critterair2
Well-known member
Thinking about planting 25 acres in oats to cut for hay in the spring. I've heard that the cows love it and its loaded in protein. any ideas?
Oat Hay
- Thread starter critterair2
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I'm not so sure about the 'loaded with protein' part - oat hay tends to deliver more fiber and be lower in protein than some of the other hays - but your cows will eat it, and like it. I believe I would have it tested so I knew what kind of protein level it was providing (as well as make sure there are no nitrates present - a potential, deadly problem if the hay is droughty) - that way I would know what I needed to add - if anything - to meet the nutritional requirements of the cattle.
shorty
Well-known member
If you cut it just before it heads out protien could be 15% or better , once it heads out protien drops off fast , the only problem with cutting early is you don't have quite the yield and it is much harder to dry, we usualy make it as haylage instead of dry hay.
If you do not get it cut prior to heading out you can wait and cut it when the grain is in the dough stage and the protien comes back up, it is easier to dry and the cattle love it with the grain in it. We have done this and fed to weanling calves, they really do well on it.
TB-Herefords
Well-known member
I have fed oat hay; it did great. Another guy said I need to watch the nitrate levels. To high can cause abortion in the cows. I found this out after I fed, didn't have any abortion issues though. Its easy to have a forage sample done though.
shorty":2hwurkqd said:
be sure that if you bale prior to heading - you have ample time to let the hay cure. you will have a small window of opportunity to bale when the oats are in this stage of development. they are fast growing. coupled with weather conditions - it can be difficult to accompolish.
a couple of years ago i baled up about 30 acres of oats prior to heading. used a mower conditioner and let it bake in the sun. the oats seemed to be dry when i started baling - but a few days later i found out different. there was enough moisture left in the grains that it caused the entire bales to ferment. they turned black as coal. we went ahead a fed to the cows - kind of like haylage - they loved it. but if we were to do it again, i think we would have the bales bagged. also, oat hay is very dense. you might want to consider baling smaller bales than normal - depending on your moving equipment or if you intend on limit feeding 'X' number of pounds of hay per day.
ROB
novaman
Well-known member
The one problem I've had with letting it go into heading are the hulls from the grain. Had a few cows dig into the hay and come out with a hull stuck in their eye. Sometimes they washed themselves out but we had a couple that needed to be taken out or they would have gone blind. Just something to keep in mind.
I fed oat hay last year for about 3 months to my pregnant cows, up to the the time they calved, they did great on it and were in great shape for calving. Had some left over and just finished feeding it out to some weaned calves, they like it much better then this years grass hay. It was all that was avalible at a reasonalbe price last year, got it from the local hay compacter and exporter.... hope they have it again this year.
Alan
Alan
I love oat hay - prefer it to most others when I can get it.
shorty
Well-known member
A few years ago I got behind and cut some when the grain was in the heads It was underseeded with alfalfa and it did feed good I didn't have it tested but til we ran it thru the haybine and baled it we did lose some of the grain.
beefmasters
Well-known member
We have not had any oat hay in years.However we used to bale it for hay quite often in the past.We usually tried to cut in the dough stage but not always successful due to weather.Cattle seem to love it and weaning calves would usually start in on it like it was the day before Judgement and it was their last chance.If it has any grain in it the mice and rats will have a great place for the winter !! Whenever we would move a bale the mice and rats would run everywhere and we usually had a pair of small dogs who would be there ready to catch as many as they could.When i was a kid about 14 or 15 in the days before round bales i was moving some square bales and a big mouse run up my britches leg.I had on jeans,shirt and brown duck coveralls.The mouse ran almost up to you know where and stopped at a tight crease in my jeans.In my mind i was thinking if he bites me will i have to take a rabies shot ?.Or if i get to swating at him maybe he will get past the crease in the jeans and bite me you know where.Long story short i slowly peeled off the coveralls and jeans and he popped out and run off.But as a big old kid believe me i wanted to run,holler and do the St Vidas dance.Pretty funny now looking back but i was a scared little puppy when it happened.Funny what memories some subjects bring back.Have a good one!
r and s peckman
Well-known member
If you have a stand of grass that is a little thin, no till in some oats and it works great.
Ours cows love the oats we baled in our grass hay this spring. We left the oat stems about 4-6 inches high and we had about a 50-60% regrowth for our second cutting. That was with very timely rains. I have heard oats can really deplete the nutrients in the soil so sometimes I wonder if the oats are really worth the extra fertilizer? But there is no doubt the cows love it.
critterair2
Well-known member
Thanks for all the replies folks. Sounds like the dough stage might be the best time to cut. Coastal and Tifton 85, I know, oats, I haven't a clue. How do you tell when its in the dough stage? thanks for the help!
mnmtranching
Well-known member
Take some of the grain and pinch it with your fingers. The milk stage will put a milk like substance on you fingers, the dough stage is like raw bread dough.
I to think the dough stage is best, More quantity and much easier to dry.
I to think the dough stage is best, More quantity and much easier to dry.
