lets talk second cut hay

[Petercoates87]

Hey folks. Hope all are well. So I have been offered some second cut hay for fairly cheep. I'm just wondering when to feed and even if I should bother buying this hay. It appears there's some starting to head out but mostly just the grass part. The supplier says it was down for 1.5 weeks last fall. I've read second cut hay would be ok for nursing cattle. But idk even if this is even any good at all. Open to suggestions. I was thinking of feeding to my cows once they have calved if ya think it acceptable. Thanks

 

[Logan52]

All else being equal, I much prefer second cutting hay over first cutting. More blades, less stem and the cattle seem to relish it and clean it up.
Your picture does not seem to display top quality hay, I would worry about it being down so long in the field, but if is not moldy I would be glad to let my cows try it and see.

 

[Petercoates87]

All else being equal, I much prefer second cutting hay over first cutting. More blades, less stem and the cattle seem to relish it and clean it up.

yeah I feel the same way too. Now I was asking my vet what they thought of it. The response I got was she rather see first cut hay used in this stage of the pregnancy in my cows. I'm just wondering if I could feed it out after they calf. I have a bit of every age group in my barn and I found while I had a bale of this my bulls I'm finishing loved it and looked fuller then on dry first cut.

 

[Farmerjon]

1st, 2nd, 3rd, all better than snowballs. No mold, if you are looking for hay cause you're out, it is better than nothing. Had a couple of years we fed straw, just upped our grain ration to offset loss of protein. They came through nice and slick.

 

[Petercoates87]

yeah I hear ya there. This hay doesn't look bad (I attached a pic of it). I'm just thinking a could save a few bucks maybe. I gotta buy hay the rest of the year and hay in my area goes for $90-100 for a round bale, I can get this for $60. I figured if I put it in a feeder and let the cows that have claved at it they'd eat to their fill and wouldn't be too bad.

 

[Hoover]

Grandma always said "beggars can't be choosers".

 

[bird dog]

I fed 80 rolls this winter of Rye grass/ oats mixed hay that was rained on three different times and laid in the field almost a month. I was afraid it was junk. They didn't care for much at the beginning but has it got older and fermented some, they liked it. The young calves preferred it for some reason. I had a couple 30% protein tubs out with it and the cows came through winter looking very well. I would not be afraid of feeding it to any of them but your lactating cows will probably need a supplement.

 

[crossbreed]

We roll out hay that I buy from the same guy every year. Seems second cutting usually has less weeds to me. That's important in my book

 

[ClinchValley86]

Depending on how it was put up and when I was cut, I much prefer 2nd and 3rd cut when compared to 1st cut.

Often times around here though, 2nd cut is cut end of season and everything is rank with a bunch of broomsedge.

Laying for 1.5 weeks would bother me. But like said above. Beggers can't be choosers.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

1st, 2nd, 3rd, all better than snowballs. No mold, if you are looking for hay cause you're out, it is better than nothing. Had a couple of years we fed straw, just upped our grain ration to offset loss of protein. They came through nice and slick.

No offense meant, but that phrase, "It's better than snowballs" is a pet peve of mine. Have you ever seen a cow starve with a full rumen? I have. The only way to know the value of ANY lot of hay is to get a hay analysis. If its that cheap, tell them that you will buy the hay at their charging rate plus you will pay for the hay analysis IF the hay analysis is up to your standards. Typically 2nd cutting is a good cutting. You might ask, why do they have it now and why is it so cheap? Could be because its near the end of the hay feeding season and they have way more hay than they can use.....or is there another reason?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Have you ever seen a cow starve with a full rumen? I have.

Not saying it can't happen but that would have to be some kind of poor hay.

There was a guy around here that often made 1st cut hay in October and November often with snow flying. His cows always survived our harsh winter and he had reasonable breeding success given his conditions. Never once heard of, or saw any of his animals starving to death.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

Not saying it can't happen but that would have to be some kind of poor hay.

There was a guy around here that often made 1st cut hay in October and November often with snow flying. His cows always survived our harsh winter and he had reasonable breeding success given his conditions. Never once heard of, or saw any of his animals starving to death.

I didn't believe it either that this could happen, until I actually saw it. Starvation is a long, slow process, so cows rarely die from starvation as there is usually enough hay that has a minimal amount of nutrition and/or the winter isn't too long or harsh, but it does happen. Even when it doesn't, you don't want your animals losing 30-60% of their body condition over winter.

 

[Silver]

Feed tests are valuable enough. But if you've fed a few cows and put up a bit of hay you should be able to tell just by looking that a batch of hay has no feed value or is just plain poor. Hay that looks good will generally be good enough.

 

[Farmerjon]

No offense meant, but that phrase, "It's better than snowballs" is a pet peve of mine. Have you ever seen a cow starve with a full rumen? I have. The only way to know the value of ANY lot of hay is to get a hay analysis. If its that cheap, tell them that you will buy the hay at their charging rate plus you will pay for the hay analysis IF the hay analysis is up to your standards. Typically 2nd cutting is a good cutting. You might ask, why do they have it now and why is it so cheap? Could be because its near the end of the hay feeding season and they have way more hay than they can use.....or is there another reason?

No offense taken. Have had two winters when I fed a group of horses and then a group of horses and small herd of cows on only straw for roughage. Up the grain and protein and all came out both times slick and fat.

 

[WFfarm]

I'd be suspicious of hay that was on the ground for 1-1/2 weeks, especially if it got rained on a few times. Probably poor quality, but may be okay for filler/roughage if you got good hay to mix it with.

 

[1982vett]

Second and 3rd cut has sells for more around here....it's more apt to be weed and trash free.

 

[Cowman42]

Hey folks. Hope all are well. So I have been offered some second cut hay for fairly cheep. I'm just wondering when to feed and even if I should bother buying this hay. It appears there's some starting to head out but mostly just the grass part. The supplier says it was down for 1.5 weeks last fall. I've read second cut hay would be ok for nursing cattle. But idk even if this is even any good at all. Open to suggestions. I was thinking of feeding to my cows once they have calved if ya think it acceptable. Thanks

That stuff looks pretty rough for second cut. Awful brown. Does it smell clean? I feed second cut orchard grass in the dead of winter. Last few years though the cattle have been avoiding it and preferring first cutting. It looks nice and green, smells nice. I haven't tested it yet. I would offer to your cattle but see how they like. Don't force them to eat it. If it isn't any good they will tell you.