oat hay and pumpkins

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the vaccination lump info. Here is another questions I've had lately. I think I remember something last year about feeding pumpkins (obviously chopped) to cows being okay. With it being the season, is this an okay treat to provide (as long as they aren't moldy, have wax, burn marks, etc)? Also oat hay is really cheap right now $2.50 a 3 wire bale. Is this okay to use with cows? In Northern AZ alfalfa is $7.00 in its cheapest season. I din't know if the TDN (TDP?) was going to be met with using oat hay or a combo. Thanks.

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[Anonymous]

Is the alfalfa dairy bales (150-160 lbs) or horse bales, (110-120 lbs). You need to look at the total nutrition for dollar of coast. We used to feed (by volume not weight) about 2/3 oat hay and 1/3 alfalfa. It worked out cheaper then oat kay and grain to get the protein and energy where it needs to be. Depends on what you're feeding also. Dry cows, stockers, weaners, cows with calves, llamas, camels, whatever, they all have different nutritional requirements.

dun

> Thanks for the vaccination lump
> info. Here is another questions
> I've had lately. I think I
> remember something last year about
> feeding pumpkins (obviously
> chopped) to cows being okay. With
> it being the season, is this an
> okay treat to provide (as long as
> they aren't moldy, have wax, burn
> marks, etc)? Also oat hay is
> really cheap right now $2.50 a 3
> wire bale. Is this okay to use
> with cows? In Northern AZ alfalfa
> is $7.00 in its cheapest season. I
> din't know if the TDN (TDP?) was
> going to be met with using oat hay
> or a combo. Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Good oat hay, meaning that which was baled at a good stage & has grain in it, is good feed. Cows can actually get fat on it in a hurry. We consider it good winter feed, and we are in NE UT at a high elevation. Poor oat hay, that with little grain in it, should be considered about the same as straw when it comes to feed value.

You might look into the cost of grain in your area. Depending on the cost of grain, substituting grain for a portion of the hay ration can save you a bunch on hay. Consider each pound of grain equal to about 2 to 3 pounds of good quality alfalfa hay.

I had to laugh when you mentioned chopping up pumpkins for your cows. One of the funniest sights I've ever seen happened when a neighbor threw some whole pumpkins from his garden over the fence for our cows. Our oldest cow, Foxy, isn't at all shy about food and she immediately chewed a hole in one of the pumpkins. The other cows decided that smelled pretty good and started crowding around trying to get a share of that one pumpkin that already had a hole in it. Foxy wasn't about to share, so she stuck her nose into that pumpkin and took off at a run, with the rest of the herd running behind her. She'd stop and take another bite from time to time, then take off running with it stuck on her nose again. She wasn't running because the pumpkin was stuck on her nose - she was definitely trying to keep the other cows from sharing HER pumpkin.

It wasn't very many days before the entire herd learned how to chew holes in pumpkins.

We never again saw a game of "cow soccer" but we sure enjoyed the one game we did see. My elderly neighbor had tears running down her face from laughing so hard watching Foxy.

> Thanks for the vaccination lump
> info. Here is another questions
> I've had lately. I think I
> remember something last year about
> feeding pumpkins (obviously
> chopped) to cows being okay. With
> it being the season, is this an
> okay treat to provide (as long as
> they aren't moldy, have wax, burn
> marks, etc)? Also oat hay is
> really cheap right now $2.50 a 3
> wire bale. Is this okay to use
> with cows? In Northern AZ alfalfa
> is $7.00 in its cheapest season. I
> din't know if the TDN (TDP?) was
> going to be met with using oat hay
> or a combo. Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

> Good oat hay, meaning that which
> was baled at a good stage &
> has grain in it, is good feed.
> Cows can actually get fat on it in
> a hurry. We consider it good
> winter feed, and we are in NE UT
> at a high elevation. Poor oat hay,
> that with little grain in it,
> should be considered about the
> same as straw when it comes to
> feed value.

> You might look into the cost of
> grain in your area. Depending on
> the cost of grain, substituting
> grain for a portion of the hay
> ration can save you a bunch on
> hay. Consider each pound of grain
> equal to about 2 to 3 pounds of
> good quality alfalfa hay.

> I had to laugh when you mentioned
> chopping up pumpkins for your
> cows. One of the funniest sights
> I've ever seen happened when a
> neighbor threw some whole pumpkins
> from his garden over the fence for
> our cows. Our oldest cow, Foxy,
> isn't at all shy about food and
> she immediately chewed a hole in
> one of the pumpkins. The other
> cows decided that smelled pretty
> good and started crowding around
> trying to get a share of that one
> pumpkin that already had a hole in
> it. Foxy wasn't about to share, so
> she stuck her nose into that
> pumpkin and took off at a run,
> with the rest of the herd running
> behind her. She'd stop and take
> another bite from time to time,
> then take off running with it
> stuck on her nose again. She
> wasn't running because the pumpkin
> was stuck on her nose - she was
> definitely trying to keep the
> other cows from sharing HER
> pumpkin.

> It wasn't very many days before
> the entire herd learned how to
> chew holes in pumpkins.

> We never again saw a game of
> "cow soccer" but we sure
> enjoyed the one game we did see.
> My elderly neighbor had tears
> running down her face from
> laughing so hard watching Foxy.

linda,

great story, i have six heifers, moved to an area and kept the ag. exemption, good tax savings in tx.

i finally realized cows have different personalities, and quite tame too, has been fun.

dan tx



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