feeding straw

[littleacre]

i have found myself in the situation of running very short on hay now. but i am able to get some very nice clean barn stored wheat straw can i feed this untill i get my cattle out in the spring hopefully april may.?? and with the price of hay could someone give me some idea if i can use more straw for feed next winter?? picking up straw behind the combine seems easier and cheaper than hay.its making £6.00 a small bale and upto £75 for 70x90cm x 2400 here in essex.. also if feeding staw what supps should i give.?? im not skimping on feed but i have to be realistic and watch my input costs

[bjreroberts]

Gosh, those prices are frightening. The prices here have started to fall, at the most recent fodder sale small bale hay had come down from £3.80 to £3.00 and large bale haylage down to £26 http://www.taylerandfletcher.co.uk/disp ... ?id=110064

Would it be worthwhile finding a local haulage company that could do you a good price on a back haul from somewhere else?

[Mark Bowles]

Some people do feed straw with some kind of hard ration. Personally i would not. I have cows with 6 month old calves on them at the moment and to feed straw would impact on the cows condition scores and certainly impact on the calf growth rates. It may well be worth sourcing fodder from outside your area, sometimes the cost along with haulage is still cheaper than your local fodder, thats what i have had to do this year. I did buy last August which may have been cheaper than buying it now although i don't think prices have gone silly because of the mild winter.

[littleacre]

what about feeding straw and maybe sugerbeet ? or some other roots parsnips etc

[Broomcroft]

Wheat straw is about £100 a tonne max at the moment surely? That makes a small bale worth about £1.50-2.00. £6 is a special price for horsey people maybe! We're paying £20 for large sq bales (8' x 4' x 2') of wheat straw, collected by us and I'm only paying that much because the farmer will store it for me.

We use barley straw for feeding as it's supposed to be the best. Nutritionally, barley straw isn't quite as good as hay apparently, so we always feed something else to keep up the nutrition. I pour mineralised molasses on it from a watering can to get them to eat it and also they have the benefit of the molasses.

You can also put hay out and put straw on top so they have to eat both. And again a bit of molasses over the top will make them eat the lot without picking just the hay.

Could you get some cattle hard feed, rolled barley, or oats (whole or rolled/crimped). We're using pelleted soya hulls as well because although the feed value is not high, it is high in fibre so is a good replacement for quite a lot of hay or straw (sheep or cattle). But it's not that easy to get. You'd probably need to get in a tonne tote bag.

[littleacre]

yes the trouble i have living here in essex is its a very horsey area and any grass is bailed for horses and sold at premium rate. also mostly rape or wheat grown locally not much barley at all.i can get barley and oats and roll it but worried that gos against the grass fed cattle route. bit worried if i cant find a better way cheaper way to keep them then i will be forced to cut numbers right back instead of trying to expand .its already been said locally that hay will not be any different in price this year . and with the price of fuel transport isnt really an option as they want full loads and i did buy silage in like that once and to be honest it was crap buying blind isnt good. its a real dilema im sure theres many people in the same situation though

[helena]

our out wintered dry cows which are not dexters sorry we have a commercial suckler herd ( 2 old dexter cows) are fed barley straw with wheat for bedding and they always eat the wheat straw first.we also feed a molasses mix in a roll feeder from high performance feeds or fs bells have a suckler one.add lib minerals and salt licks.Let your cows condition tell you how your feeding is going.It is all about cost if your cattle are just a hobby and the wages pay for that ok but if those cattle have to pay for themselves it is a different story.Fodder beet is better than sugar beet but is not a replacement for hay try beet plup.Our cows outwinter on corn stubble and also have a small amount of fodder beet.try and decide a diet for the winter it is not good to keep changing and a lot of root crops have to be introduced carefully.have you looked at any of the company that sell I think in half ton bags the blended food made from biscuit waste etc it is very good and not bad value.we get it in large loads for store cattle and someone near by with only 2 cows comes and buys so many bags full each month maybe you could ask about.

[Louisa Gidney]

I dis something similar last winter. The cows had a morning feed of hay and an evening feed of straw and soaked sugar beet pulp. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they looked at turn out. No problems coming back into calf as 3 calves born this past week.

[littleacre]

so at least i should get to the end of winter feeding the straw . we took on another 30 acres back end of last year from a local farmer who didnt seem to bothered with it ,a gentlemans agreement and rent in cash!! we have got a few extra cows in because we were going to hay and graze his bit of land. now all of a sudden hay here is £6.00 per bale he has changed his mind and wants to hay it himself and let us graze it after hes cut it. so if im honest i prob will end up cutting right back. its been a very valuable lesson learnt and has left me very angry

[Colin]

Yes prices go sky high when you live in a horsey area. To buy grazing land around our way is between £25k to £35k per acre for anything around 4 to 10 acres.

Regards,

Colin

[Mark S]

Hobbs and Parker, Auctioneers at Asford in Kent do a fodder directory at this time of year, which they collate from farmers in the South East with surplus feed, is it worth a ring to them ?. You would need to buy a full load but could you then sell on any surplus to the local horse owners.

Mark S

Brereton Herd

[Charlotte Brown]

I am currently feeding a combination of hay and barley straw to my herd but they are very halfhearted about eating the straw. I like the sound of making it more attractive by adding mollasses, or mineralised mollasses. Where do you get it from? How much do you use? Mine also get pea and bean mix in the morning. They all look so brassed off when I appear with the straw. Thanks for any advice.

[Broomcroft]

I got my molasses from Wynnstay. I had an empty IBC container so they filled it for me with a pump from a lorry. That's 1,000 litres. Or they can deliver in a new IBC which you'll have to pay for obviously. I don't use much so it usually lasts me about 2-3 years. Wynnstay do various mixes of molasses and they do some type in smaller containers I think. The one I use is Wynnstay Gold which is mineralised for cattle (copper included, so deadly for sheep etc!). I don't know anyone else who does it except from a feed merchant and his minimum order is 20,000 litres!!!

It cost 39p per litres for a 1,000 litre delivery.

For straw, I chuck barley straw in a ring feeder and then pour molasses over it from a long-spouted watering can. Then I put more straw on top and then more molasses. This keeps them eating the straw rather than just taking the top layer and stopping. There's no rose on the watering can.

I use one full watering can per session. It's only a small one so that's about 3 litres I guess.

[Colin]

Clive,

I'm surprised you don't get sileage eye feeding straw in a ring feeder, or is it chopped first ? We got a number of cases doing that, particularly with one of my bulls who buried his head as deep as possible in the straw. We stopped feeding straw in the ring feeder and the problem went away.

Regards,

Colin

[ann]

I feed a mixture of silage and straw and we always feed wheat straw if possible and use the barley straw for bedding. If you just feed straw you will need a balancer and molasses is one of the best but you do end up with rather sticky cows