Salvage feeder from old hay wagon

[sgreear]

View attachment 54566
This is my FREE feeder.

That's awesome.

 

[kenny thomas]

So why not winter them on just good grass hay or stockpile fescue. Mine are still on grass today and will be for another month.

 

[sstterry]

Green chopped out of the field is not silage as it has not been fermented. Is there a chance you could bag it on your place so that you would have more control over the feeding. A small diameter bag would let you control the amount removed from the face of the bag.

Any wet feed is tricky to store and a person needs to be very detail oriented when using it.

The first thing to look at is what the financial advantage would be. The risk of loosing the feed due to spoilage is very real.

My job when I got home from school in the winter was to climb up in the silo and fork down enough silage to feed about 50-60 cows. Then I had to climb down and load it into the wheelbarrow and feed them in the feed way. I I used to chew on the fermented corn as I worked. I can testify that once exposed to air, it has a limited shelf life.

 

[sgreear]

So why not winter them on just good grass hay or stockpile fescue. Mine are still on grass today and will be for another month.

That is what I am doing now. The Hay i we have isn't great but they seem to like it. I give a few minerals and a few gal of 15% pellets. They do less walking and put on weight quicker than strait grass in spring through November. Looking for some marbeling to slaughter

 

[sgreear]

My job when I got home from school in the winter was to climb up in the silo and fork down enough silage to feed about 50-60 cows. Then I had to climb down and load it into the wheelbarrow and feed them in the feed way. I I used to chew on the fermented corn as I worked. I can testify that once exposed to air, it has a limited shelf life.

Maybe I am overthinking what I'm doing and sweet feed or or strait corn or pellets or mixture of all 3 for marbeling would be the better idea

 

[mwj]

Maybe I am overthinking what I'm doing and sweet feed or or strait corn or pellets or mixture of all 3 for marbeling would be the better idea

If you can source bulk shelled corn it will work well for finishing. If you can source a small older gravity wagon and put a good tarp on it makes cheap and easy transport and storage. Just another thing to think about. Any bagged feed is usually more expensive to use. If you want marbling you need more starch.

 

[NIdahoShorthorns]

Maybe I am overthinking what I'm doing and sweet feed or or strait corn or pellets or mixture of all 3 for marbeling would be the better idea

I don't know much about silage other than memories of stomping it into a silo as a kid, but that was on my uncles dairy and they were feeding 20-30 dairy cows. I can't see how that level of work could be justified for 4-5 feeders, which is about what I do yearly. As has been covered, a lot of what makes silage work relies on the ratio of volume to surface area. We'd put up about 10 acres of a pea/oat mix, which was a rotational cover crop. Lot's of old techniques that are lost to me.

What cereal grains are they growing in SW Virginia that you could buy off the farm? As @mwj stated starch makes marbling and you should be able to buy by the ton rather than small bags. I personally don't think it makes a lot of difference, just feed what's local; for me that's usually barley, oats, and peas.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Maybe I am overthinking what I'm doing and sweet feed or or strait corn or pellets or mixture of all 3 for marbeling would be the better idea

Corn makes fat and fat makes flavor. Straight corn with enough roughage to keep their gut working is all they need.

 

[sgreear]

I don't know much about silage other than memories of stomping it into a silo as a kid, but that was on my uncles dairy and they were feeding 20-30 dairy cows. I can't see how that level of work could be justified for 4-5 feeders, which is about what I do yearly. As has been covered, a lot of what makes silage work relies on the ratio of volume to surface area. We'd put up about 10 acres of a pea/oat mix, which was a rotational cover crop. Lot's of old techniques that are lost to me.

What cereal grains are they growing in SW Virginia that you could buy off the farm? As @mwj stated starch makes marbling and you should be able to buy by the ton rather than small bags. I personally don't think it makes a lot of difference, just feed what's local; for me that's usually barley, oats, and peas.

Corn . Wheat oats silage are typically what's grown in the farm. I can but out of the field I would think. If the grains are not dry and I seal them up they will mold or rot I tried to but the 1000 lb bag at local ag store and it saved very little I have only tried pellets ; what feeding now). The I'm def not looking g to grow and cut silage.

 

[mwj]

The grain needs to be dry before it will store. Look around and see if there are elevators that buy grain direct from the farm. If you buy straight grain from a feed dealer the savings from bulk buying is there profit. You need to buy as close to the source as you can.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Cattle first deposit fat around their organs, then a layer of fat on the outside of their muscles, THEN they start depositing MARBLING.

