jodywy
Well-known member
1200lb cows or 1600lb cows?4Diamond said:
Question on the average cattle ranch
- Thread starter mister dillon
- Start date
C Thompson
Well-known member
If I was judging this rodeo I would have to give the buckle to PATB for the best answer so far. Some of the others would get runner up prizes for humor though. I wish I had received this information and been smart enough to take it in about 20 years ago. Most of the things that have worked for the last 40 years will not likely work for the next 40. This lifestyle is one I would not like to lose but the business must be profitable to support it.
pups and bucks
Well-known member
can't go wrong with this advise.....gcreekrch is an expertgcreekrch said:
jodywy
Well-known member
Texas Goat Rancher stopped one day at the coffee shop in Town, asked what the goats on the really steep hill side south of town were grazing on. We said they were contract goats for the weed and pest and they were eating Leafy Spurge. We told him the seed went down over 30 feet and you really couldn't kill the plant, he asked "where can I get seed" :shock:pups and bucks said:can't go wrong with this advise.....gcreekrch is an expertgcreekrch said:
PATB
Well-known member
jodywy said:Texas Goat Rancher stopped one day at the coffee shop in Town, asked what the goats on the really steep hill side south of town were grazing on. We said they were contract goats for the weed and pest and they were eating Leafy Spurge. We told him the seed went down over 30 feet and you really couldn't kill the plant, he asked "where can I get seed" :shock:pups and bucks said:can't go wrong with this advise.....gcreekrch is an expertgcreekrch said:
How many that have a leafy spurge problem have tried training cows to eat it. If the cows can be trained to eat spurge as research shows can be done then think of the forage potential. I know my animals eat a wide variety of so called weeds that adds to their dietary mix.
pups and bucks
Well-known member
I'm not sure that you can get a cow hungry enough to eat that stuff.......PATB said:jodywy said:Texas Goat Rancher stopped one day at the coffee shop in Town, asked what the goats on the really steep hill side south of town were grazing on. We said they were contract goats for the weed and pest and they were eating Leafy Spurge. We told him the seed went down over 30 feet and you really couldn't kill the plant, he asked "where can I get seed" :shock:pups and bucks said:can't go wrong with this advise.....gcreekrch is an expert
How many that have a leafy spurge problem have tried training cows to eat it. If the cows can be trained to eat spurge as research shows can be done then think of the forage potential. I know my animals eat a wide variety of so called weeds that adds to their dietary mix.
PATB
Well-known member
link to BEHAVE project - How to train your animals to eat plants they are not currently eating.
http://extension.usu.edu/behave/
http://extension.usu.edu/behave/
jodywy
Well-known member
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/03107.htmlpups and bucks said:
Faster horses
Well-known member
Talk to Ray Banister at Wibaux, Mt. I think his Hereford cows eat
spurge and just about any other weed that grows there. He's a real
grass man, and his cows are second to grass production.
spurge and just about any other weed that grows there. He's a real
grass man, and his cows are second to grass production.
LCP
Well-known member
FH - I've heard Ray Bannister speak. Interesting approach he has. I think his cows eat spurge because when it gets to that point, its spurge or the fence post. The key to his management is very long periods of rest between very intense grazing periods. Basically, he grazes half of his pastures one year and half the next year. There isn't much left but fenceposts after the year of grazing. But his grass is healthier than the neighbors, based on the photos he showed.
I bought a book called "Cows Eat Weeds" by Kathy Voth from the BEHAVE program. Haven't put it into practice yet, but she has a "12 step program" to teach cows to eat...you guessed it...weeds. Thistle, spurge, sagebrush, doesn't matter, according to her. Here's a video about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dANLnHEi19A
I'm hoping to try it on my yearling heifers this summer.
I bought a book called "Cows Eat Weeds" by Kathy Voth from the BEHAVE program. Haven't put it into practice yet, but she has a "12 step program" to teach cows to eat...you guessed it...weeds. Thistle, spurge, sagebrush, doesn't matter, according to her. Here's a video about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dANLnHEi19A
I'm hoping to try it on my yearling heifers this summer.
C Thompson
Well-known member
Cathy Voth was here last year in the fall which was a little late to get cattle eating mature weeds but still got it done. We saw cows eat mature knapweed out of molasses tubs. We will be using her book to train our cattle this year starting in the spring when the plants are green. Most of these plants we call weeds are higher in protein than most grass in our pasture and once the cattle learn to eat them along with the other plants we can quit worrying about them. We already had ours eating burdock and thistles just by crowding them into problem areas with electric fence but if they see it as food it just becomes another plant in the paddock.
PATB
Well-known member
C Thompson said:
My cows eat milkweed, burdock, multiflora rose other plants that are not normally considered forage in their daily pasture rotations. I may have to try training them to eat thistle
Hayguy
Well-known member
my neigbors summer fallow is starting to look a little more appealing. but i'd have to start with new cow's, mine are way to fussy/spoiled :lol: :lol:
PATB
Well-known member
hayguy said:
You never know what they will eat untill you try.