Moving cows from dryland to lush green grass...

[iloveafarmer]

We're buying 2 Jerseys, one cow and her heifer, from a dryland farm in eastern Oregon and bringing them to our place in western WA where things are green and growing lush. Do we have the potential for problems bringing them here, food wise? Anything we should have on hand to prevent problems? We keep hi-mag tubs in the fields for our Angus girls. Momma cow is almost dried up, still nursing the heifer some. Any insight is much appreciated!

Judy

[genebo]

Hi-mag is good. Sweetlix Bloat Guard blocks are another good idea.

Buy a couple of bottles of TheraBloat liquid containing poloxalene to have on hand.

Give them access to plenty of hay. It fills their bellies and cuts the amount of lush grass they can eat.

Any change in diet has a potential to cause problems. Cows use the microbes in their rumen to digest their food. Introduce a new food slowly so they can develop the microbes necessary to digest the new food.

Here's a site to read about the subject:

http://beefmagazine.com/health/vets-...pasture-bloat/

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[copperhead46]

We use Sweet-Mag minerals to feed before we put them on lush spring pasture......I think they have changed the name of it, so it may be what Genbo is calling Hi-Mag. Is there anyway you could limit their use of the pasture for a few days, till their system gets use to the new grass?
P.J.

[Jennifer L.]

Let them eat a lot of hay before you let them out in the morning. They'll fill up and then go out for the day without so much room to stuff themselves with grass. Put them back in at night and do the same thing the next day, and the day after that. After three days of that they'll be starting to refuse the hay knowing they will be getting grass, and when they are doing that, you can figure they are ready to go full time on grass. It still never hurts to keep some hay in front of them, though.

I second having them eating a good quantity of Mag-ox (magnesium oxide) when they are on lush grass, as well.

The magnesium mellows them out, too.

Jennifer

[iloveafarmer]

Bad thing is, we don't have a barn for them yet, they'll be out in the pasture like our Angus cows. Good thing is, the grass isn't very tall at all, I just looked at it. I can isolate them in a small section of the pasture and provide a lot of hay and make sure they have a new hi-mag tub.