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03/20/08, 06:34 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 227
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Feed for cow
I am wondering would it be okay to feed oat or wheat grass to a cow. Would i need to supplement with alfalfa or another grass? Hay is so expensive here, and there is no such thing as cow hay around here either, it's all horse hay and horse hay prices. I am paying $15.00 for 90lb bales of grass doesn't matter what kind either right now, my wallet can't afford that much longer. I know a farmer that has wheat grass for $2.70 a bale.
Thanks!
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03/20/08, 06:49 PM
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: Zone 7
Posts: 10,539
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Wheat grass is referred to by most as straw. Straw does not have much nutrient value. However, straw will suffice as roughage and a cow needs not less than 4 1/2 lbs. of roughage per day. This roughage will need to be supplemented with a source of protein in the form of grain such as corn, soybeans, cottonseed, protein byproducts, etc.
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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!
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03/21/08, 09:41 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Kansas
Posts: 922
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can you not find big round bales? pound per pound its a much better deal.
We found, just yesterday, here in Kansas, that we could buy alfalfa bales, small square, about 70lbs, for $5 a bale, or we could buy a big round, 1000lbs approx, for $35 and the guy is even delivering it for us for just $10 .... gas alone makes it worth that!
Check out the links on this post...
trucking in hay
Where are you located?
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Jennifer, Chase and the whole Darby clan
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03/21/08, 10:01 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 227
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OMG i wish! $5! That's it i'm out of here(Oregon) and going to Kansas!!
I have never found round bales to be a good deal for the pain in the butt it would be for me. It rains so much here i think most of it would get wasted, till the sumer anyway. I dunno i'll look again, we have 3 excavators here now(since there is no work),so it would be easy to move it in now. I put an ad on craigslist for hay, so far the only reply i have gotten is grass hay, which is local crap grass i call it, for $165 a ton for 2007 cut, and he said it'll be starting at $170 for 2008 cut. Hay is a very expensive commodity around here, since most only sell horse hay, and it has to be shipped from Eastern Oregon or Eastern Washington, cause our local grass has VERY little nutritional value, and my bulls and my horses refuse to eat it. Thanks for all the links....i'll get to work on it!
We found, just yesterday, here in Kansas, that we could buy alfalfa bales, small square, about 70lbs, for $5 a bale, or we could buy a big round, 1000lbs approx, for $35 and the guy is even delivering it for us for just $10
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03/21/08, 10:38 AM
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Jhn Boy ina D Trump world
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: NC
Posts: 2,394
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I have a friend drives a 18-wheeler. He stopped by in, I think it was, Oklahoma and picked up some round bales for us a couple of weeks ago. They were six by six bales and they were $25.00. Biggest bales of hay I have ever seen, and my goats and cows love it.
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03/21/08, 11:30 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: North Alabama
Posts: 242
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 3kidsomy
OMG i wish! $5! That's it i'm out of here(Oregon) and going to Kansas!!
I have never found round bales to be a good deal for the pain in the butt it would be for me. It rains so much here i think most of it would get wasted, till the sumer anyway. I dunno i'll look again, we have 3 excavators here now(since there is no work),so it would be easy to move it in now. I put an ad on craigslist for hay, so far the only reply i have gotten is grass hay, which is local crap grass i call it, for $165 a ton for 2007 cut, and he said it'll be starting at $170 for 2008 cut. Hay is a very expensive commodity around here, since most only sell horse hay, and it has to be shipped from Eastern Oregon or Eastern Washington, cause our local grass has VERY little nutritional value, and my bulls and my horses refuse to eat it. Thanks for all the links....i'll get to work on it!
We found, just yesterday, here in Kansas, that we could buy alfalfa bales, small square, about 70lbs, for $5 a bale, or we could buy a big round, 1000lbs approx, for $35 and the guy is even delivering it for us for just $10
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If they refuse to eat the grass hay.....do you really think they are going to eat straw?? I dont think so.....
JKB
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03/21/08, 11:59 AM
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Retired farmer-rancher
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: north-central Kansas
Posts: 2,895
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Quote:
Originally Posted by agmantoo
Wheat grass is referred to by most as straw. Straw does not have much nutrient value. However, straw will suffice as roughage and a cow needs not less than 4 1/2 lbs. of roughage per day. This roughage will need to be supplemented with a source of protein in the form of grain such as corn, soybeans, cottonseed, protein byproducts, etc.
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Wheat hay and oats hay can indeed be a good source of feed for cattle. The secret is to bale it before it matures. When it is just starting to make a seed head, it is still good. After it has headed out and the grain is maturing, it is fast becoming straw. 
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03/21/08, 12:08 PM
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: Zone 7
Posts: 10,539
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When they get hungry they will eat what you provide. We experienced such a drought that anything that was feed was sought after by everyone. I can assure you that the animals ate what was provided. Same for me, I once ate what was referred to as a burger in a 3rd world country because I was getting rather hungry. It looked like ground dog food on a makeshift bun. I almost regurgitate just thinking about in now with a full stomach.
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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!
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