fussy cattle

[picassomcp]

I am raising my first batch of beef cattle, 8 steers, angus and herefords, that I got last spring about 400 lbs. They have been on pasture all summer long, this pasture is weedy, but about 14 acres, they ate around the weeds just fine all summer long. I spent the summer making hay to feed them this winter. The hay I made is a mix of grasses such as fescue, some canary, other grasses (I don't know my grasses very well) and a mix of clover. Only a small bit received rain, and not much rain even, most was made with no rain and dried well. When the time came to shut down the pasture, I fed a bale of hay. The darn cattle are being picky with it. One bale will go in the feeder, they will eat on it most of day and in 4-5 days that bale is nearly gone. I'll throw in another bale, they'll sniff at it and walk away. Won't pay any attention to it. This current bale has been in there since last Thursday. All the twine is still on, only a few mouthfuls from the end are gone. The last "bad" bale I set about 40 feet from the feeder right on the ground. They will rub on it and lay next to it, but won't eat it. My neighbor makes similiar hay or worse, only cuts once a year when the grass/hay is very old, his beef cattle eat it right up.

I also feed my cattle some ground cob corn with a lil bit of dried molasses in it along with a 38% protein pellet, not a heck of a lot, about 8-9 lbs per head per day.

I'm concerned that they are not gonna gain any weight by not eating the hay. I want them to grow so I can get some beef in the freezer and to justify the cost of the corn that I am giving them.

I'm certain there is some weeds in the hay, but certainly not the whole bale, any weeds in the hay could easily be picked out. Am I feeding too much grain for them to have an appetite for dry hay? they are about 650-750 lbs now, I can't imagine that the little bit of corn that they are getting is enough to get by on. They have a good supply of clean water and salt and mineral block access all the time?

Any ideas on what I can do to get them to eat some hay??

 

[willie in mn]

Try cutting the string off.

 

[thurlow]

Try another bale; there may be something in that one that they can't stomach..............

 

[LAA]

I don't know why they are not eating your hay, if they are still on pasture they may be getting more roughage than you realize from the dry grass and ground cobs in the ratiopn or thay may not like the hay very much. As far as wanting to push growth for yearling cattle, grass hay, especially low quality grass hay is not going to give you the result you are looking for. The ration you described, 8-9 pounds per day of ground ear corn, pellets, molsasses, plus free choice grass hay is basically a maintenance or wintering ration for cattle that weigh what yours do. You have Angus and Hereford steers, If you want growth and eventual fattening at the traditional slaughter weight for those type steers, approximately 1100 pounds, then they need a high energy ration running around 14%-16% protein. Your ear corn is good, if good Alfalfa hay is available in your area at a reasonable price it is usually the most economical protein to grind with ear corn, the molasses is approximately equivalent to corn in energy value and a reasonable buy if it is comparetively priced with corn in your area, if not it will not be needed in a palatable corn based ration, I don't know what type of pellets your using, you would have to figure the cost per ton against Alfalfa or whatever you wind up using for your protein supplement. What you are feeding now will carry them in good shape until spring and fresh pasture if that is your goal but it will not fatten them for slaughter.

 

[picassomcp]

I have tried 5 bales total now, 2 they ate, 3 they didn't. This was the first bale that I didn't take the strings off of. I sure hope this doesn't go on all winter. I appreciate all your ideas, keep em coming, I really like having the cattle around

 

[bg/mo]

always feed the worst hay first, once they get a good bale they get fussy bout hay , you can try putting some dry molasses on it that will help too, or when they get hungry enough they will eat it.

 

[Bob Huntress]

Are the cows getting any grass from the ground? It's been years since I worked with cow, and they were dairy not beef. As I recall, cows were fussy, but if we wait them out, they eventually eat what is served, sort of like children. Thurlow makes a point about them not being able to stomach something in the hay, though I would think they would pick what they want out of the hay bale. That's what goats do, when we serve mixed grass hay.

 

[buickanddeere]

You didn't cut the twine off?
Are their guts full of waded up twine from the last bale?

