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Coastal South Carolina | Good evening,
I have some cows grazing some corn stalks. I am supplement bucket feeding ground cob corn and I have bahia hay free choice. In walking the field today I noticed the cow pies seem to be flat, almost like you took cookie doe and through it on a cookie sheet. I think this means they are on a near perfect diet but not sure.
Seems like if it is runny it needs more fiber.
If it is piling high like a cake needs more protein.
If flat just right.
Is this correct?
Thanks in advance
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East of Broken Bow | I have been told similar, that the runniness of the cow pies tells you if you need to add more protein or not, the higher it piles, the more likely you should feed more protein. |
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North Mo. | Seems like if it is runny it needs more fiber.
If it is piling high like a cake needs more protein.
If flat just right. yea close sheet cake needs more fiber, pie like with a slight depression in the middle right, cake pile needs more energy/protein less fiber. Whats interesting can find all 3 forms close together in a pasture so guess it is a more which is more in a field not individuals cows poop. |
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Eastern NE KS | Some examples for discussion.
Grass diet (both hay and banked grazing) with corn gluten feed supplement.
Edited by Doug61 1/6/2024 07:57
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| I never get too excited over how manure looks this time of year if it is stiff, first it is just a dry cow ( Iknow still matters she is growing a calf etc.) my cows must walk for water, some simply do not drink as much and hay bales vary according to quality as long as they maintain a respectable state of body condition nothing to worry about. Other times of the year they get loose because of green grass, too much salt etc. I think is almost more concerning as too much feed value is going out the backdoor they do not have time to utilize before it passes thru. Other thing this time of year if it is stiffer and they lay in or crap next to the feeder less feed is spoiled and they stay cleaner. |
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MB, Canada | I'd be aiming for #1 but wouldn't want it any looser. #3 looks fine. #2 is probably lacking protein but I've also seen it like that when protein is more than sufficient but NDF gets pushed to the limit. |
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Coastal South Carolina | Good morning,
Thanks for all the response. Most of what I am seeing after a couple of days on this field is more like picture 3 Doug posted. I am trying to make sure I give them what they need while on these corn stalks, but also build up a poor corner of the field (separate topic I will post more on later).
Once again Thanks for the information.
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Princeton, Indiana | Install it on your phone. It’s called CowPoopAnalyzer. Take a pic with your phone and it will give you all of the crappy details.
Edited by tumbleweed 1/6/2024 23:37
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| Really!!! it is not rocket science to look at the average pile of poop and "read" it, and there is always outliers for that matter. |
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North Mo. | maybe phone sends a msg when detects a poop pile. tee hee |
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| for those of us who do not know poop
Edited by WCWI 1/8/2024 01:24
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Reading cow pies
