Post by maunomato on Oct 25, 2011 13:29:12 GMT -5
My cows took to bawling really loudly before feeding time after I added alfalfa pellets and I'm not sure what to make of it.
I happened to have some alfalfa pellets on hand that I'm no longer feeding to rabbits, so I started giving the cows a bucket full at hay adding time, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. It's the fifth day now. At the moment I'm giving two buckets a time, about sixty pounds per day. For a couple of weeks the hay I had was poorer and less leafy than I would've wanted and the cows complained a little, so I thought why not feed the pellets to compensate somewhat, even though the bales that come off the pile had already got better and there was no complaining about them. Of the four cows only the warty one who's less rounded and smaller than the rest looks to have an actual need to improve her body condition. (I'm going to separate her soon.) I haven't given them grain and the calves are the ones who do the milking.
So now, in the morning and in the afternoon as soon as the cows hear me outside they start a really loud and demanding bawling concert, very much like someone was taking a pig to slaughter. It's horrible to listen to. When I get over to them with the buckets, they get very restless and are so eager to jump into those pellets. Their rumens are a lot less full at hay adding time than before, and they've only eaten about a cup or two of kelp in these five days and barely touched their salt, whereas before they ate up to about a quart a day. Hay's been freely available and before the cows' rumens used to be barely sunken in at hay adding time. When I add new hay, the cows have always come to eat more though, and I've supposed the pickings are better when the bales are all new. This evening when I went to check their water they started the concert as well. Not as demanding as at the regular feed adding time, but still.
I happened to have some alfalfa pellets on hand that I'm no longer feeding to rabbits, so I started giving the cows a bucket full at hay adding time, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. It's the fifth day now. At the moment I'm giving two buckets a time, about sixty pounds per day. For a couple of weeks the hay I had was poorer and less leafy than I would've wanted and the cows complained a little, so I thought why not feed the pellets to compensate somewhat, even though the bales that come off the pile had already got better and there was no complaining about them. Of the four cows only the warty one who's less rounded and smaller than the rest looks to have an actual need to improve her body condition. (I'm going to separate her soon.) I haven't given them grain and the calves are the ones who do the milking.
So now, in the morning and in the afternoon as soon as the cows hear me outside they start a really loud and demanding bawling concert, very much like someone was taking a pig to slaughter. It's horrible to listen to. When I get over to them with the buckets, they get very restless and are so eager to jump into those pellets. Their rumens are a lot less full at hay adding time than before, and they've only eaten about a cup or two of kelp in these five days and barely touched their salt, whereas before they ate up to about a quart a day. Hay's been freely available and before the cows' rumens used to be barely sunken in at hay adding time. When I add new hay, the cows have always come to eat more though, and I've supposed the pickings are better when the bales are all new. This evening when I went to check their water they started the concert as well. Not as demanding as at the regular feed adding time, but still.