need a little nursing cow feeding advice here!

Dave from MN · Jun 14, 2008

Ok, My newly fenced in "pasture" has been mowed down pretty darned good already. I am pretty much out of hay, may not be able to get much for a while here unless the current 3-5 day forecast of sun holds out. I feel the cows are losing, with breeding coming up in july I want to keep them healthy till I can get hay to suplimant them out on the pasture. Well, I am having the feed guy mix up some rolled corn and protien pellets mix. The guy said they ussually mix it up like that for the same thing I want it for but he really didnt have a recomendation of how much to feed the cows. Any advice I would really, really appreiciate it. They are (i'm guessing) 1100-1300# cows, calves on them are 6-2 weeks old, one yet to freshen. I will have to alos give them my bag lawn clipping too. Boy, nothing is coming together this year with this goofy drought followed by this cool wet weather. Please help.

ohioOliver · Jun 14, 2008

I would not feed grass clippings they are too small and could interupt their digestive system. If you are feeding hay already, you either need to get more grazing land or reduce your herd. What are you going to be doing at the end of July, August, and the beginning of Sept. when grass growth comes to a standstill. Last year during the drought I fed twice as many cows as I normally do by management intensive grazing. I had temporary wire and I moved it everyday or two.

M Nut · Jun 14, 2008

Dave,
I wouldn't get to excited yet if I were you. I know you do your very best to keep those cows in top notch shape, and that is a great thing. But, our cows have always lost a little weight when put out to pasture each spring. The green grass just shoots right through em after being on dry hay for 7 months. I think if you give them another 7-10 days you'll see they drop right back into their good condition and will even look better as the sleek up on the grass nutrients.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 15, 2008

Both lactating and heavy bred cows need approximately 2 pounds of protein per day.The protein can be supplied in just about any fashion such as 25 pounds of 9% grass hay or 15 pounds of 14% alfalfa or any combination of feed, range meal etc. the cow will do it her self when on ample pasture. Short chopped forage such as lawn clippings are thought to reduce the butterfat content of milk due to rumen bypass, I have never heard or read of digestive disturbances caused by length of cut. Look on e-bay for a copy of "Feeds and Feeding" by Morrison, find the later revision that was printed in the early 60s (revision 22 I think) probably around 5 bucks, it was the standard animal husbandry text book for many years.

need a little nursing cow feeding advice here!

Dave from MN

Well-known Member

ohioOliver

Member

M Nut

Well-known Member

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

Similar threads