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Hay Consumption Analysis

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Mike

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Last bale of hay was put in the rings today. Free choice hay has been fed to the cows since Oct 1 (because of no rain/no grass in August and Sept)

Cows calved in Nov & Dec.

All total each cow has consumed 26.49 lbs of hay/day average.

No supplement. Except for some Rygrass grazing at times.

Does this seem excessive?

Bet you thought it was scientific, huh?
 
Actually seems a little light. Cows need around 3% of their body weight to maintain. I am guessing your cows weigh at least 1300lbs. At that weight they should be eating around 39lbs a day. This isn't considering that they have a calf on them the last few months either.
 
BRG said:
Actually seems a little light. Cows need around 3% of their body weight to maintain. I am guessing your cows weigh at least 1300lbs. At that weight they should be eating around 39lbs a day. This isn't considering that they have a calf on them the last few months either.
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There is no way I could come up with an amount on the grazing, and the hay was really high quality.

I was thinking about 2% to maintain, plus the grazing would put them at "above average eaters"?
 
Sounds low if it was free choice high quality hay. Cows can do good and mantian wt. on 2% of body wt. if it meets there requirments for all other things like energy and protien.
 
They must not be as big as the charolis I have. They are getting about a ton a day for 32 cows ( about 62# each) and I feed them 5# of corn each evening as well - - - of course they have free choice mineral as well and they are running in a 22 acre woods but I don't think they are getting anything from the woods.

Of course that is why I sold my hiefers this year and bought Angus hiefers - - - If I keep this up in 3 or 4 years I will have an angus herd and breed to charolis bulls - - - I feel I can get more pounds of beef per acre that way.
 
Supplimental grazing makes a huge difference. Even if the grass they eat is 6% protien they can fill up and be content.

Waste is also a factor that needs to be assessed, although very difficult to nail down. There is a good article in the Angus Journal on feed lost by different methods. It can vary from 5% loss to 45%.

If left to their own devices cows could eat 4% of their weight and waste as much.

The protien and energy content of the hay they are fed makes a huge difference to whether you feed at 2% or 4% of their weight. Their total diet needs to be 9.2% protien and 55-58% TDN after calving. Cows do have the ability to use extra energy to make up for a protien deficit, and vice versa.

1200 pound cow 2% is 24 pounds 4% is 48 pounds.

1500 pound cow 2% is 30 pounds 4% is 60 pounds.
 
One thing that gets forgotten in all this talk is DRY MATTER INTAKE.
Dry Matter is a requirement of cattle too. It is good to supply some hay along with grazing because yellow, dried up grass is not very digestible. That's why they can't make a complete diet of it, but it will certainly help add dry matter to their diet.

We have tested the grass in this country in the late fall, and it can be as low as 4% protein. And it is hard to digest. That is why cake or hay is fed along with it, to enhance rumen function. Enhanced rumen function helps digest the forage better. Phos and yeast culture in mineral helps keep the rumen working well.

Remember, we are not in the cattle feeding business, we are in the rumen feeding business.
 
i am in the grass farming business. the cows just harvest for me.L.O.L It is true thou that a cow will eat almost right on the money of 2.5% of her body weight in dry matter. We have checked this and its accurate on fescue pastures with supplemental hay and mineral.
 
Let's take the 4% figure from Faster Horses dry grass, and the 2.5% intake of fed hay.

1200 pound cow eating 2.5% in hay is 30 pounds and another 1.5% in dry grass 18 pounds.

18 pounds at 4% protien is .72 pounds of protien

30 pounds of hay at 14% protien is 4.2 pounds of protien

Total diet is 48 pounds and 4.92 pounds of protien or 12.3% protien in their diet. That is more than the cow requires, but energy hasn't been accounted for. If the energy is adequate the hay could be reduced and the cow could use more of that poor grass.

20 pounds of 14% hay = 2.8 pounds of protien
28 pounds of grass at 4%= 1.12 pounds of protien

48 pounds total with 3.92 pounds of protien or 8.2% a little low for cows with calves.

The trick is will the cow be able to consume the 28 pounds of dry grass? Poorer forages are less dense and require lots of gut room. A cow may not be able to eat 4% of her weight when eating lots of poor forage.

If that cow's intake is reduced to 3% because of the poor forage, 20 pounds hay plus 16 pounds grass total protien 3.42 pounds or 9.5% protien.

Sometimes a cake or even a grain suppliment is better and cheaper to give cows on poor forage rather than hay.
 
Jason, there is an error in your figures because you forgot to take out the moisture. I will recalculate it and post the amounts.

I have a sheet that shows the requirements of beef cattle and book values of forages.

In third trimester a cow's requirements AT 20 DEGREES F. is
23.6 dry matter; 12.5 TDN (energy); 2.12 PROTEIN.

Take 30 lbs of 14% alfalfa hay. We have tested hay this year and it is running about 15% moisture. We have to take the moisture out because it doesn't contain nutrients. Forage is always figured on a DRY MATTER BASIS.

So 30 lbs. of 14% hay containing 15% moisture; and my book shows 14% hay usually has a TDN or energy value of 52%~

30 lbs. minus 15%=25.5 Dry matter; times .14 protein = 3.57 protein; 25.5 DM x .52 TDN=13.26 pounds of energy.

So using the requirements I already posted; the cow is OVER on dry matter; over on protein; and a bit over on energy. Why does she need any supplementation? And that is not figuring in the dry grass because it doesn't contain very much energy and is not very digestible.

