Kingdom of Callaway - Fulton, Mo 65251 | We unroll hay with a three point bale unroller just enough hay for them to eat every day. When it is wet and snowy and you turn around to head to the house and you see all those little calves laying down on the dry hay, it makes me think it is worth it to unroll another one just to keep them warmer and dry (at least when hay was $20.00 a bale). We tried bale rings and all they did was waste hay and make mud holes around them. Since we started unrolling, the manure spreader stays in the barn, the cows spread their own.
We always have a pasture we feed in when it is muddy that you might as well not plan on raising much grass the following year after 120 momma cows have tromped it up. We put it into crops for a couple of years and then back into pasture. I dry lot my calves when I wean them and also my replacement heifers so I can keep them up close and feed them a better diet, but I believe that cows do best when they eat and calve out in the fields. |
Cow/Calf herd feeding
