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FH:
"alfalfa hay is the finest feed source in the state of Montana--and--Hell--it ain't even named right! It ain't hay--it's protein supplement. When that ol' boy comes around , selling you his 'all natural' 20% prot supplement, tell him 'shoot, I got a stack of it out behind the barn, got 2 strings around each package--about 80$ a ton---how much is yours?"

I sure liked listening to Ray A
http://www.montana.edu/news/308/popular-msu-animal-science-professor-honored-with-teaching-awards
 
Faster horses said:
FH:
"alfalfa hay is the finest feed source in the state of Montana--and--Hell--it ain't even named right! It ain't hay--it's protein supplement."

I do believe that's what I said.
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Actually for most beef operations it contains too much crude protein unless limit fed and should be fed as a mix with grass hay. No need wasting all that good protein by allowing it to end up on the ground without being utilized. The cow needs that roughage part of it as much if not more than she needs the high protein.
 
TexasBred said:
Faster horses said:
FH:
"alfalfa hay is the finest feed source in the state of Montana--and--Hell--it ain't even named right! It ain't hay--it's protein supplement."

I do believe that's what I said.
Click to expand...
Actually for most beef operations it contains too much crude protein unless limit fed and should be fed as a mix with grass hay. No need wasting all that good protein by allowing it to end up on the ground without being utilized. The cow needs that roughage part of it as much if not more than she needs the high protein.
Click to expand...

You are quite right and that's what has been said. Great as a protein supplement but not full feed.
 
I had this debate with Soapweed years ago, I asked why all the Sandhills ranchers fed cake when you could buy three tons the alfalfa for the price of a ton of cake. If I remember correctly he said something about convenience and tradition. I agree totally with Faster horses but then again I sell a fair amount of alfalfa.
 
Rightwinger82 i see you are looking at Mcness Cubes. Have you ever considered Mcness Ruffage Mate? Its a 52% protein mineral with 14% of the protein from urea and you can get by with feeding around .5#/hd/day, thin cows maybe a littel more, we have never fed more than .75# though even on old cows or first calves. We use to cake 4# of the same 28% DDG cube every other day and now have went to RuffageMate and the cows have done just as good or better and are way more content. We have fed it now for 3 years and had great results. What made me a beilever was the first winter i fed half the cows cake and the other half RuffageMate. The cows we caked would still come running even on the days we didnt cake and couldnt hardly break ice without the cows mauling you. The cows on RuffageMate were content as can be. We had a 4 to 5" snow and i had a bale of alfalfa on the pickup the cows on RuffageMate just looked at the cake pickup and put their heads back down, the cows we caked every other day had to be fed the bale so we could get out the gate. And the nice thing about RuffageMate is that you regulate it with salt and can manage the consumption vs tubs were you have no control. We put RuffageMate out every 4 to 7 days and it is costing around $.25/day and takes care of your protein and mineral in one bag.
 
Has anyone fed a pound of raw beans as a supplement? 50% protein and 20% fat seems like it'd be qlright
 
redrobin said:
Has anyone fed a pound of raw beans as a supplement? 50% protein and 20% fat seems like it'd be qlright
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Have heard of beans being fed up to 4 lbs. per head per day. That will give you one pound of pure vegetable fat in the diet.Tremendous energy.
 
My vet said that cattle cannot properly digest raw beans - - - they need to be roasted to work - - - then he recommends them
 
I have used Canola meal and salt and soybean meal and salt mixed and fed free choice.

Worked pretty good for the cows out grazing the hills in the winter.
 
I am now considering a grain mix of half cracked corn half whole cotton seed. That would be around 15 protien and 15 fat. No out of wack minerals or trace elements for around the same price as cake, and no need to change mineral programs. If all a person was short was protien alfalfa would be fine. Especially if you feed twice the amount needed, cause they ain't gonna eat them stems. I am looking to push fat to keep consumption of hay up.
 
George said:
My vet said that cattle cannot properly digest raw beans - - - they need to be roasted to work - - - then he recommends them
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Research it George. Your vet is wrong. I know most people think their vet is like the pope and infallible but alas ....
 
I'm gonna disagree with RW about alfalfa. If fed as protein I don't think I see more than 5 pounds of green left behind any bale I feed. Wind will waste more unrolling than the cows do. We are fussy about when we bale and that helps with palatitibility. I see stems left behind but not alfalfa stems.
 
Haytrucker said:
I'm gonna disagree with RW about alfalfa. If fed as protein I don't think I see more than 5 pounds of green left behind any bale I feed. Wind will waste more unrolling than the cows do. We are fussy about when we bale and that helps with palatitibility. I see stems left behind but not alfalfa stems.
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I think it has to do with area and like you say, being fussy about when it is baled. When we lived in SW Montana, a very cool
climate, it was hard to get alfalfa put up that wasn't stemmy, at least first cutting. Yet, I have seen alfalfa that was so green and leafy you could almost eat it as salad.

We put up hay for years with a little square baler and we found that the Hesston In-line balers left a lot more leaves on the
hay than the more traditional balers. Since we are putting up horse hay in small squares now, that is the baler we have gone
back to.
 
rightwinger82 said:
I am now considering a grain mix of half cracked corn half whole cotton seed. That would be around 15 protien and 15 fat. No out of wack minerals or trace elements for around the same price as cake, and no need to change mineral programs. If all a person was short was protien alfalfa would be fine. Especially if you feed twice the amount needed, cause they ain't gonna eat them stems. I am looking to push fat to keep consumption of hay up.
Click to expand...
Have you considered just feeding straight cottonseed and feeding only half as much. Should still have adequate crude protein and great energy level not to mention milk production if you have cows nursing calves. Would be a great compliment to hay and your cattle should flourish.
 
We had a friend in Texas that fed whole cottonseed. The cows loved it and did amazing on it, mixed with hay. We had never seen that done but always knew what high regard the oldtimers in the north had for it. They still tell stories about cottonseed cake and how good it was. It had lots of energy because of the cottonseed oil in it. Now, up here, if you can get cottonseed cake, the oil is pressed out and used for other things, so it isn't as good as it was. (I am referring to cottonseed cake, not whole cottonseed.)
 

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