 

[Anonymous-0]

You could spread it out over the field and let them choose.
Had a cow once dragging twine from its mouth, grabbed it and another 3 metres came from its stomach,
Twine is something that doesn"t bog but clog.

 

[armand tatro]

DO NOT LEAVE THE TWINE ON THE BALES! Get rid of the twine before setting out the bales! Armand

 

[tomturkey]

I don't know where you live, but, when the snow hits the ground they seem to lose some of that fussiness. jmo, not worth anything gobble

 

[JD Seller]

The ration you are talking about is way too high in protein for larger steers. I always adjust my ration's protein down as they get larger. As they get larger they need the energy/starch more than protein.

200-300 lbs.----14-16% protein
300-500 lbs.----12-14% protein
500-1300 lbs.----12% protein

 

[LAA]

There is a major difference between high energy rations, which I recommended, and high starch diets for 7 weight cattle, especially for the english breeds of cattle, maybe holstien steers need a high starch diet at that weight but an Angus or hereford certainly does not and energy can be supplied much cheaper with good alfalfa hay and ear corn or DDG. I grind and blend my own rations, I don't buy processed feed, I'm talking as ground and fed on the farm, a ration consisting of 50/50 corn and alfalfa hay with maybe a little additional supplement if hay is lower quality will be around 15% calculated and will deliver approximately 12% digestible protein. Crude protein as stated in a commercial feed will reflect the percentage of non protein nitrogen, or rumen by-pass protein in the calculation and will be a more accurate number. The bottom line is this, if he wants these cattle to grow he needs to develop a ration with what he has or what he can get at a good price and feed them more of it.

 

[Bret4207]

(quoted from post at 19:50:28 11/28/12) You didn't cut the twine off?
Are their guts full of waded up twine from the last bale?

I don;t know where this practice of leaving twine on bales comes from, but it's a real poor way of doing things. Get the twine off, unroll the bale if you have to.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

Just like kids they'll eat when they get hungry

 

[Anonymous-0]

How many months old are these steers? If you got them in the Spring and they now weigh only 650-750 then somethings wrong already. I ween my steers at as close to 205 days as I can. Last year my steers averaged over 600 right off the cows. Sounds like you have got stunted calves that have been on poor grazing. You will be in an uphill battle now to make any thing out of them. Need more information about dates you bought them, weight, etc. tom

 

[JRSutton]

I've seen cows eat some pretty nasty hay, and I've seen a few individuals get picky, but thre are always some that don't care what it is.

Where they're all not eating it, I'd guess somethings up with your feeding process, not your hay.

I've always broken the bales up first. Can't say I've ever tried just giving them a full bale, so I don't know what they'd do.

But more importantly I'd look closer at what else you're feeding them.

I'm no expert, but 8/9 pounds of corn sounds really high to me.

How much of the protein pellet do you use?

Also, "corn" is different things to different people. Hard to know reliably what you've got in it. How fine you grind it can matter.

I only dabble in beef cows, so I know enough not to try making suggestions on feed - that's a whole science in itself where I do more guessing than knowing.

If you've got a good vet that deals with livestock, it should be cheap enough to have them come out for a quick visit and give you some pointers.

 

[Anonymous-0]

go to farm store and get 50 lbs sak of salt ,, sprinkle salt on the hay ,, it will be like potato chips , peanuts , popcorn to us

 

[Lazy WP]

With corn, molasses, and hay, they are getting everything they need. Critters are kinda funny, in the fact that you just never know what or when they will like their feed. I have seen hay that I couldn't get cattle to eat. I moved it out of the feeder, and put a "better" bale in. Set the "bad" one beside the feeder, and the critters went after the "bad" one.

Don't worry about the twine!! I pull mine when I put the bale out, because its easier to pickup, but in 30 years of feeding twine, or net wrapped bales, I have only seen 1 that died from ingesting twine.

