Downtown Shell Knob MO Come Visit! | We usually treat with 2-3 percent of the total weight of the bales. We usually guess on the weight based on representative sample and don't figure DM. Its a real crude measurement.
We will get proteins levels in the 18-20 percent if your starting with feedstuffs under 10, usually around 7. Of course part of that is false protein, or Non protein nitrogen, but other studies have tryed proving that it actually reforms some short chain amino acids while breaking down lignin. After all lignins very first building blocks are amino acids and glucose.
Lignin also cotains a lot of energy,(just burn it compared to corn and see how much heat it produces) it just can't be utilized or broken down into volatile fatty acids like hemicellulose. And of course the palitbility. Cows won't know what it is or like it much at first, but then can't say no, kinda like beer to a teenage boy.
Just as a side note Luke, We have had great luck treating junky/mature grass, and the thing that we never treated in the past but has amazed me the last couple years is wheat straw. If the combine didn't have a spreader on the sieves and the wheat straw contains the chaff and straw, Our cows will eat it like candy, and clean the ground, they also will eat most of it even if it isn't treated. We have also had very good luck treating corn stover that was baled directly behind the combine. But the thing our cows WILL NOT EAT are intact cornstalks that were cut and baled after the combine and then treated. They will pick through and eat the stover and leave the corn stalks, even if they are chopped up a little bit. But I remember you saying you were baling directly behind the combine, so that should be some really good feed in my eyes.
Im not going to say treating hay is a miracle cure. A lot of guys around here that used to treat hay don't anymore. But most of them have taken the, Line the net wrapped hay in the field edge and feed with a bale bed approach. They all claimed that it was too much work to treat hay. But there cow condition has suffered! |
Liquid feed VS WDG / Ground hay TMR. ??
