How much hay for my steer this winter?

[Silvercreek Farmer]

My guess is that he weighs something around 400-500 lbs right now. I will be buying round bales of fescue probably around 500-600 lbs. Our grass usually lasts through Oct. and starts coming in again around March... I don't plan on feeding any grain, how much hay do I need to buy?

[agmantoo]

3% of his body weight for each day you plan to feed him

[Yvonne's hubby]

I fed a hundred rolls to ten adults and 5 about yer size last winter, it got them through, but I would rather have had a dozen more rolls on hand. I would secure 10 rolls for one steer if it were me.

[rambler]

Originally Posted by Yvonne's hubby

I fed a hundred rolls to ten adults and 5 about yer size last winter, it got them through, but I would rather have had a dozen more rolls on hand. I would secure 10 rolls for one steer if it were me.

Wow - I didn't realize my cornstalks were helping me out that much!!!! I let the critters graze a 40 acre cornstalk field all winter, if the snow doesn't get too deep.

That and 30-40 round bales feeds about 20 - 25 head of various sizes up here in the cold snow, pasture usually is gone by October, and doesn't come up enough until mid-May.

--->Paul

[uncle Will in In.]

If you get new round bales, be sure to store them on some old pallets so they don't soak up ground moisture which spoils a lot of the bottom of the bales. If you store them outdoors, don't place them with the round sides touching each other. That would cause the rain to run down to the ajoining balse and soak into the hay where they touch. Putting the flat ends against each other will help keep the ends of the bales from weathering.
Don't let the calf eat from the bale without a round bale feeder to keep him from walking on the hay and wasting more than he eats. <>UNK

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by rambler

Wow - I didn't realize my cornstalks were helping me out that much!!!! I let the critters graze a 40 acre cornstalk field all winter, if the snow doesn't get too deep.

That and 30-40 round bales feeds about 20 - 25 head of various sizes up here in the cold snow, pasture usually is gone by October, and doesn't come up enough until mid-May.

--->Paul

An acre and a half of corn stalks per animal does help, a lot. Also what kind of hay do you feed? Our OP mentioned fescue, which is pretty low in nutritional value compared to the better types of hay like alfalfa. This is particularly true if the hay is cut later than it should be which is the case in many areas this year due to the constant rain every other day. Personally I would far rather have some carryover hay than to come up short in March.

[Farm 36]

Heres the math I used 6 month and put the steer at 800 lb for the 6 months and did 3% for the hay and added for waste and this will be on the high side but getting hay in jan and feb is expesive and can be harder to find .800 x 3%=24lb per day x180 days=4320lb of hay so If it was me I would get 4500 to 5000 lb of hay. This seems high to me but 24 lb per day would be a half a bale of hay and this does seem right . This is just my openion but come spring this boy will be rough looking from a having a ration that was low on corn and low on protien he will have some catching up to do so I would go to the feed mill and find some corn and protein for him to grow . You need protein to get muscle and corn for fat and those bale will be short on both .

[Silvercreek Farmer]

He will have 2.5 acres of winter grass and 1.5 of brush to subsidize his hay so I don't think he will need 10, but the estimates sure do help!

[rambler]

Originally Posted by Yvonne's hubby

An acre and a half of corn stalks per animal does help, a lot. Also what kind of hay do you feed? Our OP mentioned fescue, which is pretty low in nutritional value compared to the better types of hay like alfalfa. This is particularly true if the hay is cut later than it should be which is the case in many areas this year due to the constant rain every other day. Personally I would far rather have some carryover hay than to come up short in March.

My round bales are big, too, 5x6. It is 'ditch hay' or 'meadow hay' as we call it up here - whatever grass happens to grow well this particular year, it is a mix of many cool season grasses, timothy * orchard are often the bulk of it. Some clover or alfalfa scattered in, but I plowed up my alfalfa fields,a s I have more grass meadows these days. I do feed a tiny bit of corn & oats, but not a regular ration.

And I agree with having extra - my hay barn is full of about 2500 small squares. For blizzards and monsoons.

--->Paul

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by rambler

My round bales are big, too, 5x6. It is 'ditch hay' or 'meadow hay' as we call it up here - whatever grass happens to grow well this particular year, it is a mix of many cool season grasses, timothy * orchard are often the bulk of it. Some clover or alfalfa scattered in, but I plowed up my alfalfa fields,a s I have more grass meadows these days. I do feed a tiny bit of corn & oats, but not a regular ration.

And I agree with having extra - my hay barn is full of about 2500 small squares. For blizzards and monsoons.

--->Paul

Your rounds would contain a good bit more than my 5x5s, that extra foot makes a lot of difference in volume. When I was using square bales I generally ran about 1000 to 1200 bales per year. Again though, our fescue hay is pretty low end as far as nutrition goes. I am also feeding a charolais/angus cross herd and different breeds do better than others on different feeds. For example herefords will get fat and slick on the same forage a charolais would starve to death on. I never figured out just how he did it, but a friend of mine used to fatten jersey bulls on sawdust.

[unioncreek]

I feed two steers four ton Orchard grass for the winter. I usually start around the end of October and depending on the years as late as April. The calves usually weigh around 600 pounds.

Bobg

[Beeman]

1 steer and round bales, especially cheap or poor hay, might be a problem. With no pressure from others to eat it they will not eat as much of poor hay as if there were more eating it. Also 1 will waste a lot of a round bale by pulling it out and stepping and pooing in it looking for the best hay.