wheat hay

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tsmaxx47

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just bought my winter hay supply. wheat hay $45/1200 pound roll. i never have used anything but grass hay for my cattle and don't know what to expect from this wheat. information please!?! my supplier told me it would be about 16% and i might add some grass hay to go along with it. other than that i am starting at square one........
 
Is that hay cut while the crop is green/soft grain? Wheat is sometimes used as an alternative to grass for silage but I've never heard of it being made into hay. The mature straw is pure filler with not much feed value at all but if cut early enough, should be similar to grass.

16% is the protein? I'm not sure how accurate my feed chart is but it shows 17% for grass hay/silage both good quality, 12% for barley wholecrop silage, doesn't list wheat.
 
Even our best wehat hay only ran about 9-10% protein. Biggest problem with it is keeping the mice from living in it and eating all of the seed/grain. But if you have a barn cat it will sure keep it busy when you move bales.
 
dun":3lmz7ho5 said:
Even our best wehat hay only ran about 9-10% protein. Biggest problem with it is keeping the mice from living in it and eating all of the seed/grain. But if you have a barn cat it will sure keep it busy when you move bales.
That's a much more realistic number. Cows eat it well. Hope the fellow you bought it from allowed it plent of time. I'd probably set it outside another month before putting it in a barn just to be on the safe side and save the hay and the barn.
 
If I could find it for 45 I would buy it. The wheat boys around here are baling it and trying to get 100 a bale. I don't think that they have had many takers yet.
 
Wheat hay would be about the last thing I would buy for cattle feed. Wheat straw would be the last thing. My suggestion is to feed it now and conserve your pasture for later. By Winter the mice and rats will have filled the bales with pee and droppings and will have eaten the grain.
 
Unless it was cut just right, it may not amount to much. Cut right, and fed first when fall comes its okay. It doesnt keep good through the winter, has been my experience.
 
regolith,
that hay was cut green and in in soft grain. the feller i bought it from said the cows it it well, but i'm thinking about some regular prairie hay for a back-up or in addition to. i'm hoping that cutting the hay in the soft grain stage will discourage the rats and mice. TB, my plans are exactly as you and others suggested, leave the bales out for additional curing......
 
around here people always bale wheat(not straw) i hear if it's cut while still in the boot the protein levels are around 10%.
in 1994 we were in a drought and i fed it all summer and the cows did well on it.
 
ok i see alot of people here dont like wheat hay or wheat straw.we had wheat straw protine tested an it was 8% protine.now fert wheat hay baled right should test 12% or better.but id buy some grass hay to feed with it.
 
agmantoo":2yxviids said:
Wheat hay would be about the last thing I would buy for cattle feed. Wheat straw would be the last thing. My suggestion is to feed it now and conserve your pasture for later. By Winter the mice and rats will have filled the bales with pee and droppings and will have eaten the grain.
You're not feeding it for the grain anyway. A lot of wheat hay fed around here with good results.
 
got the first shipment of the wheat hay on thursday. put it up extra close to the fence and the the cattle went right after it. so far so good........thanx for all the feedback, tmax
 
bigbull338":1bmq2zj2 said:
ok i see alot of people here dont like wheat hay or wheat straw.we had wheat straw protine tested an it was 8% protine.now fert wheat hay baled right should test 12% or better.but id buy some grass hay to feed with it.
:bs: on the wheat straw. Even if it did test 8 which I doubt, I bet the digestible protein was less than 2%.
 
TexasBred":1ct7vpmg said:
bigbull338":1ct7vpmg said:
ok i see alot of people here dont like wheat hay or wheat straw.we had wheat straw protine tested an it was 8% protine.now fert wheat hay baled right should test 12% or better.but id buy some grass hay to feed with it.
:bs: on the wheat straw. Even if it did test 8 which I doubt, I bet the digestible protein was less than 2%.
you can throw the flag all you want.but we had it tested years ago an it was 8%.heck the hay we are baling now prolly goes 10% protine or a tad more.BUT it has not been tested just going on what my baler man says.
 
bigbull338":2nb9imh2 said:
you can throw the flag all you want.but we had it tested years ago an it was 8%.heck the hay we are baling now prolly goes 10% protine or a tad more.BUT it has not been tested just going on what my baler man says.

That's fine as long as your feeding it and not selling it you can say it's 15%. :shock: It all looks good in a bale or a roll.
 
well TB old buddy the way its looking ill be selling some hay when the 1st cutting is done.but i dont know what we will sell it for.but im sure the price will shock the snott out of you.my baler man is wanting the 2nd cutting off the place if there is 1.an he wants what ever hay we will sell him off of the 1st cutting.
 
bigbull338":fbnbkl5h said:
well TB old buddy the way its looking ill be selling some hay when the 1st cutting is done.but i dont know what we will sell it for.but im sure the price will shock the snott out of you.my baler man is wanting the 2nd cutting off the place if there is 1.an he wants what ever hay we will sell him off of the 1st cutting.
Sell it. But I'd sure have a reputable lab test it so he knows what he's getting. Heck you might underprice it.
 
he has baled enough hay that he knows what he is getting if we sell it to him.esp since most of this cutting is pure coastal thats nice an thick.guess i need to go to the field an look at his bales,since he wants me to look at them.
 
bigbull338":ux6yww31 said:
he has baled enough hay that he knows what he is getting if we sell it to him.esp since most of this cutting is pure coastal thats nice an thick.guess i need to go to the field an look at his bales,since he wants me to look at them.
Bull you been "gonna have that hay baled" for a month now. I'd say it's well past prime and not worth much. But as I said, "It all looks good in a bale or a roll". Don't look at the bales...probe a dozen or so and have it tested. No need for both of you to be in the dark.
 

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