What cows eat... and eat and eat

[Guest guest]

I pasture my cows and they eat ... well, grass. That

means fescue, bermudagrass, some bahia, crabgrass,

some ryegrass. It also means clover, forbs, some

weeds, tree leaves, and hay. I feed post grain harvest

corn stalks, bermuda hay, fescue hay, precut rye and

about anything I can buy and they will eat. One summer

I was trying to clear land and raise some steers so

every day I cut trees. They would strip the leaves

over night. While they did not set records, they did

grow ok. I do feed 2-3 pounds of grain in the cooler

months, depending on grass availablity and hay

quaility.

If you have 5 acres, and manage fair, you can grow

everything you need for a cow and her off spring on

that amount of land and have manure for a big garden

for yourself. I would buy hay in, rather than harvest

and store. That way you are bringing in nutrients and

should never have to buy fertilizer.

Bill Dunlap

--- merginmunger wrote:

> When inquiring about what the cows eat, I haven't

> found a farmer yet

> who pastures his cows. Generally they are fed hay,

> corn sileage and

> grain. Is that milk still worth drinking? I'm new

> here and don't know

> very much yet, so please bear with me! Should I

> also be asking other

> questions about how the cows are treated? I do

> usually ask about the

> antibiotic use. What else do I need to be aware of?

>

> My husband and I have discussed the possibility of

> having our own cow.

> We live on 5 acres, so we could pasture a cow. But

> that seems very

> daunting and time consuming, especially when we

> don't really know the

> first thing about milking a cow. Any thoughts?

>

> What would the ideal small dairy farm look like?

> How many cows, how

> large a pasture, etc.

>

> Thanks so much.

> Dona

>

>

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