Alfalfa pellets instead of hay?

[Elizabeth2]

We are raising a calf for beef and wonder if we can give him alfalfa pellets in stead of hay? Hay is hard to find around here and very expensive with the drought we've been in, and I figured with alfalfa pellets there'd be less waste. We are already doing this with our goats, but cows are new to me, so I thought I'd see what you all think. Any opinions and advice welcomed!
Oh, and this is a Hereford/Charolais cross calf who lost his mama at 4 months of age; he is now 5-6 months old, and probably just a little stunted.
Thanks,
Elizabeth

[wr]

I've done it when we had a drought and it is possible but you really have to be careful with your bottom end or less agressive animals. I found it quite expensive but there were no other choices and it did work. I would recomend you also add a good protien block or lick and you need a certain amount of additional roughage as well.

[rambler]

Sure seems expensive to me. Should work, you might want to mix in a lesser quality long stemmed roughage too. It would not need that high-protien type of feed to just put on beef.

--->Paul

[Paula]

Cows need some roughage that's in longer pieces for their rumen to work right. Could you feed alfalfa cubes instead? You'd have to break it up in smaller chunks so he could chew it but it breaks up pretty easy.

[Beststash]

A lot of people are bailing milo stalks in your area now - you might check around it is way cheaper than coastal or bahia. You might be able to find some???

[caroline00]

our calf has access to both because he shares a yard with a goat and she eats the pellets. He prefers the hay.