The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Cattle => Topic started by: Rosemary on December 17, 2012, 11:38:46 am
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I'm just organising bringing the cattle in for a couple of months.
How much hay rack space should I allow for each cow? They are horned, but not very big 450kg probably.
At the moment, the five of them access a 10ft sheep hay rack, but they can move round it as it's in the field.
Any tips welcome.
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Well - if you are feeding ad lib, it doesn't matter so much... Or are you restricting quantity?
(My old text book says 70-75 cm/animal for each place, but with ad lib you don't need a place for each...)
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No, it won't be ad lib or they would be the size of houses ::)
I've just found the Soil Association standards, which cover floor space but not trough space, I don't think. Printed them off so I'll see what they say.
75cm in old money is 2 1/2 feet - sounds about right.
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When planning cattle feeders, it's 18" min per beast. And yours are horned so probably a good idea to allow a little more. 2-and-a-half feet sounds fine :thumbsup:
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Hi
We put a round feed ring in the shed in the winter - the sort for a large round bale. The cattle are fed hay ad-lib & they don't get too fat - at the moment the 15 are getting through a bale every 2-3 days, though they are still taking themselves outside. They only stay in when it's too thick with snow to see any green stuff.
They don't all feed at once, there is a 'eating order', but everyone does get their fill.
Sue
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Hi
We put a round feed ring in the shed in the winter - the sort for a large round bale. The cattle are fed hay ad-lib & they don't get too fat - at the moment the 15 are getting through a bale every 2-3 days, though they are still taking themselves outside. They only stay in when it's too thick with snow to see any green stuff.
They don't all feed at once, there is a 'eating order', but everyone does get their fill.
Sue
Hmm, I don't have room for a round bale feeder in our current set up or any way to handle a round bale. Maybe next year ;D