what can I feed my cows?

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moloss

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I sometimes get leftovers from a farmers market for our hog (her name is bacon guess why?) that said sometimes they have several 40gallon trash cans of leftovers (various veggs and fruit) way more than the hog can eat.....can I feed this to my cows? what about pecans? we have 11 pecan trees at the house (more than we or any family members will ever eat), can I feed the cows the leftover pecans? we also have several peach trees, plum trees and pear trees....can they eat these? just not wanting to waste anything....thanks.
 
I think I'd steer clear of feeding pecans to cows. Fruit with large pits or stones too.
Fresh veggies ought to be fine.
I toss mine watermelon rinds and pear canning waste but not regularly.
I'm thinking pecans and fruit would make a mighty fine tasting pork product.
 
I feed mine watermelon, cataloupe rinds, pears, apples, corn cobs. And we have persimmon trees and scuppernong vines they love!
 
You are taking a huge risk feeding your cattle pears and apples. Because cows do not have upper incisors, you are increasing the risk of choke. They can not bite the fruit in half like a horse does and cattle do not chew their feed like a horse. So there is the possibly that the cow does not chew the fruit and swallows it mostly whole.

If I remember correctly, there was a poster last year who lost a cow by feeding her pears. She got one lodged in her throat and it did her in.

If your pecans are any count, I would sell them before feeding them to livestock.
 
I didn't even think about it when typing, but I don't feed them whole, solid fruits. The pears are those pecked off by crows or too soft to eat. I could squish them in my hand. Apples on the other hand, i cut into wedges if I have some I need to get rid of. I never thought they'd choke on them though. I just figured they wouldn't eat them if some of the flesh wasn't exposed.
 
kenny thomas":1pgqzo3c said:
Well i gotta ask, what is a scuppernong?
Would you know bullis or muscadine? I've heard them called all three, but they're a wild cousin to grapes with a more leathery skin and more rubbery flesh, but juice that's sweet as honey. Lots of people use them for homemade wines and jellies.
 
chippie":cwvoy84b said:
If your pecans are any count, I would sell them before feeding them to livestock.

I sell my pecans and do pretty well some years,but my cattle eat alot of them.If were shakeing trees in a pasture with cows in it they will run over start eating nuts,never seems to hurt anything other than our nut crop.
 
We have a friend that grows hydroponic lettice and we get all the over runs and unsellable heads, usually about 12-18 garbage bags a week. Cows love the treat and the hens rush the fence when they see a bag...have to be carefull as to much lettice makes the whites of the eggs a bit runny.
We get all the corn husks from another grower and feed our thinnings and weeds.
DMc
 
thanks for the replies....my cows love the old peaches we've picked off the ground (the bunk feeders are full of pits afterwards) but seem to enjoy anything....I've even given them a couple of way over ripe pineapples (you could squish with your hand) and they'd take bites out of it till it was gone....and I guess it's ok to feed them pecans (in moderation).
 
Usually the deer beat the cows to the pecans on the river bottom flood plains.

The cows get all the green pecans off of the trees as high as they can reach fairly early in the year.

Mesquite beans out of the upper pastures also when they are moved there. Coastal can be knee deep over a 40 acre pasture and the first thing they do is walk across it to check out the mesquite trees.

They are not fed anything else or any type of scraps. An occasionally bag of cubes when they are changed from pasture to pasture or run into the working pens. Other than that, it is all grass and what they can forage out of the native trees and brush.
 
I toured a large feedlot in the desert South of Phoenix a few years back, they had a quite a variety of fruit and vegetable waste in the ration.
 
I know an old timer that swears he lost two cows to butter bean hulls.
That's where my I get my leeriness for feeding "sharpys" and "crunchys".
But then again, I think they're eatin' acorns when available. :?: :?:
 
mnmtranching":3lsv388r said:
I toured a large feedlot in the desert South of Phoenix a few years back, they had a quite a variety of fruit and vegetable waste in the ration.

I didnt' see anything in this "buffet" he listed that would hurt the cow or the pigs.
 

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