winter feed question

[harplade]

We have about 12 acres of nice, fertilized bermuda grass. Too much for 3 cows, 3 horses and a handful of goats to keep up with. But in this part of the country, I can't find anyone to cut hay on that small of a field. So my question is-can I let the cows and horses eat the dead grass throughout the winter and will they get any nutrition from it? I am wondering if there is a supplement that would give them the protein that the grass doesn't have and use the field as roughage, hay sort ot.

Anyone ever do this? The horses ate it last year-it seemed like they foraged down and found some new green (mild winters let the grass continue to grow a little bit) and ate it along with the dead stuff. They seemed to do ok but I am just curious if this is a good idea or if anyone has any other suggestions for what to do with alot of beautiful grass that we can't turn into hay.

Thanks,

Harplade

[sammyd]

You can head down to the local feed mill and get a grain mix that will cover for the lack of protien in older dead grass. Don't know how folks are at yours but at the mill I use they are usually quite knowledgable and more than happy to work with me to figure out what I need based on what I am raising and what I am feeding. And I'm no big operator.

[travlnusa]

I have my cows/calves eat the dormant grass until the snow cover is to deep.

Look at it as hay that you did not have to pay to have put up.

With that in mind, the older/taller grass gets, the less feed value it has. You might even have some grasses in your area that become toxic as it matures. Talk to your local ag agent.

As fall draws near, my pastures are getting low. But with cooler temps and more rain, they make a big push until we have a killing frost.

I will let them graze that down to about 4-6", then rotate them to the next pasture.

[Philip]

Standing hay is ok for roughage but they would need supplements to give the protein to overwinter if theres only standing hay to eat. Silage and a little grain (about 1-2 kgs per day per beast, depending on breed) should be enough ?
There is the disadvantage that as the grass goes to seed as it dries out that you will need to fertilse it in early spring to get new grass to come away. Can you get anyone to top the grass before winter ?

[harplade]

thanks for the input-we're trying to get someone to cut it but at this point, cutting it would create another problems b/c it is so thick and long that it would mat up and possibly mold and/or shade out the grass underneath it.

We're thinking of planting three paddocks in rye and oats, etc. These paddocks would be adjacent to the dead grass paddocks-would cows, horses "balance" their own eating with hay and rye intermittently? I know that goats will or at least I've seen mine do that-whether it is for the variety or what, I'm not sure. Still new to cattle and curious what they'll do.

I'm going to contact LSUAG and see if they have any ideas. I'm not tremendously impressed with them but I guess it's worth a try.

Will let you know if I find out anything.

Harplade

[agmantoo]

IMHO you are taking the incorrect approach. Living where you do you have a wonderful opportunity to feed your animals with little expense and with very little work. Take the money that you were going to spend for baling and buy a good ParMak fence charger and some of the step-in metal posts with the pigtail insulated top and a roll of electrical poly twine. This will get you into place to start to do rotation grazing. This practice will enable you to go through the entire winter without having to feed expensive baled hay and you will not have to depend on anyone else again. Just do a site search here on my username and read my past posts on grazing. If you have any questions afterward I will be glad to answer them.