 

[NIdahoShorthorns]

You just need to run the prices and be aware of the spot price. Whole barley and oats sell for ~300/ton this year near me. I buy a chopped mix from a local farm with a mineral supplement for 400/ton. The last few years the supply store were selling 50lb bags of sweet feed for 18-20 a bag; almost 800/ton. It's back down to 11/bag which is justifiable if you don't want to deal with large totes and storage. Know that cattle digest less of a whole kernel than a rolled one, and they digest less of a rolled one than a crushed one. So 300/ton of whole corn is not equal to 400/ton crushed; you'll have to feed more to get the same result.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

You just need to run the prices and be aware of the spot price. Whole barley and oats sell for ~300/ton this year near me. I buy a chopped mix from a local farm with a mineral supplement for 400/ton. The last few years the supply store were selling 50lb bags of sweet feed for 18-20 a bag; almost 800/ton. It's back down to 11/bag which is justifiable if you don't want to deal with large totes and storage. Know that cattle digest less of a whole kernel than a rolled one, and they digest less of a rolled one than a crushed one. So 300/ton of whole corn is not equal to 400/ton crushed; you'll have to feed more to get the same result.

As I said, there is about an 8% difference between WSC and processed (rolled, flaked, cracked, etc). There is just as much "CORN" in the manure whether it is whole or processed. You just don't see it.
Here's a paper on it: https://linessafarms.com/cracked-or-whole-corn/

Conclusion

Rolled Corn
Is there a nutritional benefit of cracked corn when compared to whole corn? Ohio researchers showed that the percentage of whole corn kernels digested was the same at 92%, regardless of grain processing. When around 500-700 feeders were offered a receiving diet containing 35% forage, gains were slightly higher for whole corn compared to cracked and the feed efficiency was similar. These findings, along with the results from the North Dakota State University study, suggest that there is little or no benefit to processing corn.

There are LOTS of research to back up my statement.

 

[sgreear]

Cattle first deposit fat around their organs, then a layer of fat on the outside of their muscles, THEN they start depositing MARBLING.

Thanks I didn't know that. I must be well marbled then.

 

[NIdahoShorthorns]

There are LOTS of research to back up my statement.

Corn is the manure wasn't my issue. It's whether the results justify the cost of cracking/rolling/chopping. Which are exactly the points these research papers allude to. Yes, ADG is greater, starch digestion is higher, as has been said starch=fat=marbling; so is it worth it? That depends on what's available where you are, and what you are feeding for. I feed no corn at all, because feed corn is not grown around here. If I were to buy corn I'd be paying $15 per 50 pound bag, cracked or whole, and the math won't work on that. I feed barley, oats , and peas and the research on barley says to feed it processed. Even still there are times when you could find whole barley or oats cheap enough, rolling isn't worth the effort.

Barley Grain and Forage for Beef Cattle

North Dakota State UniversityMarc Bauer-Animal Sciences DepartmentGreg Lardy- Animal Sciences Depar...

feedplanetmagazine.com

 

[sgreear]

As I said, there is about an 8% difference between WSC and processed (rolled, flaked, cracked, etc). There is just as much "CORN" in the manure whether it is whole or processed. You just don't see it.
Here's a paper on it: https://linessafarms.com/cracked-or-whole-corn/

Conclusion

Rolled Corn
Is there a nutritional benefit of cracked corn when compared to whole corn? Ohio researchers showed that the percentage of whole corn kernels digested was the same at 92%, regardless of grain processing. When around 500-700 feeders were offered a receiving diet containing 35% forage, gains were slightly higher for whole corn compared to cracked and the feed efficiency was similar. These findings, along with the results from the North Dakota State University study, suggest that there is little or no benefit to processing corn.

There are LOTS of research to back up my statement.

Are you and the paper written saying 300$ whole corn vs $400 crushed or rolled or steamed is a better value and hay as feed is the better way to go (marble/fat value)?

 

[NIdahoShorthorns]

Are you and the paper written saying 300$ whole corn vs $400 crushed or rolled or steamed is a better value and hay as feed is the better way to go (marble/fat value)?

no

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I'm saying $300/wsc vs $324 processed corn is a better deal (8% difference). If there is a $100 difference for you, WSC is waaayyy better.

 

[NIdahoShorthorns]

I'm saying $300/wsc vs $324 processed corn is a better deal (8% difference). If there is a $100 difference for you, WSC is waaayyy better.

Let me know where I can get $300/wsc corn within 50 miles and I'll buy some.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Let me know where I can get $300/wsc corn within 50 miles and I'll buy some.

Wether you intended or not that's kind of a profound geographical cattle feeding statement; through out history the cattle out west were fed on days and the cattle in the Midwest were fed on quality because the "I" states raised the most corn and corn fed cattle grade.
So much so that thirty minutes from me they put in a rail spur that was meant to haul 100 car loads of corn at a time to Hereford, Texas to the feed lots.