Hay prices

[OneFineAcre]

@Eliya Sage
I don't think the responses were "tense"
I think they just suggested that there may be more going on than neglect and that you should keep that in mind in what you might say to the people

 

[Alaskan]

I feel bad for taking this thread a whole different direction... here, maybe this will put it back on track...View attachment 36731
umm, What is your favorite hay? Do you mix it with other hay?

My favorite hay is super inexpensive, mold free, dust free, and magically stacked in my barn.

I mix it up though.... by staying in reality.

 

[misfitmorgan]

........well this'll shut me up. If i'd known how tense this subject was i'd never said a word. I did come here so not to get the owner in trouble before i got advise............ guess in a way, that was advice.......

We have a lot of very nice people here who do take care of a lot of different animals that have been neglected or had their owners fall on hard times or are just really ancient and most of us have been on the other end of people being nosey whether it was calling AC or simply implying that the animals we were trying to help were being neglected. Even people implying your neglecting animals when your trying very hard and doing your best to help that exact same animal does in fact make most people very angry. I think everyone is just trying to let you now to be careful in how you address the issue. If you dont know a lot about horses they can look uncomfortable, our halflinger always looked uncomfortable....because we had grown more used to looking at goats/sheep then horses but the farrier was out so often he would only charge us $5 sometimes because all he had to do was file his hooves a bit. Older/any horses can also just be sore and standing in what looks uncomfortable but is comfortable for them. Imagine if you had spent several hundred or even thousands of dollars to help a single animal and someone came over and implied you were neglecting that animal....you would be upset.

My favorite hay is super inexpensive, mold free, dust free, and magically stacked in my barn.

I mix it up though.... by staying in reality.

That is everyones favorite kind....well ok mine is all of that but free too!

 

[RollingAcres]

What is your favorite hay? Do you mix it with other hay?

Free hay is my favorite but no free hay here. Free grass, yes but will have to buy hay.
I finally called some farms to get pricing for hay around here.
1st cutting hay (Timothy/grass mix, a little bit of alfalfa mixed in) - $4.5 - $5/bale (55 Lbs bale)
2nd cutting hay - $6/bale

I read that 2nd cutting is usually alfalfa, so should not be fed to beef cattle.

 

[greybeard]

Lots of alfalfa is fed to beef cattle. The only reason not to, is alfalfa generally has more protein than beef cattle need and some of it is wasted if not limit fed @ about 5-7 lbs per day as a supplement to grass hay. It'll really pack the lbs on steers and keep the mommas in good condition even in winter.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Thats the reason alfalfa is grown up here is for cattle. Most diary barns only feed alfalfa up here esp in winter when it is really cold out. They feed silage and stuff as well but dry hay is alfalfa.

 

[RollingAcres]

I do currently feed them some dried alfalfa once or twice a week (they graze out in the pasture). I kept reading about bloat and being new to cattle, I'm just being weary and careful about it. I know alfalfa is good for them, better than grass hay.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Just dont put a mountain out there for them and they should be ok. My grandparents and my uncle had 120 head of diary cattle and they had alfalfa round bales in feeders 24/7 but preferred their pasture a lot.

 

[RollingAcres]

Update on hay prices: Round bale (4ftx4ft) is $45 each from one of the farms near me.

 

[Alaskan]

I do currently feed them some dried alfalfa once or twice a week (they graze out in the pasture). I kept reading about bloat and being new to cattle, I'm just being weary and careful about it. I know alfalfa is good for them, better than grass hay.

Not necessarily better.... it depends.

Dairy animals are producing such a crazy amount of milk, they need super high nutrition.

However, a regular beef cow that is lactating would do great on good pasture and range only.

Cattle are actually made to work very well on lower nutrition feeds.

Except for when you want them to pack on fat, alfalfa would probably be wasted on beef cattle.