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<blockquote data-quote="Lucky_P" data-source="post: 1180735" data-attributes="member: 12607"><p>hey, BF.</p><p>I don't check in at the Feedyard often .</p><p>We've been limit-feeding hay & distiller's grains since 2007. Started out of necessity, due to scarce hay supplies - that first year, we were shooting for 10lbs of hay/cow/day & 10-12 lb modified distillers/hd/day. Cows came through the winter fine - actually in better shape than years when we'd just fed free-choice locally-purchased hay of questionable quality. Breed-back was better than in most prior years as well.</p><p>We've continued it, even though most years, hay has been more available and affordable. There are several ration-balancer programs out there, like the OSU Cow-Culator and UofMN beef cow ration balancer, that can help determine how much hay and how much of whatever feed supplement you need to meet cows' nutritional requirements - depending on breed, size, stage of pregnancy/lactation, BCS going in and what level of BCS loss you're willing to accept. Additionally, as price/ton can be assigned for each feed ingredient (hay, concentrate), one can determine whether it's more economical to feed more hay or more grain/concentrate.</p><p></p><p>Farm manager (my wife) calculates approximate consumption rates and we adjust hay access times - generally 1.5-2 hrs/day... longer, if needed, to meet requirements, and the cows come out of the hay to consume their grain ration,then stand around in sacrifice paddocks for 20+ hours awaiting the next feeding. </p><p></p><p>Bit the bullet and poured a hay-feeding pad this year; anticipate that we'll have less hay loss/wastage, as they won't continually be mashing what they pull out and drop into the mud. Even with liberal application of crushed rock, the hay feeding area was still a quagmire in places before spring. Anticipate the feeding pad paying for itself in rock costs and reduced hay wastage in less than 10 years.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lucky_P, post: 1180735, member: 12607"] hey, BF. I don't check in at the Feedyard often . We've been limit-feeding hay & distiller's grains since 2007. Started out of necessity, due to scarce hay supplies - that first year, we were shooting for 10lbs of hay/cow/day & 10-12 lb modified distillers/hd/day. Cows came through the winter fine - actually in better shape than years when we'd just fed free-choice locally-purchased hay of questionable quality. Breed-back was better than in most prior years as well. We've continued it, even though most years, hay has been more available and affordable. There are several ration-balancer programs out there, like the OSU Cow-Culator and UofMN beef cow ration balancer, that can help determine how much hay and how much of whatever feed supplement you need to meet cows' nutritional requirements - depending on breed, size, stage of pregnancy/lactation, BCS going in and what level of BCS loss you're willing to accept. Additionally, as price/ton can be assigned for each feed ingredient (hay, concentrate), one can determine whether it's more economical to feed more hay or more grain/concentrate. Farm manager (my wife) calculates approximate consumption rates and we adjust hay access times - generally 1.5-2 hrs/day... longer, if needed, to meet requirements, and the cows come out of the hay to consume their grain ration,then stand around in sacrifice paddocks for 20+ hours awaiting the next feeding. Bit the bullet and poured a hay-feeding pad this year; anticipate that we'll have less hay loss/wastage, as they won't continually be mashing what they pull out and drop into the mud. Even with liberal application of crushed rock, the hay feeding area was still a quagmire in places before spring. Anticipate the feeding pad paying for itself in rock costs and reduced hay wastage in less than 10 years. [/QUOTE]
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