How long??? (need answers fast)

[lmp570]

how long will it take for 2 cows... 2 heifers... and 2 calves running together to eat one 1600-1800 lb. bale of hay?? the cattle are red angus.

need answers fast !!

 

[Sir Loin]

Based on the info given, I don't know!
How's that for fast, or was that just a halffast answer?
SL

 

[Texas PaPaw]

Fiqure they will consume 2.5% of their body weight per day (.025 x weight) assuming they have no grazing or other feed available.

cows 1000-1400? lb
heifers 400-800? lb
calves 200-400?lb

based upon the above weights, would figure 80-130 lb/day for 2 hd of each. As with everything, your results may vary.

 

[hillsdown]

If you are wondering when you should buy another bale I suggest you never do anything without a back up plan.If it is good quality probably a week or more.Always have another bale or more around just in case.Remember hind sight is twenty twenty.

 

[hillsdown]

Approximately 3 weeks. Did I win?
:lol:

We need more information. Will they have access to any grass? What kind? How much? How old are the calves? What are their current Body Condition Scores? What kind of hay do you have?

I used to hear, as a very general rule of thumb, one 1200 lb round bale per 10 cows, per week. But depending on all the variables, you might need more or less.

WOW I want your cows 10 per 1200lb a week that is very good if they keep their BSC.

 

[Bez>]

Approximately 3 weeks. Did I win?
:lol:

We need more information. Will they have access to any grass? What kind? How much? How old are the calves? What are their current Body Condition Scores? What kind of hay do you have?

I used to hear, as a very general rule of thumb, one 1200 lb round bale per 10 cows, per week. But depending on all the variables, you might need more or less.

WOW I want your cows 10 per 1200lb a week that is very good if they keep their BSC.

He lives in Texas - they do not have long time feed issues. Most folks would be very surprised if you told them what your animals ate in a week.

Even the 3% body weight feed schedule doe not work for folks like you and me - it is higher as I am sure you know.

Bez>

 

[msscamp]

how long will it take for 2 cows... 2 heifers... and 2 calves running together to eat one 1600-1800 lb. bale of hay?? the cattle are red angus.

need answers fast !!

Assuming you're feeding them 30 lbs/animal/day(I'm counting both calves as 1 animal in this scenario), and they are in dry lot - it will take a little over 10 days for them to go through a 1600 lb bale of hay. If they have pasture available, or if you're supplementing them with other feed, it will take longer because they probably won'tneed the 30 lbs/day.

 

[Chuckie]

I guess 2 weeks if you are supplementing their diet with a little feed on the side. If it is weedy hay, it will go a lot faster because they will tear out the sticks, briars, thistles etc..... I don't know why people bale hay like that, but I have seen it done. Even with blackberries.
If it is good hay and they can eat all the way through, then my guess is still 2 weeks with a little suppliment.
Chuckie

 

[lmp570]

I guess 2 weeks if you are supplementing their diet with a little feed on the side. If it is weedy hay, it will go a lot faster because they will tear out the sticks, briars, thistles etc..... I don't know why people bale hay like that, but I have seen it done. Even with blackberries.
If it is good hay and they can eat all the way through, then my guess is still 2 weeks with a little suppliment.
Chuckie

kind of what i was thinking. all the animals have an excellent body score and they will be supplemented about 15 lbs. of feed between them. the cows are about 1500 lbs. im no good at guessing weight for the calves and heifers. but the calves will be on month old and the heifers 14 months and 12 months.

 

[Limomike]

Without knowing the variables involved, I would have to say about 10-12 days.

 

[novatech]

Here's one back at you.

How hungry are they?

how long will it take

 

[mind235]

25 head, 11 spring calves, 1 one year old bull, 13 cows will take between 5 hours and 1 day to devour one and they have fair pasture not great not poor.

 

[AngusLimoX]

Is it in a ring? A week if not. Probably doing the kitchen bedroom bathroom shuffle before that.

ALX

 

[rkm]

If cattle maul over hay for 10 days to 2 weeks, are they really going to eat it? You better have a way to mete it out.

 

[farmwife]

General rule that we have used for many years is a mature cow will eat 3.3 bales per year. We plan our inventory this way and haven't had trouble. Of course this doesn't allow for the cows that you have penned for one reason or another, calves, or environmental issues.

 

[tryinhard]

Just buy a few bales to keep out of reach of the cows, and put one in as need be, no one on this board knows how much nor how much other etable stuff they may have access to. If you have too much hay, and it's hard to actually have too much, I'm sure you can resell it if need be. Good luck.

tryinhard

 

[Susie David]

Put my guess in for 13 days....they will probably ruin a day or two's ration and will most likely over eat for the first few days....yeah..I'll stick with 13 days.
Please post the results of this contest....we're all curious.
DMc

 

[donnaIL]

Is that a square bale that weights 1800lbs? Our rounds only weight between 800-1000lb..

I would guess 3 weeks, if you make them eat it all, and if they are in hay rings.

Donna

 

[Brandonm2]

This time of year in a big pastrure with plentiful good quality grass it COULD last three weeks (I have never seen cows that WON'T raid the hay barn if they can...no matter how much grass they have). In January, with no better forage available it could be gone in 3 days. Anything between those two extremes is possible depending on the cows, the weather, stocking rate, forage quality, etc.

 

[J&T Farm]

Well I don't know about how many lbs per day but I know that our 4 horses can eat a 4x5 round bale in 8 days that is in a hay ring, in the winter when they have no grass. I don't know if that helps any but thats my only advice.