Whether due to weather or a lack of vegetation, if you have to feed your cattle prepackaged feed at any time throughout the year, you have a responsibility to make sure it's healthy enough to provide the same benefits a pasture-based diet offers. Here is what to look for when purchasing prepackaged cattle feed to ensure it's a healthy choice.
A Varied Mixture of Hay Types
It's important to make sure that the cattle feed you purchase isn't made up of just one type of hay, if possible. By feeding your cattle a varied mixture of feed, you'll help ensure that the cattle naturally gets the nutrients and minerals they need to grow strong and healthy throughout the production season. Consider a healthy cattle feed that includes two or more of the following:
Alfalfa
Bluegrass
Oat
Clover
Soybean
The more variety that's included in the feed mixture, the easier it should be to meet the nutritional needs of every cattle on your farm.
Timely Harvesting Practices
It matters when each type of hay you feed your cattle was harvested. If alfalfa or clover isn't harvested until it starts drying up and dying off, for example, it will have already lost a lot of its nutrient contents in which your cattle will never consume. So it's important to make sure that the cattle feed you invest in is made from crops that were harvested at the peak of their life when vitamins and minerals are most concentrated inside of them. Your cattle feed should have a vibrant color and smell compared to dried-out hay that tends to be brittle, light brown in color., and virtually smell-free.
Minimal Fillers and Additives
The cattle feed you choose to invest in should be healthy enough without the need for various fillers and additives. Extra synthetic vitamins, artificial colors, and flavor additives are just fillers that take up space and hide the inferiority of low-quality feed. Look for healthy feed that doesn't include a lot of fake vitamins, colors, and flavor enhancers to ensure that your cattle stay healthy and gains the proper amount of weight throughout their lifespans. If you aren't sure about an ingredient, ask your sales representative at your local agricultural feed store, such as Ruma-Lic Liquid Feed, to provide you with documentation that explains what it is, how it's made, and how it might affect your cattle.
With the help of the points outlined here, it should be easy to identify which cattle feed is healthy enough for your farm's crew to invest in.
Share16 April 2018
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