Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[Latestarter]

Hey, I've posted open invites a number of times! Won't post the address openly, but more than willing to msg it to any interested visitors. Any and all are welcome with forewarning so I can plan enough food. Just let me know when you want to visit!

 

[RollingAcres]

1/3 less cost but better feed, score!

@Rammy

 

[RollingAcres]

Also LS talked about his "sleeping style" before in the past, so sneaking around his house stalking him...well you can imagine the rest.

 

[greybeard]

Love that this feed has higher protein, lower fiber, double the fat, and just looks like a much better quality feed (from my limited knowledge of what to look for) for 1/3 less cost.

More fat is good, as it relates to energy as long as it doesn't get way up there.
You always want to watch the fat % content. Too much fat can hamper fiber digestibility in any ruminant. But, there are fats that are 'rumen inert' meaning it doesn't kill off the rumen microbes..fish meal and roasted soybean meal are 2 that come to mind.
For cattle, if I don't know 'where' the fat content on the label is coming from, I want it below 7% for sure.

I do notice tho, that the Dumor label details which grains and grain by products are used and the label on the left only says "grain by products and grain products". Rice hulls (the Dumor label) have almost zero feedng value compared to the rice bran..about 12% TDN for rice hulls compared to 70% TDN for the bran. That is TDN....NOT to be confused with raw protein or TDP. (Total Digestible Nutrients vs Total Digestible protein) Rice Hulls are almost always used as a filler because it's dirt cheap for the mill. Soybean hulls are not great either, but are much better than rice hulls.

I looked at feeding rice bran, rice hulls and/or a mix of both a few years instead of range meal during winter. Range meal is mostly cottonseed meal and soybean meal. I did not like what I found out relative to the rice product(s) and stayed with conventional range meal.

Altho the following concerns only lambs, the results for cattle on feed tests are very similar:
Feed tests show dry matter digestibility of cottonseed hulls, rice mill feed, soybean hulls, and beet pulp in lambs, to be 41%, 31%, 75%, and 84%, respectively. Weight gains for lambs were reported to be 1.6 pounds over the 14 day digestibility trial for rice hulls while soyhulls supported 11.5 pounds and beet pulp 13.7 pounds.

Results from tests like these are why it is important to exactly 'what' is in your sack of feed.
"grain products/by-products" doesn't say much.

(I'm not crazy either, about seeing 'animal fat' on the Dumor label, tho I realize it is still fairly common. Fish meal is fine, but I don't want repurposed beef tallow or restaurant grease in my cattle feed )

 

[Rammy]

Yeah, your right. Maybe a Christmas card is a better idea.

 

[Latestarter]

Perhaps I should look into getting some beet pulp as a feed additive. My girls are awful skinny. Partly from feeding babies, but all of them are now drying off. I really want to get them back into better overall shape here before the cold sets in and as they are about to get knocked up as well. The 5 adult does all just got wormed again, this time with cydectin as the ivomec didn't seem to do any good. I know/understand the cydectin can cause abortions in recently impregnated does, so needed to get that done before breeding them here in a couple of weeks. I had 3 does that were really pale and the other 2 were headed that way/maybe just past the "do them" stage. Of them all, Dot is in the best shape, CB in the worst. All the kids are looking great.

Awww cumon now RA... you don't want to be stalking me here after dark when I'd be sleeping anyway... Might be bad for your health (as well as your eyesight & stomach )

 

[RollingAcres]

Hahaha
I know you have a 9mm there and probably some other guns. I don't want to get shot. "Shoot first ask questions later"

 

[Bruce]

The dogs will warn you before you get to the house. I believe your eyes and stomach are safe.

 

[Mini Horses]

LS my goats love beet pulp. I've used senior feed with it in the feed for years for my horses and it sure helps keep the oldsters in decent weight. When a horse gets to late 20s & mid 30s their jaw teeth are basically gone and chewing hay is out. So this provides a "complete" feed and some of them never get hay. BP is a high calorie feed.

Goats are huge forage eaters but beet pulp will help with that satiety. They still need hay, for the long fiber Their systems are different from a horse. In winter my goats & horses like my servings of wet BP, using warm water. Even in coldest, they scoff it up before any can freeze! This also keeps moisture in their gut. Sometimes they drink less if water is cold & with dry hay, no green grass, that's a slow down factor in the gut AND a lot of dry matter can dehydrate them if not consuming water.

If your girls are thin, I'd sure get some flaked BP and add it to their grains. It's not cheap but works. Goes further per bag than you may think, especially since you feed individually. Gives them some extra calories when milking, too.

 

[Rammy]

The dogs will warn you before you get to the house. I believe your eyes and stomach are safe.

Our eyes are only safe until we see LS in the buff welding a 9mm.