Apples for treats ?

[Mike Fronczak]

Anyone got a good/quick way to break them up ? Storage as well ? We have a basically unlimited supply of drops, I've given some whole but the cows have a hard time with them (chewing & breaking) & I read they can choke on them.

 

[DonnaBelle]

My goats love apples. I do cut them up into pieces and feed them to them by hand in the evening.

I don't know if you want to be bothered with cutting them up for cows, but I wouldn't give them a whole apple, I could see how they would choke.

I never give a little child a grape whole, same principal.

DonnaBelle

 

[Alice Acres]

We have 3 apple trees, and our animals always get some when it's apple time.

We never cut them, however they usually have been nibbled by chickens, or bugs or rabbits before I pick them up and give them to the animals (all are windfalls) Our sheep and pony, (and previously horses and cattle) never had any issue. In fact with the drought, that has been the main fresh food they have gotten (pasture dried up to dust in June).
During apple season, I'd gather a 5 gallon pail each day and dump it over the fence....happy day!! They all came running.

We did this when I was a kid too - our horses and sheep and goat always ate them happily when they fell from the tree in their pasture.

Of note - our llama does not like them - but will nibble apple tree leaves.:/

 

[Cricket]

Our windfall apples are small enough that I've never had a cow choke (and never been worried enough to pick them out of the field!), but Royd had a thread about one of his cows choking on apples they dumped in the fence. If you let them freeze, they'd soften up I'd think.

 

[DonnaBelle]

I just picked up a 5 gal bucket of windfall pears for my goats.

Some are small, but most I'll have to cut in half on the barn bench before I give them out.

They LOVE pears too.

DonnaBelle

 

[herdsman]

cattle love em!

 

[Back to Nature]

I've heard that a certain amount of apples gives pork a sweeter flavor. Does it affect beef as well?

 

[Mike Fronczak]

I couldn't say if it affects flavor of beef, our Highlands grow so slow & apples are only seasonal here. That's good to know about pork though, we are planning on doing pigs this year.

 

[Godsgrl]

There are apple slicers you could use. They make quick work of an apple, then you could toss the slices to the cows.

 

[Mike Fronczak]

We found that we take the 4 wheeler ussually out to grab the apples. The rack on it worked perfect to split the apples. Just push the apple on it they split pretty easy.