Most experts recommend mixing alfalfa with grass hay, rather than relying exclusively on alfalfa hay. Alfalfa hay is often recommended for dairy cattle, but may not be a good fit for beef cattle, since it can lead to bloat. Legume hay is another nutritious option for cattle, since it’s high in protein.
What type of hay is best for beef cattle?
Fine alfalfa or oat straw best is best for cattle. Avoid coarse hay for young calves, sheep, and goats. Give dairy producing cows nutrient-rich hay to aid production.
What is the best feed for Angus?
Hay -grass, legume, or grass-legume mix. You can also include pasture for grazing even though it is not sun-cured harvested forage like hay. Straw – cereal grain chaff baled like barley, oats, rye, triticale and wheat. For legume and pulse straw it includes flax, lentils and peas and also greenfeed.
What is the best hay mix for cattle?
Some of the more popular combinations are orchardgrass/alfalfa and tall fescue/alfalfa. These mixed hays are readily eaten and healthy for all types of livestock.
What is the best hay for calves?
Alfalfa
Alfalfa (green or fed as hay) is better for calves, younger cattle, or dairy and pregnant cows in late gestation. While the nutritional value of hay for beef cattle isn’t as crucial as dairy, it is still something for producers to think about, especially pre-calving and while nursing a calf.
What hay can cattle not eat?
Some molds can cause respiratory problems or abortion in pregnant cows. Avoid stemmy, coarse alfalfa. Protein and nutrition is mainly in the leaves, so stemmy hay is less nutritious and low in protein. Cattle won’t eat it well; coarse stems are hard to chew.
What hay is toxic to cows?
Alfalfa hay has been contaminated with poisonous plants and has resulted in illness and death of animals. The presence of nitrate accumulators, pyrrolizidine alkaloid-containing plants, summer pheasant’s eye, foxtail, and oleander are discussed as these weeds are most commonly associated with alfalfa hay.
Can Angus cows eat alfalfa?
Alfalfa hay may be used as a protein source for cattle being fed poor quality grass hay or grazing corn stalks. A small amount of alfalfa hay (5-1 0 lb/day) will furnish all the protein needed by these animals.
How much hay does a black Angus cow eat per day?
24 pounds per day
Cows will voluntarily consume about 2 percent of their body weight or 24 pounds per day. The 24 pounds is based on 100 percent dry matter. Grass hays often will be 7 percent to 10 percent moisture.
How many bales of hay does a cow need a day?
A 1200-pound cow, ready for processing, will require 36 pounds of forage per day based on the formula used here. Thirty-six pounds of hay is close to one small square bale of hay per day, taking into consideration some waste.
How many bales of hay should you feed a cow?
Determine the number of bales of hay that each cow needs by dividing the cow’s yearly need by the adjusted weight of each bale. For a cow needing 8,190 pounds of hay per year and a bale weight of 960 pounds, divide 8,190 by 960 for a yearly need of about 8.5 bales per cow.
Is timothy or alfalfa better for cows?
Alfalfa cut at full bloom drops to 15.5 percent crude protein, compared to 6.9 percent for late bloom timothy and 7.6 percent for late bloom orchard grass. Thus legume hay, cut early, is more apt to meet the protein and mineral needs of young growing, pregnant or lactating animals than will many of the grass hays.
What is the best grain to fatten cattle?
What is the best feed for fattening cattle? Barley is the best grain for lot feeding cattle, but wheat, triticale, sorghum, maize, and oats can be used. Oats is not an ideal grain on its own for cattle fattening but can be used with any of the other grains. Hay or silage could be used as the roughage source.
Can calves gain weight on hay?
Daily rations that contain 4 to 5 pounds of good-quality legume hay will have adequate protein levels for wintering calves. Late cut grass hays or those with much weather damage will need both protein and energy added to produce 1.5 pounds daily gain on calves.
Which hay is highest in protein?
Higher Protein Content
On average, alfalfa hay has much higher levels of protein, ranging from 15% to 21% depending on when the alfalfa was cut. This is much higher than the protein levels of grass hay, which typically contains 10% or less protein.
Will cows eat moldy hay?
Feeding moldy hay to livestock is a tough decision. Although all hay contains some mold, when mold becomes noticeable the decisions become important. Usually, mold makes hay less palatable, which can result in lower intake or in animals refusing to eat the hay.
Why can’t cattle eat alfalfa?
The biggest concern with grazing frosted alfalfa is the potential for bloat. Bloat is a serious problem in livestock, especially cattle, and preventative measures must be used when animals are placed in bloat-inducing situations, such as grazing alfalfa.
Can cows overeat hay?
Like humans, cattle can unknowingly overeat such grasses as alfalfa and clover and may end up with a serious condition impacting their digestive system — legume bloat.
What grass has the most protein for cattle?
One of the best types of grass for cattle and other livestock is Bermuda grass. Bermuda grass, which is also a favorite of homeowners trying to grow a beautiful lawn, is relatively high in grass protein. Its crude protein levels can be as high as 16 percent, and it has a total digestible nutrient content of 55 percent.
What grass should cows not eat?
Current theory is that the stuff the cows don’t like is “bromus diandrus roth” AKA “ripgut brome” which when young can look very much like a cereal (per wikipedia) and grows well under “heavy thatch and oak canopies” (per the Field Guide for Common California Rangeland and Pasture Plants). Possibly a different brome.
Why is clover not good for cows?
Sweet clover contains a high level of a chemical that can be converted to an anticoagulant. Improperly curing hay made from certain sweet clover varieties such as white and yellow sweet clover can cause severe and often fatal hemorrhages in livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats.