Cotton seed meal/burrs instead of hay?

TexCountryWoman · #1 09/11/06, 06:38 PM

There is no hay here at all. NONE! We may have to sell all the cows. Some are suggesting feeding their cattle cotton seed meal or burrs this winter instead of hay. It is 40% protein. We could go get it by the pick up load but we have never fed it before and wonder if anyone here has and what we need to know if we decide not to sell out. We have already sold most of the herd and only have a handful of cattle left. Any ideas on this? Desperate in Texas.

YuccaFlatsRanch · #2 09/11/06, 08:25 PM

Where is lee County Texas?? I truck hay.

There is all kinds of hay down around Refugio and Karnes City. Thats not too far to haul a trailer for 3 round bales of hay. If I can get some more of what I have been hauling (nice coastal rounds) I might be able to deliver a trailer load of 23 bales for you all. To see hay advertised in the Houston/Corpus area look up www.mysanantonio.com and click on classifieds and then on feed and seed.

bricned · #3 09/11/06, 09:01 PM

I feed cotton hull and meal. The cotton seed hull will give you some roughage to go along with the high protien cotton seed meal. You will still
be better off with some hay. A lot will depend on the type cattle that you
have.

JulieLou42 · #4 09/11/06, 09:32 PM

The new GMO cotton plant residue's been killing sheep, when it's not killed 'em in the centuries non-GMO's been fed to them...don't know what it does to cattle...read this last week in an email someone sent me. Might want to look into it first. Be careful.

TexCountryWoman · #5 09/11/06, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YuccaFlatsRanch

Where is lee County Texas?? I truck hay.

There is all kinds of hay down around Refugio and Karnes City. Thats not too far to haul a trailer for 3 round bales of hay. If I can get some more of what I have been hauling (nice coastal rounds) I might be able to deliver a trailer load of 23 bales for you all. To see hay advertised in the Houston/Corpus area look up www.mysanantonio.com and click on classifieds and then on feed and seed.

We just can't afford the hay at the prices that it is going for now, I know that you have offered to haul it. We are used to paying $25. for a round bale not $100., also, last winter was much colder and dryer than average and we ended up feeding more hay than usual. We normally feed from November thru march, but last winter we had to feed October thru April (dry spring). Also, because of the cold winter with hard freezes (it normally doesn't freeze that hard) we were feeding 3 rolls a week rather than 1 roll a week. We can't affor $300/week for hay.

However, Yucca, we are going to need some hay because even if we sell the rest of the cows, we will be keeping the horses and goats. There are no square bales in the area and haven't been. Let me talk to my husband and see what he wants to do.

Lee co. is located east of Austin and west of Bryan-College Station. We are off of hwy 77 north of 290.....thanks

TexCountryWoman · #6 09/11/06, 11:49 PM

Also, ironically, if we sell the cattle, we will then have hay money for the horses. The cattle are the money makers. The horses are the moochers. The life of a poor dirt farmer...

ozark_jewels · #7 09/12/06, 06:24 AM

Why are you keeping the horses and selling the cows......if the cows are the logical choice to keep?? Just trying to learn your reasons.

I had to make this choice 5 years ago. I could afford to feed either the horses or the goats through the winter....but not both. It was a hard decision but the horses got sold and the goats stayed. I still wonder how my TWH filly turned out........but I'm glad I kept my goats.

TexCountryWoman · #8 09/12/06, 09:58 PM

The horses are family. One horse is my transportation because i no longer drive. Another horse is my daughters, it was born here and I can't imagine selling, it would break her heart, just can't be done. The third horse is 26 years old and needs to be put down.

ozark_jewels · #9 09/12/06, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexCountryWoman

The horses are family. One horse is my transportation because i no longer drive. Another horse is my daughters, it was born here and I can't imagine selling, it would break her heart, just can't be done. The third horse is 26 years old and needs to be put down.

Ah, that I can understand.

kgchis · #10 09/13/06, 09:54 PM

get some soybean hull or cotton seed hull to feed along with the cotton seed. That will get the protien % down and give the roughage they need.

As far as I know this can be done. My dad swears when he grew up in a cotton farming family in Mississippi this is how they took cows through the winter when hay was limited.

Also see if some corn stalks are available in your area. The husks work well. Good luck.

We have the same problem here. I plan to plant some rye grass in late October. Hopefully we will have grass to graze on by late Feb.

Terry W · #11 09/14/06, 11:57 AM

have many of you folks in the droughted areas looked into putting NATIVE grasses into your pastures? NAtive p[lants survive the weather that is thrown at them better than the non-natives that a huge percentage of farmers think they have to plant in order to get livestock fed "right". Timothy hay is NOT a native grass-- neither is alfalfa-- orcgard grasses, not native, are actually more suited to the US than many of the common pasture and hay grasses are. Staying away from the GM strains also helps to ensure that what is growing will come back again--and staying away from monoculture helps ensure you have something edible growing, as well. Texas may be hot and dry now, but there HAD to be a NATURAL reason other than wide open spaces, that permitted all those acres of buffalo, then cattle, to get fat all those years ago--