I know cows can be pigs, but.......

[MRSSTEAK]

Is it honestly possible for a 4 year old Black Angus bull, a 8 year old Black Angus cow, a 6 year old Herford cow, and two 7 month old steers to eat a 750 pound round bale of hay in 3 days???? Or do you think they are getting help from the local wild life? We don't have snow yet so I can't see the deer or elk eating the hay. They're not that desperate yet. At least I don't think so. What do you think???? I haven't seen any tracks around the feeder other than cow tracks.

[agmantoo]

Given free access and cold weather, yes they can eat that much.

I estimate that you have 5600 lbs of animals. Feed requirements to maintain weight that would be 168 lbs per day times 3 days equal 504 lbs.
Given the opportuntiy to consume all they want and some waste it could easily go to 750 lbs. You need to allocate feed to the mature animals and create an opportuntiy for the 2 steers to have access 24/7.

[Ken Scharabok]

Round bale ring or placed on ground? A lot of waste with the latter. Even a small pile can contain a lot of hay.

Say they averaged the equivalent of one 40 LB square bale each a day. 40 x 5 = 200 x 3 = 600, so likely technically yes.

[ace admirer]

that 40 lbs per day looks right to me...and as others have said...you need a ring or something to keep them from trodding and sleeping in it.. or you will loose about 25% during feeding They eat a little more than they need..if free choice..they will also eat more than they need if they are lacking a component.. say salt, protein or a certain mineral...so keep mineral and protein sources available.

[JulieLou42]

If it's cold, they'll eat more to build back their haircoats and store fat to keep warm. I agree with the other board members. My one bredback milkcow is just a chompin' away, hardly lays down to cud these days.

[MRSSTEAK]

Thanks. I don't see much waste. We are using a round bail feeder. (a ring around the bail) If my cows do lay down, it's right next to the feeder. They don't go too far. Well, now considering the information I just got, I have to buy more hay for winter. At this rate they'll be out by late January.

[plowhand]

I'd like to know if your bale really weighs 750 lb.s If you are buying hay you need to pay attention to how tight your hay is baled. There is not quite as much hay in a loosely baled bale as there is in a tight bale. I've also noticed that hay quality has a lot to do with how much hay is consumed at the time. It takes a good bit more hay to fill a cow up if the hay is not real good hay. I'm not saying not to feed a cow lower quality hay, for they can do well on it. It just takes a little more hay to do the job.

[unioncreek]

If you have good quality hay they should only need 25 pounds a day. At home in MT the most we ever fed is 30 pounds and that was when temps went to -20*. The most I feed my longhorns is 30 pounds and that is with a poor quality hay. When self feeding they will eat more, but sometimes depending on bale size, etc you don't have a choice but to self feed.

Bobg