How Long Can I Keep My Cow On Grass?

[Panda Girl]

Hey, so I have a few questions. The first one being how long can a Dexter cow feed on grass in zone 6/7( St. Louis MO)? Second is, can cows self feed. Like if I just left the hay out and let them eat as much as they want would they over eat? Thank you all for your help!

 

[Baymule]

I can’t answer you on the how long/climate part, but you can free feed cows or horses on hay, all they want on a good grass hay. No experience with alfalfa, I’d think that might be limited. @farmerjan

 

[Panda Girl]

Ok, does anybody know when you should start feeding them hay, ( aka when does the grass stop providing the things that they need) in St. Louis?

 

[Panda Girl]

O, and also is there anything else that I need to feed them besides grass feed in the summer and hay in the winter? I am really new to the hole cow thing and so am open to suggestions!

 

[Panda Girl]

Can somebody give me any suggestions on what else I need to feed a cow? Thank You!

 

[Jesusfreak101]

1 1/2 acres of grass is needed per cow for self feeding but that's of good pasture. Also if the in milk they will need to be give grain expecially if you milking them. I would still provide hay in the winter expecially considering they need to eat more in order to stay warm. Some hay during the summer would be helpful depending on how much rain you get and how the pasture is doing.

 

[Alaskan]

Ok, does anybody know when you should start feeding them hay, ( aka when does the grass stop providing the things that they need) in St. Louis?

That is the joy of working with livestock.

Depends on the year.

It looks like, from googling, you only have about 3 months of winter.

I did find these two good links:

Managed Grazing Systems and Fencing for Distribution of Beef | MU Extension

Learn about the layout, design and advantages of continuous, rotational and management-intensive grazing. Paddocks, fences, and how to calculate your grass production and needs are also covered in this University of Missouri Extension guide. | Donald PfostAgricultural Engineering DepartmentJames...

extension.missouri.edu

Native Warm-Season Grasslands

mdc.mo.gov

O, and also is there anything else that I need to feed them besides grass feed in the summer and hay in the winter? I am really new to the hole cow thing and so am open to suggestions!

We always used some range cubes, for nutrition, some vitamins etc. and also to train the cattle to come when called.

They will need a salt block, and a mineral block.

What else they need to eat depends on if you mean calves, milk cows, steers.... etc.

But they might need worming, shots... etc... depending on where you are and what you are doing with them (taking them to shows... taking them to slaughter).