 

[Bill in IL]

They will eat and get used to it when the get hungry enough but will be loosing weight in the process. I would try dumping your ground corn on top of the bale. I do that when I have one they don't like. I have noticed my calves seem fussier than the cows.

Never once cut strings off a bale. I am curious now to give it a try. My bales are not very dense either so maybe thats the difference.

 

[thurlow]

Remove strings from a bale of hay? Some of these guys crack me up; I fed about 100 bales (5 x 6, typically 1500#) per week for more years than I can remember and NEVER removed strings. Fed every other day using 2 tractors w/front end loader bale forks and homemade 3-point bale forks. (tractors were on different farms and kept in barns where I had electricity and could keep 'em 'plugged in') Had cattle guards at most places, so I seldom had to get off the tractor(s). I'll admit that when I'se a kid and my dad had a few cows and fed small squares, we removed the strings. The cows were named back then, about 12 head......Pet, Heart, Judy, Beauty, etc.

Remove strings from a large round bale........some of these guys crack me up.

 

[Dean Olson]

I was in for a good scolding if Dad ever found ANY twine in the feed lot.

We also made darn sure there was nothing in the pasture those stupid cows could eat that would cause problems. Nails, bottle tops, can tabs, shot gun shells casings, blown in trash,plastic bags etc.

I have seen cows eat most anything, worse that goats.

Apparently that debris goes in and never comes out.

I believe I'd go check the lot and see how much twine is stomped into the ground and how much they ate.

 

[rusty6]

(quoted from post at 07:22:50 11/29/12) Remove strings from a bale of hay? Some of these guys crack me up;.

And try removing every twine when they are all frozen solid onto the bale under snow and ice. Near impossible, especially when your hands are freezing at -20F. I have tried it a few times and eventually given up. The cattle eat around the twine and I pick it up next time I am feeding. I find they waste less hay when it is held together by the twine. I'm takling round bale feeders here.

 

[jackinok]

like the others say,dont leave the strings on for sure. cattle are sort of like kids,they have thier own particulars in what they like to eat. cut the strings of and tear they bale up a little ,they will eat it if they are hungry. but most cattle wont eat dry hay if theres any thing else that they like better around. dont know where you are,but if you kept 8 head of steers on 14 acres all summer, youve got really good pasture!!! my guess would be they are still eating fall and winter grass. find out for sure what type of weeds you have, theres some that cattle will naturaly not eat unless forced too. broomweed for instance, cattle will eat everything around it to bare dirt before they will graze an area with broomweed .even if grass is 3 ft tall there. reason is it irritates their eyes ( leading cause of seasonal pinkeye in cattle ). lots of weeds that effect them in various ways like this,and if its in your hay they wont eat it nearly as well from bale to bale because it came from another area in hay meadow. if your using prarie type hay,which it sounds like you are,simply the time of year one was baled will make a difference in how they eat one.one will have more of a certain grass the like better than the other etc etc. if your steers arent losing weight i wouldnt worry too much about it. idealy you would want them to gain continually every day,but it takes them a while to simply go from green to dry feed,their gut has to adjust. in a pasture this change comes slower so it has time normally,but when you put them up they just dont deal well with sudden change from one to another. thats why if one gets out in a pea patch or something,from a dry grass pasture, they will often bloat and even die in a matter of just a few minutes.if they were mine,i would definitly get the strings off that bale,then simply tear it open a little. and watch them to see if they start losing weight.

 

[jackinok]

ever had a cow die and you didnt know why? check where she laid if you didnt have her hauled off and youll often find a wad of string. dont know about you ,but every $1000+ cow that i save by taking 5 minutes pulling some strings is a wise investment of time and labor for me. anyone i have feeding cattle ,and i walk up and find the strings on a bale, doesnt have a job as soon as i catch up to him. i dont care if it takes a day to get them off. thats what they are paid to do. ive had ice two inches thick on them and never found one i couldnt get off somehow.fork on a tractor will take them off slicker than snot, and break the ice so cattle can eat. if theres two much ice you cant break it with with your tractor loader ,cattle cant eat it anyway,and your wasting time feeding hay!

