Mountain Cattle

[Hasbeen]

Had some logging done recently and I'm still in the process of clearing treetops and repairing fence that separates my pastures from the mountain. Since the drought here has destroyed my pastures, the cows have decided that they prefer foraging up on the mountain to eating hay. Although a lot of people around here do it, I've never been a big fan of turning them loose up there but it is fenced and they seem to be doing well. There have been cattle up there in years past and I've not heard of it doing any harm. It's not grass, just the typical browse on a heavily wooded mountain plus the wheat I sowed on the logging roads. Anyone have any experience with this? If it works out it increases my feeding area from 20 acres up to 180. Doesn't seem to be anything poisionous up there although I'm sure it's not as nutricious as grass and is of course much cooler and seems to be fewer flies.

 

[Hasbeen]

I figured my first responses would be from Tennessee or W.Virginia. Texans and Kansas folks aren't going to be much help on this one.

No Cherry, may be a few Hemlock, and they made short work of what little wheat was growing (too dry for it to grow much).
I watched them for an hour or so last night and they were mostly browsing the young plants and leaves that were coming up where the sunlight was able to reach the forest floor now.

 

[Hasbeen]

The wild turkeys are loving this, by the way. The manure piles are scratched apart before they even have time to dry.

 

[tryinhard]

They can get Oak poisoning if there are oak trees up there especially when the acorns are about half green and half brown, that shouldn't be to far in the future if they do eat a few, and they more than likely will, in drought. Some of them seem to get addicted to acorns, and the leaves. I lost a couple like that back in 1999 or there about, when we had a bad drought. They would stand under oak trees listening for an acorn to fall then find it. would not come out of the woods for feed or anything, unless they wanted something, and no treatment for it. It is lethal. Good luck.

tryinhard

 

[3MR]

I have a couple of crazy cows that are addicted to Oak blossoms. I have to pen them up for a couple weeks in the spring. They still manage to get some, but as long as its less then 50% of their diet I am told I should be OK. I have scrub oak everywhere so its next to impossible to clear it out.

On the plus side, it sure does improve my dear hunting. :lol:

 

[rgv]

Isn't it just certain types of acorns that are a problem.
Black vs white oak etc

 

[Hasbeen]

I have several large oaks lining my pastures with lots acorns every fall. Never known it to be a problem.

3MR, did you on purpose type dear hunting (instead of deer)? If so, I may need to plant a few more oaks!

 

[CUZ]

Tryin- My experience with the acorns kind of agrees with yours. Seems every now and then one of the bigger calves gets hooked on acorns. If it gets too bad it'll definitely kill them. I think it constipates them and if they keep shoveling them in on the front end and nothing's leaving on the back end - well that's a recipe for having to drag one off.

Maybe we need an EPD for who has a propensity to acorn addiction.

Cuz

 

[dun]

Tryin- My experience with the acorns kind of agrees with yours. Seems every now and then one of the bigger calves gets hooked on acorns. If it gets too bad it'll definitely kill them. I think it constipates them and if they keep shoveling them in on the front end and nothing's leaving on the back end - well that's a recipe for having to drag one off.

Maybe we need an EPD for who has a propensity to acorn addiction.

Cuz

Acorns have a toxic substance in them, that's what kills them if they eat too many.

 

[dun]

If the mountain is still forested/treed, depending on how many cows there are, they will do more damage to the trees then the trees will do to them

 

[backhoeboogie]

I figured my first responses would be from Tennessee or W.Virginia. Texans and Kansas folks aren't going to be much help on this one.

We can still read along and learn tho :lol:

 

[3MR]

I have several large oaks lining my pastures with lots acorns every fall. Never known it to be a problem.

3MR, did you on purpose type dear hunting (instead of deer)? If so, I may need to plant a few more oaks!

I think my wife might have a problem if I had trees that attracted those kind of dear. So I guess im just going to chalk the spelling error up to my own stupidity. :lol:

 

[ALACOWMAN]

most mountain cattle around here fall victim to a bullet or arrow. target practice from a idiot hunter or city folk that would'nt know a deer from a mule

 

[CUZ]

Acorns have a toxic substance in them, that's what kills them if they eat too many.

Just goes to show that sometimes we get a part of the info and take off the wrong path to a conclusion.

Dad lost one about 40 years ago, had the vet open it up. Dad said that calf was FULL of acorns. I can remember how impressed he was with the volume of acorns in that calf. Later decided that the calf was constipated and due to the build up of more and more acorns that's when the toxicity killed the calf.

Who knows, it may or may not have been constipated, but it was definitely dead. And all evidence points to THE ACORNS DID IT.

Cuz

 

[Hasbeen]

If the mountain is still forested/treed, depending on how many cows there are, they will do more damage to the trees then the trees will do to them

I can live with that for awhile.

 

[Hasbeen]

I figured my first responses would be from Tennessee or W.Virginia. Texans and Kansas folks aren't going to be much help on this one.

We can still read along and learn tho :lol:

True. Never know when a mountain might show up in Texas.

 

[Hasbeen]

I don't really think acorns are going to be a problem, at least not for a couple of more months. I get my fencing fixed within a couple of weeks and maybe someday we'll get rain again.

 

[Jogeephus]

The time proven saying her is, "the woods aren't that great for the cows but the cows sure are great for the woods." We run them in the woods quite a bit. They seem to know what to eat and what not to. Problems arise when they don't have any choices of what to eat. By the way though, be sure the loggers didn't leave any batteries out there. We had this happen and lost six cows before we could figure out what was killing them.

 

[fitz]

I have several large oaks lining my pastures with lots acorns every fall. Never known it to be a problem.

Our cows are the definition of mountain cattle. Most of what we run over is a mix of pasture and mountain side. They do fine. The deal with acorns here is we let them run over it continuously and get acclimated to the acorns as they fall as opposed to turning them off pasture right into them suddenly. If you do that they may eat too many and bloat up big time.
The old people used to turn the few cattle they run into the mountains and not bring them back til winter. As for poison, ours are born and raised here. They must know what to eat and what not to. However, I do watch for downed wild cherry.

 

[3MR]

I figured my first responses would be from Tennessee or W.Virginia. Texans and Kansas folks aren't going to be much help on this one.

We can still read along and learn tho :lol:

True. Never know when a mountain might show up in Texas.

Franklin Mountains in west Texas.