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Am I feeding my cows enough?

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Quaz

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I am feeding 1200 -1300 pound cows, about 15 pounds of oat hay 7.5 of alfalfa brome hay and 7.5 pounds of straw and 5 pounds of screenings which have some wheat,peas,oats,barley in them. Just wondering what you all think? I worry about if there gettin enough. thanks
 
Of course that depends on your weather conditions, the actual quality of that hay, etc. On good hay in good weather we can get away with roughly that on larger cows than yours.

In a perfect world I like to see the cows walk away from their feed for a while and come back to it later to clean it up. Seems like if it takes them til well after lunch to polish it right up then we're pretty close. Keep an eye on those less thrifty cows that every herd has and if they aren't dropping off then you're doing good.
 
I have been feeding the oat hay then about a hour later I come back in with the hay,straw and grain. They dont have the oat hay cleaned up yet and there already heading to the gate to see if I had left it open or not. So not sure if there happy or not.
 
When it's this cold, you CAN'T feed them enough.

That's why it is important to have them flat backed when you go
into the winter. Then you don't have to try to GET them fat when
the weather is like it is now. If they are a body score of 6 (flat-backed)
and they lose a little, it won't hurt them. If they are a BS of 5 and lose
a body condition score (80 lbs.) and drop down to a 4 when they
calve, that's not so good. (Not saying your cows are thin by any means.)

I'd say you are feeding them enough to MAINTAIN
their condition, as you are giving them
35 lbs. as fed and probably 30 lbs. on a dry matter basis.
They just won't gain anything. It's much easier and cheaper to get them
in good shape when the weather is mild than to try to get condition
on them when it's cold. I like it that you are giving them a mixture of
forage.

How sure are you of what your bales weigh? That's the variable.
If you can feed like Silver said, so they have some to come back
to, that's good. Many times cattle can't digest poor hay and can't eat
it all. The producer might think they aren't hungry and cut them back
when that is the wrong thing to do...

I always advise spending a little money and getting your hay tested.
Then you aren't guessing quite so much.

And don't forget the mineral... :wink:

Good Luck!
 
With out seeing the feed it sure sounds about right as long as they aren't using to much just to stay warm. I don't feel the outside temp will make them need more as much as a wind - - - -I'm blessed with wooded hills and gullies so they can get out of the wind and no more than I have they can all get in the barn if they want but seem to prefer the woods much better.

Back in the 1960s I attended a Purdue short course on winter feeding of brood cows and they wanted us to reduce the hay by as much as half and fill them up with good wheat straw if we knew a cold spell was coming- - - -They said the straw would go almost entirely into body heat and then give the nutrition after the cold was over - - - -I don't keep straw around so I can't give first hand experience but it kind of makes sense.
 
That works out to 3% body weight of intakes which is more than enough. I agree with some other posts that it depends on your breed of cow, BCS, and calving date. Simmie cows calving in Feb are a little different that angus cows calving in April. Don't worry about the cows coming back looking for more....they just know that the grain is coming and don't want to be last in line!
 
Well I'm no kit pharo but I've tried the skimp them thru method and it will bite you back a year or even two down the road. I'd error on the side of caution and set out some poorer type hay for free access all the time then feed my better quality feeds each day. Were having some equipment problems right now so were just feeding hay. I feed a mixture of the best to the worst and all they want.
 
Well I'm no kit pharo but I've tried the skimp them thru method and it will bite you back a year or even two down the road. I'd error on the side of caution and set out some poorer type hay for free access all the time then feed my better quality feeds each day. Were having some equipment problems right now so were just feeding hay. I feed a mixture of the best to the worst and all they want.I guess feeding a little extra does'nt cost that much and will make a huge differance come next fall in calf weights and % cows rebred.
 
I agree with that. We like to keep them in good shape all the time. Not over fat, but in good shape. It's cold enough here that it means hay in front of them all the time, except right now, when they're grazing corn.

Yours will be in the last trimester soon, and that's when the calf grows the most, and they need their groceries to make sure the calves are strong, and if they're in good shape then, rebreeding will be easier.

I'm not sure by weights if it's enough, but if the cows are in good shape, then it is. If they're losing weight, I'd bump it up.
 
Thanks for the input. All the hay is tested, protein 10. I bumped it up in the 30below weather we had and they didnt clean it all up. Ill post pictures of my operation when I get it figured out how to put pics on. Im pretty new to this.
 
I don't know your numbers, and I don't need to. In fact you don't need to either. All you need to do is watch a cow when she lifts her tail.....if it's dry, lumpy and resembles horse terds, they're lacking a little. If it's looser and splats a wee bit, they're doing real fine. I've always used that as a good indicator. We only test feed to find out what we need for minerals and such. Then again, we have cows that are used to getting by on prairie wool and promises.

Best of luck,
PC
 

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