Can you feed cows hay year round?

With well-planned forage management, cattle can harvest their own feed year-round, especially in mild climates.

Can cows eat hay year-round?

The number of days per year that your cattle will be fed hay depends on your climate and the quality of graze available. If you have ample space, quality grass and a long growing season, your cattle may need hay only during winter months, while livestock on dry lots or in colder climates may need hay year-round.

Can I feed cows just hay?

Forage. When available, unlimited pasture access is the best feeding option for cows. If lush pasture is not available, farmers feed hay. Hay is generally dried and baled grass, legume or straw according to Hobby Farms website.

How often should you feed cows hay?

Feeding a one-day supply of hay each day minimizes waste but increases labor costs. When feeding large round bales without a ring or rack, a good way to estimate how many bales to have available each day is to figure one cow per foot of outside diameter of the bale. Even then, feeding losses can be excessive.

Is hay enough for cows in the winter?

For many producers, it is not uncommon to incur four or five months of hay feeding during the winter. When fed average-quality forage, a 1,200-pound cow will consume about 2.5% of her body weight daily. That equates to 900 pounds of forage monthly, roughly equivalent to the weight of the average bale of hay.

What do Grassfed Cattle Eat During Winter?

What is the best thing to feed cattle in the winter?

Forage and/or Hay Characteristics

Forage quality is important, but you can get through the winter with decent quality roughage (i.e., hay, stockpiled introduced pasture and/or dormant native grass) if you have enough of it and your cattle (mature cows) are in the right physiological stage and condition.

How many bales of hay will a cow eat in winter?

A typical 4 x 4 round bale of dry hay will weigh about 670 pounds, so presto! One round bale a day works out well for our 18-cow herd! Let us say that we feed small square bales of dry hay, that weigh about 40 pounds each. 648/40=16.2, or 16 small square bales per day.

Do cows need hay everyday?

Cows will voluntarily consume 2.0% of body weight or 24 pounds per day. The 24 pounds is based on 100% dry matter. Grass hays will often be 7 to 10% moisture. If we assume that the hay is 92% dry matter or 8% moisture, then the cows will consume about 26 pounds per day on an “as-fed basis”.

When should I stop feeding hay?

Early forage growth is called “washy,” meaning it has high water content. 2 Livestock forced to subsist exclusively on low-nutrient washy pasture become “washy,” too, and produce copious amounts of diarrhea. The moral of the story: keep feeding hay until pastures come on sufficiently, i.e. 6” to 8” in height.

Can cows eat too much hay?

Over-eating a forage will likely not hurt the cow, but will increase feed costs. Cows over-eating grains is not a good situation. This will usually result in acidosis, founder, reduction in performance, and sometimes death of the animal.

Do cows prefer grass or hay?

The simple answer is hay. Most people are familiar the a cows diet in the summer, acres and acres of lush green grass. But what is hay? Hay is the staple forage in most cattle operations.

Can you feed cows just grass hay?

Cows do, indeed, eat grass. Their diets consist mainly of roughage from various grasses, hay, legumes, and silage. Grass pastures also provide much of the protein they require, although lactating dairy cows may need additional protein supplements. Minerals, salt, and plenty of fresh water are also essential.

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.

Can cows eat grass in winter?

To control the spread of hay and manure across the pasture, we only take a few bales out at a time and rotate where they go, just like grazing in the summer. Even in the winter, our cattle remain healthy, eating grass as they should and helping build the soil nutrients.

What do farmers do with cows in the winter?

While the cows are acclimated to the cold temperatures, below-zero wind chills will impact their stock in a negative way. If the Berndts hear a winter storm forecasted, cows are herded to the sheltered woods a short distance north of the home place. Here the cowherd is sheltered from the wind and nestled in the hills.

How often should cows be fed in winter?

Interval Feeding

Nutrient-dense feeds, such as silage, coproducts, grains and minerals, may be fed once every two days because preliminary research suggests cattle performance and rumen function are not affected negatively.

What to feed cows when there is no grass?

Alternative feedstuffs used to decrease the dependency on alfalfa or grass hay include harvested corn stalks, millet hay, wheat straw, sorghum-sudan, cottonseed hulls, soybean hulls, wheat middlings, and corn gluten feed.

How much does it cost to feed a cow for a year?

If the average producer feeds hay from 120 to 160 days, we are talking about an additional cost of from $90.00 to $240.00 per cow per year. All due to harvested feed cost.

Is it cheaper to buy hay or make it?

In most environments where forage production is based on natural rainfall, you can almost always buy hay cheaper than you can produce it.

How much hay does a 500 pound calf eat per day?

Unless indicated by the person you purchased the calf from, cattle should be adapted gradually to growing rations rather than abruptly put on high-grain diets. When the calf starts on feed, first provide high-quality grass hay for free choice consumption (3% of body weight; 15 lbs per day for a 500 lb calf).

What is the best hay for cattle?

Timothy hay is recommended by many experts due to its ease on various animal's digestive system as well as promotion of bowel regularity. Additionally, there have been scientific studies done that show Timothy hay is an ideal feed for pregnant or lactating cows.

Can cows eat wet hay?

Cattle often readily eat this hay, but because of the heat damage, its nutritional value might be quite low. Some ranchers have reported that “the cows ate the hay like there was no tomorrow, but they did very poorly on the hay”. Testing wet hay may be very important.

Do cows need more than hay in the winter?

Very similar, indeed. Except for the price. Hay is the most commonly used winter feed for beef cattle, but it's also the most expensive. Each cow requires a daily intake of 40 pounds of round-baled hay, which amounts to $1.61 if pricing hay at $80 per ton.

Do cows eat more hay in the winter?

A cow's feed intake will increase by 20 percent during cold weather. Before temperatures drop, increase the amount of feed delivered. Provide additional hay, or offer 20 percent more cattle feed in the bunk.

How do you feed cattle over the winter?

Feeding an additional 1 to 2 pounds of grain per head per day for every 10°C drop in temperature below -20°C improves energy levels in the diet to meet higher energy requirements. An additional 0.5 to 1.0 pounds of protein supplement may also be needed depending on the voluntary increase in straw consumption.