Feed Hay Efficiently
Just For Fun December 6, 2020
Winter-feeding is one of the most costly parts of running a livestock operation. It is also necessary to get livestock through the winter. I know that everyone is being stretched this year, financially, emotionally, and mentally. As we are stretched, we have to find new ways to make do with fewer resources. Let’s talk about how to improve the efficiency of your hay, and some practices that you can use to make it go further.
Feeding hay in a hay ring is one of the largest gains in efficiency that you can have if you haven’t been using one. Research has shown that cattle will waste 45% of hay if it is fed by simply put out on the open ground. Using a hay ring can reduce waste to 20% or less. Modified cone rings are the most efficient design at 5% waste; they are usually the most expensive too. Hay rings are not cheap, but they will pay for themselves over time because they make your hay go further. Hay trailers or wagons will reduce waste, and are in the 15-20% reduction range. The advantage of using a trailer is that you can move where the hay is fed so that the manure is spread over the pasture more evenly.
Chopping hay increases your efficiency because your hay comes in shorter pieces. This makes it easier for the cattle to get the hay out, resulting in less waste. It’s estimated that shorter pieces of hay reduce waste by 5-10% because less hay ends up on the ground. Chopped hay is also easier for cattle to digest in their rumen. This is because smaller objects have a larger surface area to volume ratio than small objects. A larger ratio means that there is more space for the bacteria in the rumen to break down the hay.
You can sort feeding by groups, which means evaluating which of your animals need the highest quality hay, and which ones can take the lower quality hay. Lower-quality hay (50% total digestible nutrients and 7% crude protein) can be fed to cattle in mid-gestation. Mid quality hay (55-58% TDN and 8-9% CP) should be fed to cattle in late-gestation. Your highest quality hay (59-65% TDN and 10-13% CP) should be fed to first-calf heifers throughout gestation, growing calves, and mature cows during early lactation. Understanding cattle’s body condition scoring also helps you sort which cattle need which hay.
Hay testing is important so that you know what your total digestible nutrients and crude protein are. Ideally, you want to wait about 2 weeks after baling to test hay to let the moisture settle. For haylage or baleage, you should wait about a month before testing. A basic hay test will tell you about how digestible your hay is and how much energy is in it. Armed with this knowledge you can make decisions about which animals will get which hay. Animals have a limited amount of space in their belly, so making sure that space is filled with forage that will provide them with enough energy is important. If you would like to test your hay, let me know. I’d be happy to help.
If you have questions about increasing your hay efficiency contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Perennial Pals: Hay Testing
Just For Fun, Lifestyle July 26, 2020
(Article and photo by Jacob Williams in conjunction with Towns-Union Master Gardener Association and the UGA Extension Office)
Hay testing is an important part of any livestock management program. If you feed hay, it’s important to know the quality of the hay. Without performing a hay test, you don’t know the quality of the hay.
Feeding hay that is poor quality can lead to an impaction in the animal’s stomach. Essentially, what happens is that the hay fed to cattle has a lot of fiber in it. Lots of fiber in hay without nutrition means that the cattle can’t properly digest the forage. Cattle will eat enough forage to be full, but all that indigestible forage creates an impaction in their rumen. The effects of cattle eating low quality hay and getting an impaction can range from calving issues, to diarrhea, to weight loss, and even dying.
When cattle start to die because of poor quality hay, usually you will have at least a few cattle go down. Forage quality issues can be made worse if they are combined with supplements that stimulate forage intake, because then cattle are eating more of the low quality hay. The best treatment for low quality forage is to know ahead of time about the quality of your hay. The only way that you can do that is through hay testing.
Body Condition Scoring (BCS…not referring to college football) also shows how important hay quality is. BCS is an index that measures the health of the animal based on how fleshy or boney the animal is. The scale ranges from 1-9. A one is a severely emaciated cow. Bones in the shoulders, back, and ribs are clearly visible. A BCS of one is rarely seen in the field. A BCS of nine is a very obese animal and its mobility is impaired by excessive fat. This score is also rarely seen in the field. In cows, you ideally want a BCS of five to be maintained for calving. If BCS drops to a four then your calving interval will increase. Typically a BCS of five will give you conception rates of >85% and calving every 360-370 days. A BCS of four or lower means calving will be >380 days. Cows will require high quality forage for about 70 days to go from a BCS of 4 to 5.
UGA Extension labs can do hay testing, and we have three main tests for hay. The basic one costs $15 and will tell the moisture, fiber, crude protein, lignin, total digestible nutrients, and give you a relative forage quality (RFQ). The RFQ is an index that will give you a number to give you a reference on the quality of your hay. Dry cows do not need as high of an RFQ compared to gestating cows, or cows with a calf that they are feeding. Above the basic test is a $20 test that is the basic test + nitrates. Above that is a $40 test that is basic + nitrates + minerals.
A single hay test can cover an entire hay lot. A hay lot would be all the hay from a particular field at the same cutting. I have a hay probe in my office and I would be happy to come out and collect the hay sample for you. Once we’ve processed a hay sample, I can help you come up with a balanced ration to get you through the hay feeding months. If you think you have some good quality hay let me know, and we can submit a sample to the Southeastern Hay Contest.
If you have questions about hay testing contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
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