Sweet feed question

[DaveM]

I am a hobby farmer that only has four head. I fed what I think is a good sweet feed all winter then tapered it off a bit through spring and am now only feeding a scoop a day to keep them coming to the barn when they see me. I buy the feed in 100 pound bags, a couple at a time. The last couple bags were bought back at the end of May or first part of June. I keep it in a covered 55 gallon drum. It seems to have really dried out and even seems dusty. The cows cough slightly immediately after eating. Could the feed have gone bad? The cows still love it. Any way to test other than sight? I've read about moldy sweet feed but have never seen any. Could the dust I'm seeing be mold. Keep feeding or throw it out? Thanks

 

[skyhightree1]

My sweet feed is moist that I feed.. The calf feed is really dry and has some dust and sometimes they will cough while eating it. I may be wrong but sweet feed should be moist or atleast all the bags I buy and use are. I keep mine in a barrel with a screw on lid.

 

[DaveM]

The feed has always been more moist when I bought the same kind in the past. Sorry about the double post.......not sure how that happened.

 

[skyhightree1]

The feed has always been more moist when I bought the same kind in the past. Sorry about the double post.......not sure how that happened.

NP it happens to all of us at one point or another. How long has it been stored? In direct sun? Brand of feed ?

 

[DaveM]

The feed comes from a local feed mill. Reisdorf brothers. I store it in a drum inside my barn. Some sun might hit the drum for several hours a day. This batch is probably 4 months old.

 

[Kingfisher]

It'll be gone soon. Good thing it's not 20k pounds. . You put it in an oven ...

 

[skyhightree1]

IMO sun plus age of feed could cause it to dry up. I never had sweet feed in the barrel for over two weeks. if you have molasses source maybe you could put some on it and get it moist again. id suggest feed it more

 

[Craig Miller]

I would feed it but ya know if i was concerned about it id dump it and get a new bag. Were talking about a ten dollar bag of feed here and you already got five dollars worth of use from it.

 

[TexasBred]

The feed comes from a local feed mill. Reisdorf brothers. I store it in a drum inside my barn. Some sun might hit the drum for several hours a day. This batch is probably 4 months old.

Your feed is simply old. The molasses has all dried up and you're left with dusty feed. Probably not molded but in the future I wouldn't buy so much at one time and you'll always have fresher feed.

 

[M.Magis]

I think I've also seen it turn "dusty" from bugs.

 

[M-5]

I think I've also seen it turn "dusty" from bugs.

yep weevils will make it dusty. if it does not stink and you decide to feed it. put it in a bucket and wet it with some water. If its unpalatable add some molasses to it. you can buy that in a bag also.