Sweet Potato's

[#LHB#]

Does anybody feed them? I know that they can be very bad if they get moldy but I have never fed them much at all. I can get the culls for about $15/1000LB is that a good price? Also how many pounds per head to feed. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Bigfoot]

I think they can choke on them. I'm sure people feed them that have access. A friend of mine has a tree trimming business. I know he ran some vegetables through his chipper one time to feed. I didn't see it, but he said it just made a hot mess.

 

[jedstivers]

That's a good price. They are double that here and too expensive.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

http://www.fao.org/ag/aga/agap/frg/ahpp95/95-203.pdf
according to this Japan use them a lot for feed. They probably dry them some, and then run them threw a roller mill, or just dice them.

 

[Howdyjabo]

Whole Sweet potatoes are dangerous, and you won't see with your eye the toxin that will kill the cattle. Its produced by a mold that lives in damaged parts of the skin. And its not a VERY moldy issue that you can easily see.
I know lots of people that are feeding cull sweet potatoes and are doing fine-- but all it takes is one time to wipe you out. Too dangerous for me. It would be better if you didn't have to cut them up to feed them(damages the skin) but you do.

Think of them like feeding corn with 3-4 times the moisture. So where you would feed 1 lb of corn you would feed 3-4lbs of potatoes. They are hot and can cause acidosis just like corn.

I don't know about cull potatoes but I do know that sweet potato slurry will eat the enamel off of cows teeth over time.

NC State(Matt Poore) has a good article about feeding sweet potatoes.You might be able to find it online.

 

[#LHB#]

Thanks for the help. I was considering running them through the hammer mill and mixing with hay anybody ever done that?

 

[TexasBred]

Thanks for the help. I was considering running them through the hammer mill and mixing with hay anybody ever done that?

You're gonna have one he77 of a mess when you run them thru a hammer mill.

 

[cowgirl_jenna]

Do be careful regarding the mold toxins. I know about a year ago a farmer in the area lost a bunch of steers to a mold or something in sweet potatoes. I'm sure you could do a mold/toxin test if nothing else to be sure what if any levels could be in them.