oat hay VS alfalfa

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rm987

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which is better to feed to a show heifer?
could u give me some reasons for both good and bad

THANKS
 
I would prefer alfalfa for these reasons:

higher proteien
more palatable, meaning she will eat it more readily
Less roughage, meaning less of a haybelly on show heifer
less chance of accidiosis as she will eat more alfalfa hay in combination with her finishing feed in comparison to oat hay with her finishing feed.

if she was due to calve soon, I would go with the oats hay as it seems to help preventing milk fever especially n dairy heifers.

if you can't get alfalfa hay, oats will be fine, but given a choice, i'd go with the alfalfa.
 
Hay quality varies alot depending on the type of forage, how long since it was last cut, and how it was handled. For the hay I have tested - - the food value of pre boot oats hay is about 2/3 of the food value of 1/10 bloom alfalfa/grass mixed hay. So I would expect the animals growth and condition to be much better with alfalfa hay.

Good Luck.
 

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