wintering cows on cereal straw and millrun (wheat mids)

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I have fed oats straw with 8 to 10 gallons of DDG on each bale to both cows and hiefers. Switched to hay when it got below zero F.

Worked OK in the fall except for two cows. One had a tender mouth and the other had low capacity. My trucker fixed both issues. With the current beef price I think more roughage and more culling are good ideas.
 
TG I've never fed straw and most folks around here haven't either as all wehave is wheat stray which is pretty worthless except for growing mushrooms. Oat straw is probably better. Wheat midds are good feed ingredient but I've never feed them exclusively. When you buy them most companies will guarantee 15% protein even tho some will test higher as well as 9% fiber along with a TDN around70% and good energy. Probably wouldn't feed over 7-8 lbs. per head per day. Oftentimes midds will have somewhat of a laxative effect on cattle so long stem straw with midds shouldn't be a big problem. Midds have been expensive lately but you can probably buy them now for around $130 to $140 per ton bulk. Usually high in phosphorus and low in calcium so use a mineral to compliment your feed.
 
I am looking at doing something similar. What I like about the millrun is that it is a digestible fibre energy source; I think it will be easier on the gut than feeding starch energy (ie: barley). As a nutritionist said to me; straw and grain are at opposite ends of the digestion spectrum bacterially speaking. Cows will eat 12-15 pounds of straw free choice, but they may eat more depending on the amount of green; our area has a lot of green this year due to very dry weather and then mid summer rains. It would probably be worth feed testing the straw especially if you think it may have a little better feed value; could save you a lot of money for a $35 test. Oat or 2-row barley straw is the most palatible and nutritious, but again can vary depending on green.
 

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