Moldy Bread

[dcara]

When feeding bakery scraps, some or all of it is bound to become moldy before feeding. What problems can you expect with the cattle if feeding moldy bakery scraps?

 

[regolith]

why would it be mouldy? I've seen bakery waste plenty of times, don't recall any of it being mouldy. I think the idea is to use it before that occurs.

There might be no visible ill-effects, but its a risk not worth taking, especially with pregnant cattle.

 

[dcara]

Maybe a little more info would get me a more useful response. I have found a place that will sell me all the bakery scraps I can haul for $50 a load. He suggested I bring a cattle or horse trailer. A loaf of bread weighs about 1 lb 4oz and ocupies about 0.11 cu ft. My cattle trailer is 16L x 6h x 5w = 480 cuft = about 5400 lbs of bakery products. Since it will not be all nicely stacked and packed (though I could probably pack it as I loaded it) I'll estimate a 4000 lb load. That comes out to about $1.25/cwt. So the economics make real good sense at those levels. However I am concerned that it would mold with in a week and I'm not sure what risk that presents. If I got just enough on a weekly basis to feed the 10 heifers (I'll have here for another month before they rejoin the main heard 30 miles away) at say 10lbs/day/heifer * 7 days = 700lbs/week I'm now up to $7/cwt. Throw in another 150 lbs for the girls when I check on them each week and I'm at $5.88/cwt. At this price it is almost worth the extra time (3-4hr/wk), mileage (extra 50 miles), and overall hassle (loading, unrapping, inspecting, etc.) of dealing with it each week. If I could get 2 weeks worth before it got moldy I think it would be a no brainer......maybe.

 

[3legdonkey]

Silage gets moldy all the time and cattle and pigs eat it. Large bails of hay always have some mold in them as well, especially in wet seasons. I quite often eat stuff with mold on it and it has never hurt me... Grin. I do not believe that some mold would hurt but I do not think I would feed the bread if it got excessively moldy. I also think you would not want the bread to be their only feed but I am suspicious you were already on top of that.

 

[pdfangus]

YES IT WILL GET MOLDY AND YES YOU CAN STILL FEED IT.

THE WRAPPER HASSLE WAS THE BIGGIE FOR ME. DOES NOT SOUND LIKE A BIG DEAL TILL YOU START DOING IT. A LOT OF BREAD TODAY IS DOUBLE WRAPPED. TWICE THE HASSLE.

i SUPPOSE YOU COLD RIG UP A CUTTING DEVICE AND DRAG THE WRAPPER ACROSS IT AND SPEED THINGS UP BUT i WOULD CUT MY ARMS OFF THAT WAY.

 

[grasseater]

Cut a notch in a 2x4 and find a way to mount (glue works) a Hook utility blade in it with the hook sitting about 3/8" above the surface.

Slid the bags of bread across the 2x4 ripping the bag open.
Bread will fall out of the bag into a well placed container under the 2x4.
Toss bag in trash can sitting next to you.

I will buy bread when there is not a lot of stuff going on but it is time consuming.

 

[dcara]

Talked to the vet this afternoon and he also said some mold is ok. He said don't feed them a bunch that has over say 30% mold coverage. More important, don't feed them a bunch without mold either because it will make them bloat up big time. If I throw a bunch out the boss cows will take over and I'll end up having new boss cows after the old ones keel over from bloat. I kinda thought that might be a concern also. Thanks for ya'lls guidance.

 

[coon hunter]

This is what I do I don't have any hay in my barn so I place a tarp on the barn floor open the bread and let it dry scoop it up and place it in barrels or trash bags it will not mold dry.

 

[rjbovine]

This is a first for me . Please tell me the benefit of feeding baked goods . I'm guessing it's for protein ?

 

[TexasBred]

This is a first for me . Please tell me the benefit of feeding baked goods . I'm guessing it's for protein ?

Protein, fat, fiber, energy, it taste good and in this case it's free. Hard to overfeed it. A whole loaf only weighs a pound so a small percentage of the daily diet.