whole ear corn

[tncattle]

I put this here because it doesn't appear many people frequent the feedyard board. I have access to lots of whole ear corn. Can I feed that once or twice a week to my cows? I'm not looking to really supplement as they have all the grass they need. just keeping them calm.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Wouldn't that need to be ground up first?

 

[tncattle]

Wouldn't that need to be ground up first?

At the large farm I work at we sometimes throw them some whole ear corn and they just eat the whole thing no problem. I wasn't sure if I could do this on a semi regular basis. I'm sure the cob adds fiber content.

 

[dun]

My only concern with it would be possible choking hazard. Chopped into chunks I tihnk would be safer.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Wouldn't that need to be ground up first?

At the large farm I work at we sometimes throw them some whole ear corn and they just eat the whole thing no problem. I wasn't sure if I could do this on a semi regular basis. I'm sure the cob adds fiber content.

When are you going to invite me up there to see this operation?

 

[M-5]

Im sure there is a choking hazard BUT whole corn has been fed to livestock for hundreds and hundreds of years. I have grazed corn fields and to see a cow tear an ear off of a stalk and roll it around in her mouth and only a few seconds later get another one and do the same lets you know they know what they are doing, I have also seen them shell an ear on the ground and never eat the cob. Dry whole ears shell very easy so its typically not a problem feeding it.

 

[bball]

Have watched cows eat many a whole ear of corn in the fields after harvest for years. No problems. They will mouth it a bit and eat it.
If I may make a suggestion- if you are looking to calm your cattle, or better yet train them, try this: buy you a few bags of sweet feed mix (something with molasses in it) and buy you a decent sized hand bell (any good feed store will have one).
Put some feed in your feed bunks. When the cows come up to eat, stand nearby and ring your bell as the eat. A few times of this, and your cows will be conditioned to associate the bell ringing with sweet feed (think Pavlov). Now your cows will come to the bell for grain, water, hay, to be worked, etc. No more chasing cows. They come to you. Been doing this for years, and it works. Watched over 40 cows come running across a 400 acre field to a bell. I can drive through the woods on ATV ringing bell and have a line of cows follow me through the woods all the way down to the catch pen at the other end of pasture. Best $50 you will spend for cattle IMO on the bell and a few sacks of feed. Nice thing too is once you have your original gals conditioned, when you add new girls, they learn by default from the original girls who take off running when they hear the bell.

 

[M-5]

I do not have a bell but I can call them WHUUUT WHUUUT WHUUUT HEEEA HEEA HEEA , Folks get a kick out of it when They all come running to the house.

 

[TexasBred]

I put this here because it doesn't appear many people frequent the feedyard board. I have access to lots of whole ear corn. Can I feed that once or twice a week to my cows? I'm not looking to really supplement as they have all the grass they need. just keeping them calm.

When I was a kid my dad would feed it. He would remove the shuck and break the ear of corn in half.

 

[Brute 23]

We still have barns with sections where they would pile whole corn for feed in the winter.

I agree with bball on the sweat feed. Doesn't take a lot if you just want to calm them down and get them to come.

 

[pricefarm]

I feed ear corn but run it through a grinder first and mix it with DDGS

 

[JMJ Farms]

My only concern with it would be possible choking hazard. Chopped into chunks I tihnk would be safer.

Anybody know how to do the Heimlich maneuver on a cow :hide:

 

[greybeard]

I do not have a bell but I can call them WHUUUT WHUUUT WHUUUT HEEEA HEEA HEEA , Folks get a kick out of it when They all come running to the house.

I just call them by name/nomenclature.
COOOOWwwwsss! COOOOWwwwsss!
They know what they are, and ya better not be standing in the middle of a gateway they have to go thru.

 

[JMJ Farms]

I do not have a bell but I can call them WHUUUT WHUUUT WHUUUT HEEEA HEEA HEEA , Folks get a kick out of it when They all come running to the house.

I just call them by name/nomenclature.
COOOOWwwwsss! COOOOWwwwsss!
They know what they are, and ya better not be standing in the middle of a gateway they have to go thru.

Mine come to the truck horn. But I like the bell idea.

 

[callmefence]

I do not have a bell but I can call them WHUUUT WHUUUT WHUUUT HEEEA HEEA HEEA , Folks get a kick out of it when They all come running to the house.

I just call them by name/nomenclature.
COOOOWwwwsss! COOOOWwwwsss!
They know what they are, and ya better not be standing in the middle of a gateway they have to go thru.

Mine come to the truck horn. But I like the bell idea.

Suuuug. Suuuug. Suuuug whooooop!!!!!


Almost any cakebroke cow in central Texas will come to suuug

 

[bmoore87]

Wont hurt them any like everybody has said.

Id be carefull about doing it if you have any corn fields bordering your pastures. Once they get a taste for it its hard to keep them out of the neighbors field.

 

[dun]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, then I duck for cover.

 

[Bigfoot]

I guess combines were a lot less efficient when I was a kid. I could go out in a freshly shelled corn field, and pick up a truck bed full of corn in pretty short order. I fed it to everything, and everything seemed to get fat on it.

 

[M-5]

My only concern with it would be possible choking hazard. Chopped into chunks I tihnk would be safer.

Anybody know how to do the Heimlich maneuver on a cow :hide:

Broom handle

 

[pdfangus]

Have watched cows eat many a whole ear of corn in the fields after harvest for years. No problems. They will mouth it a bit and eat it.
If I may make a suggestion- if you are looking to calm your cattle, or better yet train them, try this: buy you a few bags of sweet feed mix (something with molasses in it) and buy you a decent sized hand bell (any good feed store will have one).
Put some feed in your feed bunks. When the cows come up to eat, stand nearby and ring your bell as the eat. A few times of this, and your cows will be conditioned to associate the bell ringing with sweet feed (think Pavlov). Now your cows will come to the bell for grain, water, hay, to be worked, etc. No more chasing cows. They come to you. Been doing this for years, and it works. Watched over 40 cows come running across a 400 acre field to a bell. I can drive through the woods on ATV ringing bell and have a line of cows follow me through the woods all the way down to the catch pen at the other end of pasture. Best $50 you will spend for cattle IMO on the bell and a few sacks of feed. Nice thing too is once you have your original gals conditioned, when you add new girls, they learn by default from the original girls who take off running when they hear the bell.

excellent advice....i do not use a bell...I just call them with my distinctive call....but I feed em when they come up. I currently have four of my neighbors heifers and one weanling steer for my freezer and the steer has become the leader and is trying to get me to make a pet out of him....

As I have stated before ....I feed them every time I put them in the head chute and they do not fear the head chute and after a time or two will auto load and stand at the headgate waiting for me to open it....a few cups of feed can make a world of difference.