Time,feeding hay instead of straw

[it's not over]

Are there any benefits in feeding 1/2 kg of hay in a tmr as opposed to barley straw. Is there any difference in grass fibre and straw fibre, I have hay,good hay, wheat straw needs to finely chopped as cows don't really like it,barley straw is hard to come by

 

[More to life]

First question would be why are you feeding straw?

 

[pappuller]

First question would be why are you feeding straw?

[emoji44]

 

[Mr Mackay]

First question would be why are you feeding straw?

On solids / cheese contract ? We buffer through the summer ,and always add a bit of straw to the tmr . We are always near the top 3 or 4 of the 30 odd farms in the Cheese group
Last test 4.60 fat and 3 .58 protein , some Swiss but mainly Holstein

 

[frederick]

I prefer feeding a bit of hay in the wagon rather than straw. All sorting issues disappear.

 

[it's not over]

I prefer feeding a bit of hay in the wagon rather than straw. All sorting issues disappear.

Barley straw isn't really a problem even if it's not well chopped but wheat straw suffers from sorting, my vet likes fibre and so does the meal rep nutritionist. I think cubicles are cleaner if they have a bit extra fibre. How much hay you feeding/cow. I'm talking about a winter tmr rather than summer buffer fed cows
(Heading should read tmr not time)

 

[buffalo_soldier]

Hay has about 2/3 the level of NDF compared to straw.
Higher palatability though and some, not much, but some nutritional value. Which would tie in with less sorting.

I agree that a meal rep would like straw use in a ration.

 

[frederick]

Barley straw isn't really a problem even if it's not well chopped but wheat straw suffers from sorting, my vet likes fibre and so does the meal rep nutritionist. I think cubicles are cleaner if they have a bit extra fibre. How much hay you feeding/cow. I'm talking about a winter tmr rather than summer buffer fed cows
(Heading should read tmr not time)

Winter tmr upto 1kg depends on how much hay I have to last the winter.

 

[pappuller]

Barley straw isn't really a problem even if it's not well chopped but wheat straw suffers from sorting, my vet likes fibre and so does the meal rep nutritionist. I think cubicles are cleaner if they have a bit extra fibre. How much hay you feeding/cow. I'm talking about a winter tmr rather than summer buffer fed cows
(Heading should read tmr not time)

Surely if your ration is balanced correctly and the meal man is working for you, there should be little or no requirement for additional forage fibre over and above the main forages grown on farm ?

 

[Blue.]

I swapped onto 1.5kg/head haylage (virtually wrapped hay) a few weeks back from chopped straw in the milkers diet,main thing I noticed is bf has dropped .25.

 

[Beef farmer]

I swapped onto 1.5kg/head haylage (virtually wrapped hay) a few weeks back from chopped straw in the milkers diet,main thing I noticed is bf has dropped .25.

That will be the lower ph of any dried grass compared to straw

 

[it's not over]

Surely if your ration is balanced correctly and the meal man is working for you, there should be little or no requirement for additional forage fibre over and above the main forages grown on farm ?

I have only grass silage,no maize or whole crop, as for balanced ration I leave that to the nutritionist, could do with higher p and bf

 

[betweenthelines]

Never seen the logic in trying to make quality silage only to bulk it out with low quality roughage when feeding it. You wouldn't but dairy cake and bulk it up with bran, would you?

 

[frederick]

Never seen the logic in trying to make quality silage only to bulk it out with low quality roughage when feeding it. You wouldn't but dairy cake and bulk it up with bran, would you?

Lots of dairy cake has palm kernel in it.
Rumen needs a mat on top to work best.
All I know is I can get 14.5 to 15 kg forage dm into a cow (maize and grass). I can add hay in without reducing the rest. Solids improve and it also improves dung consistency.

Certainly adding not removing from my ration.

 

[Mr Mackay]

Loads of HDF cakes in the summer over the last few yrs . I know some use beet pulp but Nutritionally Improved straw is also used, and other fibre add ons
Its horses for courses , if you are whitewater ,whats the incentive to raise solids (apart from healthier cows )

 

[Homesy]

Never seen the logic in trying to make quality silage only to bulk it out with low quality roughage when feeding it. You wouldn't but dairy cake and bulk it up with bran, would you?

Could not agree more. Adding 1kg of straw effectively takes 0.3-5 ME off the rest of the forage. Cutting your silage a bit more mature will achieve the same thing for less money. Most contractors charge by the acre so a 7 ton cut will cost no more than a 6 ton to grow and harvest.
I said to my vet in the winter
"Sounds daft, but my silage is too good this year, Seems to be going straight through them"
" Not daft at all. I'm seeing it all time" he replied.
I don't have feeder wagon so can't add straw.

 

[frederick]

Could not agree more. Adding 1kg of straw effectively takes 0.3-5 ME off the rest of the forage. Cutting your silage a bit more mature will achieve the same thing for less money. Most contractors charge by the acre so a 7 ton cut will cost no more than a 6 ton to grow and harvest.
I said to my vet in the winter
"Sounds daft, but my silage is too good this year, Seems to be going straight through them"
" Not daft at all. I'm seeing it all time" he replied.
I don't have feeder wagon so can't add straw.

If you add 1 kg straw to rocket fuel silage you will feed more me than filling them up on poorer grass silage.
Lower ndf will allow increased dm intakes.
So a cow will eat 14 kg of low ndf high me grass and still have room for 1 kg straw.
The cow on poorer silage will only be able to eat 14 kg grass silage.
So ration with straw is 14*12 +8 176me.
Ration without straw is 14*11.5 only 161 me.
So feeding straw and great silage is worth another 15me a day.