 

[donjr]

An old black gentleman down the road from me used to buy and bale some of the ugliest hay around. He even bought some from me for $15 a ton that we had managed to get rained on about four or five times, and we were chopping it up and blowing it back into the grass that had come up through it. I asked him why. He said it was cheap, and his cows would eat it faster than snowballs....

 

[Bret4207]

(quoted from post at 09:21:50 11/29/12) ever had a cow die and you didnt know why? check where she laid if you didnt have her hauled off and youll often find a wad of string. dont know about you ,but every $1000+ cow that i save by taking 5 minutes pulling some strings is a wise investment of time and labor for me. anyone i have feeding cattle ,and i walk up and find the strings on a bale, doesnt have a job as soon as i catch up to him. i dont care if it takes a day to get them off. thats what they are paid to do. ive had ice two inches thick on them and never found one i couldnt get off somehow.fork on a tractor will take them off slicker than snot, and break the ice so cattle can eat. if theres two much ice you cant break it with with your tractor loader ,cattle cant eat it anyway,and your wasting time feeding hay!

Well said. Leaving twine on a bale is an invitation to dead and injured cattle, horses, sheep, whatever. I feed rounds and squares in weather down to -40F or lower and I've always removed all the twine I could. If it frozen in them cut it close to the ice and go back int the spring and get it.

There are enough other things for cows to kill themselves on without adding balls of twine in their gut to the mix.

 

[Jerry/MT]

If you have a lot of mature reed canary grass in that hay, it"s not going to be palatable to the cattle because of the alkaloids in the mature grass. Reed canary is only good for grazing or hay when it"s not mature. Ditto what everybody says about the strings-pull them off.

 

[thurlow]

To each his own; I've no argument with anyone who wants to cut/pull strings. I was in the cattle BUSINESS. Anyone who says they've never lost a cow, is, of course, lying........unless perhaps they were running a hobby. Can't remember ever losing a cow to unknown causes, but won't say that it didn't happen. I fed 30-35 big round bales at-a-time, typically split amongst 6 different locations around the Southern half of my county. Don't know how long it would've taken to remove the strings from that many bales each time and don't care. I sold 'em all about 5 or 6 years ago and retired......after being in the business for 47 years. The ONLY problem I had with strings was the year I got 'smart' and used plastic twine; never again!! If I were doing it again, I might change the layout of some cross fences, build one of the corrals a little differently, NOT buy a Charolais bull, buy more Beefmaster bulls, etc. I WOULDN'T waste time pulling strings off of bales of hay.

 

[jackinok]

worst i ever fed in was when i was just a big kid,northen blew in and we fed 10,000+ square bales +cut the fences we had around our loose hay stacks and they ate several tons of loose hay. I dont know how cold it really was,but we ran all the calves we could into barns to keep them from freezing ears and things off.and the women even had some real young ones in the house warming them up. luckily most of the cattle were near home,so we could bring them up by getting the old d2 running and breaking trail.wound up losing 56 head of cattle that had drifted off in front of the wind and had got back up in a draw and froze. and one horse that my dad was riding hunting cattle when it fell through the ice that had formed over a ditch. fell through and broke a leg,and dad shot it.he very nearly froze before he got home hisself. i dont even know how many cattle we fed that werent ours that were just drifting ,but we had some from places six miles away. after shooting all our cattle in the dust bowl days, and that winter ,dad and grandad never got so many again.it was just too much.you all can have all that cold weather,these days if it gets below 65 im hunting cover!LOL sold the last 100 cows this summer. first time since 35 weve not had any, but its time.

 

[rusty6]

Don't get me wrong, in a perfect world I would remove every piece of twine from the round bales when I put them out but when surrounded by big cows and a 1500 pound bull trying to push me out of the way while i chop and pull at twine frozen on every round of the bale I get a little complacent.
Never had a problem with twine ingestion yet and I will remove what I can when I can. But I don't lose any sleep about leaving frozen twine on the bales either.