If ranchers would test their hay, they would seldom find a need to purchase added supplementation, other than mineral. We have proved it right here, theoretically and actually in the area in which we live.

Most supplements supplement PROTEIN and this hay already provides 1.2 extra pounds of protein. Too much protein is actually detrimental to rebreeding. So why buy more protein when you have more than you need already?

Another thing, it is expensive to overfeed protein in order for the cow
to convert it to energy. Grain, on the other hand is very reasonable. In our situation, we aren't set up to feed grain, so we feed that 30 lbs. of hay.

Hope this helps.
 
I know FH but most hay is around 90% dry matter. For ease of figuring just add 10% ( feed 10% more to get right weight, and target 10% more protien than minimum).

The value of the dry grass for winter grazing is usually far under estimated. I have no winter grass so have to feed all of what the cow needs. Straw works as a filler, similar to dry grass, but a cow won't compact on grass no matter how bad (she might starve to death but won't compact) too much straw will compact them in a hurry.
 
FH I was showing some numbers for those that never calculate a ration.

Your absolutely right about using dry matter numbers and that people should have their feed tested.

I have to admit I don't very often test my feed anymore because I have fed so many types of feeds I have a pretty good idea where they are at. That and when you buy 1 load and it is gone before the test is back it kinda is a waste.

Your numbers are based on a 1000 pound cow aren't they? I used the numbers the Angus Journal used. If you convert the total pounds of TDN (energy) and protien into ration percentages it can make it easier to see where you are at. If the cows are bigger they just eat more and the % stays the same.

Your hay figures are at 8.9% protien and about 53% TDN. The article in the Journal says a bred cow needs 7.5% protien and 55% TDN. The size of the cow will affect the total feed they eat and the total pounds of protien.

The needs jump when they calve, protien has to be 9.2% and TDN 58%. Milk isn't free.

I have used spreadsheets when I have to get creative on feeds. This year it is easy as hay is $50 a ton and plentyful. Although cheap I am feeding a bit of straw.

I am slightly overfeeding my cows with calves, pushing them to tighten the breeding season, but the cost is still under $1 a day, and the calves are sure growing. I have some later calving cows and they are costing 68 cents per day and are gaining weight.

I find range cows love alfalfa but don't need much because the higher protien is very efficient in raising their total diet protien. I am blending some decent alfalfa with nice barley greenfeed and feeding barley straw in a feeder. Processed and fed on the ground I think they are wasting about 8-10%, but it's hard to quantify exactly.

The "manure test" is what I judge by. They are loose, but not runny.
 
We encourage our customers to use alfalfa hay to supplement grass or grain hays to get the protein up. We don't consider alfalfa hay something to feed alone. It works better as a supplement.

5# second cutting hay fed everyday with lower quality grass hay works wonders. We don't have much alfalfa hay so our cows pretty much get straight grass hay. One thing, we do not short them on it.

Our replacement heifer calves are getting some alfalfa (21% protein) and some crested wheat grass hay. They will waste some of the alfalfa and clean up every bit of the crested. They get hay and mineral and that is it. That is what they are going to get for the rest of their life (or as long as we own 'em) so that is what we feed them now. We give them good hay, as they aren't as proficient at digesting forage as an older cow. They look really good. I hope to go up and take a picture of them to post here. I should get that done this week.
 
That's the great thing about cows, and what sets them apart from chickens and pigs, they can thrive in various settings.

Lots of good grass hay is actually about the easiest diet for cows. It fills them up and they can get what they need from it.

Poor grass will fill them but needs some extra, pure alfalfa is too hot like you said.

I read an article that said older cows will actually teach heifers what to eat. They know the terrain and know what will keep them going. The heifers watch the older cows and try the same grasses/weeds/ whatever the cows do.
 
Jason:Lots of good grass hay is actually about the easiest diet for cows. It fills them up and they can get what they need from it.
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I totally agree.

This was the 3rd year I have gotten by without feeding grain. The hay is more expensive than native grass hay but I think it pencils out better and is a lot less time consuming than feeding grain.

My cost for the hay (barn-stored ryegrass) is about $.02-$.03 per pound. That would put my feed costs at about $.80 per day/per cow during winter.
 
23.6 pounds of DM for a 1300 pound cow sounded low to me. Sure would make cheap wintering this year. The article in the Journal used 28 pounds of DM hay for a 1200 pound cow.

Mike anytime your under a buck up here it's a good thing. Down there you get far better weather but costs for hay are similar because of fuel and iron.

The labor thing is highly variable. If you have other things that need to be done it is a bonus to be able to put hay in rings and go. If you can save 10 cents per head per day with a couple hours chores, it isn't good wages but does add up. As long as your not sacrificing something that pays better.
 
Jason, keep in mind my numbers are the bare requirements at 20 degree temperature. This is for maintenance, not for gain.

For 1000 lb. cow requirements are 19.6 DM, 10.5 Energy and 1.8 lbs. of protein. This is in the third trimester.

Based pretty much on NRC recommendations, after calving the requirements for a 1300 lb. cow goes to 24.3 lbs. DM, 13.4 lbs. Energy, 2.4 lbs. protein.

A 1000 lb. cow's is 20.2 lbs. DM, 11.5 lbs. Energy and 2 lbs. protein. Personally, I don't know of any 1000 lb. cows. Heifers perhaps, but not cows.

And for good or bad, Jack feeds their appetite, not their requirement. :shock:
 

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