homemadelivestock feeds

[Beekissed]

My mangles didn't make this year but I'm going to try again next year. I am also going to store more winter squash next year and pumpkins, as well as apples.

I will store apples this year anyway, as they can be doled out as treats all winter long...even the rotten ones. Rotten apples are very sweet! Oh, darn it, free...I'd be feeding rotten food!

I will be feeding hay all winter and could possibly sprout grains for a more nutritious feed in a smaller package, if needed.

But...if grains were not available? One could always heat up your extra potatoes...you know the smaller ones that are hard to use up? Cooked potatoes are used in Europe for livestock feed. Converts the starch to sugars.

Back in the olden days, folks took their livestock into the woods and such to forage. Someone stayed with them all day and brought them home each night to pen them in.

Stockpiling winter forage/graze is a common practice. Where you reserve a field or more with "stockpiled" graze expressly for winter feeding.

Weed sileage would also be something to consider in desperate times.

 

[FarmerDenise]

We save a lot of the stalks from the sweet corn, popcorn, broomcorn and millet for the neighbor to feed their goats. I strip all the grain off of it first though to feed to our chickens and rabbit. I gather acorns in the fall and put them in sacks to feed to the chickens. The acorns end up with worm, but the chickens don't have a problem with that

We don't have any goats or sheep yet, so we are just practising by helping out our neighbor.

 

[Beekissed]

FD, that is a great idea! I have several oak trees along my fence line in front that I could be gleaning from....hopefully before the squirrels get them! That would be an excellent source of nutrition for my sheeple and bottle calf. I will have to go aforagin' soon..... Also may see if they like the chestnuts as well.

 

[rebecca100]

Mangels and potatoes are a good idea. Perhaps devoting an entire area of your garden to feeds. When my animals ran loose everything took care of itself except during the winter when I had to supplement. Even the pig, she would crack hickory nuts and eat the meat. I printed a copy of edible plants for rabbits and put it in my trusty folder. Now I just need one for goats. I would be careful about feeding too much of the acorns, it may cause oak poisoning. But t takes significant amounts to cause it. A few a day shouldn't have any problems. ANd they are a good source of fat, escpecially the red oak acorns( the little acorns) the big acorns are a source of carbs. But not much in the way nutrients. One puts on weight while the other gives energy. At least it is that way for deer if I have it right.

 

[rebecca100]

Here is something I found about acorns

Acorns Feed Wildlife and Livestock~By Ken Churches

Plink, another acorn bounces off of the deck. Plink and another. Soon there will be a virtual rain of acorns as they ripen and fall. With this dry year, the question came up, Do acorns provide good quality feed for wildlife and livestock? Green forage, relatively high in nutritional value dried up early this year. In some parts of he county, it looks like a good acorn production year. Might the abundant acorns provide some nutrition to livestock...


The answer turns out to be yes, but with caution. Acorns contain high levels of energy in the form of fat, but are low in digestible protein, vitamin A, phosphorus, and calcium. Except for calcium, these nutrients are also low in annual range forage during the dry season. However, acorns are undependable as forage because production varies annually. Supplemental feed, especially protein supplements, improves animal health under such conditions.

Will wildlife and livestock actually eat acorns? While acorns are highly palatable to deer and many birds, cattle find then only good to poor, sheep and goats fair to poor, and horses from poor to useless.

Although acorns, oak leaves, and oak buds can be a valuable supplement to other forage, health problems will result if livestock are forced to eat too much of these products due to the lack of other feed sources. Acorns, oak leaves, and buds have a poor balance of nutrients and high levels of tannins. Acorn calf syndrome is a possible health problem, and oak poisoning can have disastrous effects under certain conditions.

Oak poisoning in cattle is caused by consumption of unusually high levels of oak leaves, buds and acorns. Tannins, toxic to the kidneys and liver, build up in the blood. In 1986, several thousand cattle died in two Northern California counties following a severe late spring snow storm. Range feed was particularly short that spring, and the snow knocked millions of new oak buds off the trees and covered most of the ground feed that was present. Hungry cattle consumed the fresh buds, resulting in toxic levels of tannins in the blood. Similar effects have been reported in various parts of the country when oak leaves are prematurely shed after wind or hail, and forage is limiting.

Poisoning from oak buds or other products, while disastrous when it happens, occurs rarely. You can protect against it by providing supplemental feed immediately if natural forage is short and a storm results in unusual amounts of oak buds or leaves on the ground.

Most of this information comes from Guidelines for Managing California's Hardwood Rangelands available from the county Cooperative Extension Office. Guidelines for Managing California's Hardwood Rangelands helps landowners and managers of hardwood rangeland properties develop management plans that maintain the profitability of their properties while at the same time sustaining the ecological values provided by their land.

Please contact the Farm Advisors office at http://cecalaveras.ucdavis.edu or 754-6477 with your agricultural questions.

Ken R. Churches
County Director, Calaveras County
University of California Cooperative Extension
891 Mountain Ranch Road
San Andreas, CA 95249
Office: 209 754-6477
Cell: 209 304-6262
FAX: 209 754-6472