 

[jackinok]

first ive even thought of anyone salting hay in thirty years!LOL,brother in laws dad would salt every bale he put in the barn. we would put down a layer of hay,salt it and put out another layer.he swore by it,but he mostly ran dairy cattle. dont remember anyone running beef cattle do it,at least around here.

 

[sotxbill]

Had the same problem with my dogs... They refused to eat.. Heck, I had 8 cans of dogfood laying in the yard and they still aint opened one of em yet.

 

[buickanddeere]

We took the twine off before entering the cattle yard.

 

[buickanddeere]

Yours must one of those messy places with bale strings wrapped around the manure spreader beaters. With wads of strings trailing on the cultivator shanks. And cattle walking around dragging strings.
I'm still picking up strings left from over 20 years ago when the previous owners fed horses without removing strings.

 

[thurlow]

Never owned....or saw in operation.......a manure spreader; these were 'range' cattle running on 900 acres (in eight different locations); mature cows were put thru the chute twice a year; late Winter/early Spring and late Fall/early Winter. In calving season, they were seen daily; the rest of the time, once or twice per week. They weren't barn-kept pets. Only time I ever put a cultivator in a pasture was to renovate it.....usually about every 20 years or so. Sisal twine's life around 'here' is less than a year. I fed in essentially the same place in each pasture year after year; every year or two, I'd take a dozer or tractor w/front end blade and scatter the manure piles/hay residue where I'd fed. There was NEVER any twine left. I've no problem with anyone who wants to remove the twine from their bales, but I've never seen it done around 'here'.........less'n it was a hobby farmer who owned 10 or 12 cows.

 

[Bill in Okla.]

It seems the strings never do completely decay. I tilled up an old feeding spot and the tines loaded up quick with string. The string is also good for sawing off ear tags. After I starting trying to get all the string picked up the ear tags last about 3 years now.

 

[Dalet]

I only cut and pull the strings I can get off easily on the sisal twine. Cattle can eat sisal it is made from plants. The plastic twine, on those bales we try to remove it all, but don't always get everything.

Some people like to make themselves out to something they aren't with their OCD actions about any subject. If the wind is blowing, the cattle are hungry and the twine won't all come off, I don't give a shyt.

 

[55deere70]

Our herefords aren't fussy, they'll eat any kind of hay we feed them. I would not leave twine on a bale, it'll kill a cow.

 

[buickanddeere]

Just kind of guy we want building a nuclear reactor, medical
equipment or aircraft. Yup, close enough, good enough will do.
How about having your dentist saying I don"t give a shyt?

 

[gbs]

use to work at a dairy when i was a boy ,man i worked for feed wheat and oats for his hay,he ran short and bought a load of coastal bermuda,first time i feed it he ask if they were eating it ,i told him yes they were nibbling on it after they had picked over the blacken wheat straw i had put out for litter in the barn,he was concerned about it so when i went home for dinner i mentioned it to daddy, he said not to worry if it was decent hay ,they just weren't use to that type of hay, turned out he was right,man i use to buy hay from was using a liquid supplement to correct the problem with cows not wanting to eat over mature cut hay, he said it would make them eat barbed wire in order to get something in there guts,i tried it the year half our hay was corn stalks due to drought,they survived but i'm not to impressed with it,doesn't take the place of good quality hay, noticed that when hay was of high quality a bag of minerals lasted over a month when hay wasn't as good they would eat a bag in a little over 2 weeks

 

[Bret4207]

I don't think any one is OCD or making themselves out to be anything they aren't. I've lost cattle to twine balls in the gut. I even lost one to a wad of walmart bags that blew out of someones burn barrel. I've lost seals and bearing to twine and I've had it wrap on a bush hog spindle and melt into a plastic mass. It's an easily avoidable issue. We have winter here for 4-5 months or more and yeah, it's a pain trying to get it off but it's worth it to me.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I'd never think of leaving the twine on a bale that I'm feeding out, just too many negatives to outweigh the 5 minute time savings.