
Richard,
You are a lot further south than me so you should have a shorter dormaint forage season.
You also need to put out some free choice minerals (keep it out of the rain) I like to use
the stuff that has fly control. Some go straight hay during the winter, I supplement sack
feed also. I have happy well conditioned cows but don't have that great a yield come
selling time.
 
YEA, I'm using something right now that has fly contol in it, can't think of the name right of. I might do like some & plant rye with clover and buy hay as i need it. start of with 5 or so bales and go from there thanks for the info
 
RICHARDL":1f84ul8y said:
I might do like some & plant rye with clover and buy hay as i need it. start of with 5 or so bales and go from there thanks for the info

Richard I think I would go with 10 bales if I were you. Put them on pallets or gravel or poles and tarp them. You can get use out of them next winter if need be. Buying hay at mid-winter can get expensive.
 
Not to sure if this is a good idea but,

I was thinking you may want to think about just getting square bales since you don thave much livestock. easy enough to feed with, you can control the portions better and maybe decrease waste. Someone can rip that idea a part of support it. The down side is you couldnt use your truck or tractor to do all the work. Some manual work would be involved.
 
CattleHand":1ewvx16n said:
Not to sure if this is a good idea but,

I was thinking you may want to think about just getting square bales since you don thave much livestock. easy enough to feed with, you can control the portions better and maybe decrease waste. Someone can rip that idea a part of support it. The down side is you couldnt use your truck or tractor to do all the work. Some manual work would be involved.

I would agree on the square bale idea. It is not that difficult to toss a few flakes into the feedbunk, or into a feeder, and feeding a set amount per day does cut down on waste dramatically. As far as the manual work is concerned, we tried the round bale thing and found it pretty much required as much manual work as square bales. Big square bales are easier to store, and easier to feed, so we went back to them.
 
I have a place to store all the hay i need, And i belive right now i can get round bales for $20-$25 per, Seems like square bales are kinda pricey at $4-$5 per. My plan was to have the hay cut on the other 10 acres, which brings to mind another question? Roughly how bales would i get of 8-10 acres? But i minght not make that this year It hard to find someone to come out and do that. and its not much cheaper. than just buying the round bales. I also have tractors to handle the bales. And i'm not scared of manuel labor. If i get 10 bales & don't use them all they'll keep right? AND you don't see to many square bales unless i'm at the feed store. Its time to start looking thought. thanks
 
Square bales are easy to handle but like you say they are pricey. At 4-5 dollars this would equate to around 80-100 per roll. Though you probably can get by with 4 rolls I tend to worry about droughts more than I used to so if it were me I'd get six rolls per head. With this many it doesn't matter what the weather does cause you will have plenty of feed. Heck, at $25 per roll you might buy eight per head. If you don't feed it this year feed it first next year.
 
a dozen rolls and lick tubs...typically a bale per head per mth. you have 4 head (for this exercise 3 mature head) feed jan., feb., march..3x3=12... tubs make them eat a little more hay, but 12-14 bales 1200lb. 5x5 rolls...if you don't want to plant ryegrass don't clip your pasture, a lot of green will survive the frosts we have down here and your cattle will do well, remember minerals too free choice...
 
STILL not sure about what minerals to get? OR lick tubs I'm pretty sure i'll go with the round bales for hay, sounds like the best cheapest route. And the jury is still out on the rye grass & clover more than likely i'll give it a try.
 
RICHARDL":2ivmbf00 said:
I know this has been asked a lot, i did a search on it an there were too many to list, But how much hay do i need to buy for (2) -18 mth old heifers and (2) -10 month old heifers.? Or how many round bales per ? i'm in South LA. so our winters or for the most part mild. usually cold from mi to late Dec. to March. Thanks and sorry for asking AGAIN!!!!!
There are just to many variables to determine this. Basically they need 30 to 40 lbs of forage per day. This depending on the quality of the forage.
 
novatech":2l2xvzt2 said:
RICHARDL":2l2xvzt2 said:
I know this has been asked a lot, i did a search on it an there were too many to list, But how much hay do i need to buy for (2) -18 mth old heifers and (2) -10 month old heifers.? Or how many round bales per ? i'm in South LA. so our winters or for the most part mild. usually cold from mi to late Dec. to March. Thanks and sorry for asking AGAIN!!!!!
There are just to many variables to determine this. Basically they need 30 to 40 lbs of forage per day. This depending on the quality of the forage.

Novatech is right. Too many variables. I'd suggest planning for the worst case scenario and going from there. Once you winter cows for a few years you will be able to better determine what you will need. But its a lot easier to plan for the worst and not to sharpen your pencil too sharp on minimal requirements cause there are a lot of variables that are out of your control. From my own personal experience I have found this to be true.
 
Jogeephus":ezdai5v4 said:
I'd suggest planning for the worst case scenario and going from there. Once you winter cows for a few years you will be able to better determine what you will need. But its a lot easier to plan for the worst and not to sharpen your pencil too sharp on minimal requirements cause there are a lot of variables that are out of your control. From my own personal experience I have found this to be true.
Very good advice. What is the general rule on this? 2 years supply in the barn? I keep my barn full. Haven't seen the back for a long time. If I went into the winter with no stockpiled forage it would change that in a hurry.
 

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