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Post by marion on Jun 6, 2008 10:46:25 GMT -5
Namerepus posted in the fall, and this old thread was "refreshed" by a new poster. Superman isn't a troll - he used to post on dakodan about his dexters. He did mention it took him two years to find a large animal vet. That seems to be much more of a problem in the US than here in Canada, at least where most of us live; don't know how it is further north..marion
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Honeycreek Dexters
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All Natural Drug Free Grass Fed Beef, From Our Herd Sire Phoenix
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Post by Honeycreek Dexters on Jun 11, 2008 15:50:55 GMT -5
wstevenl the other posts are in the archive of his post. hope he got the problem fixed and cows are doing o.k.
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Post by wileycoyote1 on Jun 18, 2008 0:39:41 GMT -5
I've been told that Dexters are foragers, will eat and thrive on almost anything. Please understand that I have moved to an area that is highly populated with free-range cattle - from an area where cattle grasses and feed were practically unknown or had to be purposefully sown and harvested.
On my new property in the midwest, natural grasses grow - with the recent rains, they are deep and lush. The cattle on the ranches around me are thriving on the grass.
What I need to know - and please pardon me for being so ignorant - is that I have had to mow several long-untouched garden areas with this same lush grass. Can I put these grasses up in the pole barns as hay for later? I am not even sure what sort of grasses they are, but the local animals seem to thrive on them. Does all good grass make good hay? I'd hate to waste these cuttings - but I'd also hate to waste time keeping something that would be useless or even harmful. What causes parasites, especially gut parasites, in cattle? Contact with infected animals, are they in the soil, or do they breed in the manure and then get taken back up ? Would free-range grazing cut down on parasites?
Also, ya'll talk about salt and mineral blocks - what about the loose minerals? Are they the same, better or worse?
And I feel really stupid asking this stuff anyway, but I need to know.
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Post by wileycoyote1 on Jun 19, 2008 7:16:44 GMT -5
Thank you, genebo!!!
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Honeycreek Dexters
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All Natural Drug Free Grass Fed Beef, From Our Herd Sire Phoenix
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Post by Honeycreek Dexters on Jun 20, 2008 18:04:56 GMT -5
different grasses mature at dif. times and each has a time when it has most food value, most time that is just before the seed forms it is called the milk stage. be careful of some scrub trees like wild cherry the leaves can cause sickness or death when ingested. cut all wild cherry ad place where cattle cant get to it. as always consult your local county extn. officer. they can answer a lot of specific questions about your local area. HCD
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Post by wileycoyote1 on Jun 22, 2008 9:41:09 GMT -5
Thanks for all of your help. Another dumb question - there are rolls of hay still in the fields here; many are covered with a black sheen that I assume is mold. Some of these I see being forked open and fed to the cattle. IS it mold and should they be doing that? These are large operations, 1,000 acres or more, and lots of rolls, 10 or more to a site. Does one dig down and feed the interior of the rolls (hopefully with less mold)? IS that mold at all?
And finally, what other feeds do folks use for their Dexters to supplement grasses and forage, and why?
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Post by copperhead on Jun 23, 2008 20:21:47 GMT -5
Well, Wiley, let me jump in here.....The black sheen you are seeing is just where the surface of the hay gets wet, not really mold. It just turns black on the surface and only goes down a few inches, unless it's been a really bad wet year. My cows just tear that part off and go for the inside part. I feed about one half pound of calf creep pellets for each of my Dexters, in the winter. In the summer I feed every few days just to get them to come up and let me check them. I do keep a yellow salt block out in summer and a mineral block in winter. In the spring, I put out some sweet mag, to get them ready for lush grass, I think it might help keep them them from bloating on the green grass and clover. The reason I feed the soybean based creep feed is because I think it give them a protein boost that helps them process the hay a little better. Don't know if I'm right but my cows always look good, winter and summer. If feed gets much higher this year, I might cut mine back some on the feed, but, I don't really feed that much anyway. P.J.
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Honeycreek Dexters
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All Natural Drug Free Grass Fed Beef, From Our Herd Sire Phoenix
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Post by Honeycreek Dexters on Jun 25, 2008 14:16:05 GMT -5
i can't see what you are seeing of course but i suspect what it may be is bale wrap, it can take many forms or colors, it can be black, white, or it may be green fishnet looking stuff it is all for one thing and that is to keep water from the bale. it is used most where large rounds are stored outside. get up close and look, if you can. if hay has been outside so long it turns black due to rot there can not be much food value left, and it takes a long time. cattle can stand a little mold depends what kind but i wouldn't make a habit of it or feed it on purpose. you ask about supplements to forage, you don't need it if you have good forage. but i can see there are times when you may need to supplement and all types of things can be used. store bought bagged feed, field corn, old bread bought by the ton at auction even twinkies again bought by the ton at auction, guys around here buy a grain truck full of bread for 35.00 mix (grind) with a large round bale of hay dump in a load of cracked corn and mix it up. makes a lot of feed, cheap to. and as always talk to your local Ag officer he can give you the skinny on local goings on. now with all the bio fuel plants being built there is a lot of WDG'S and DDG's the wet and dry stuff left over from making corn squeezens it has great potential as a food for cattle. HCD
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Honeycreek Dexters
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All Natural Drug Free Grass Fed Beef, From Our Herd Sire Phoenix
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Post by Honeycreek Dexters on Jun 25, 2008 14:46:52 GMT -5
Hi Gene If your serious, wet distillers grains, and dry distillers grains. it is the "mash" if you will that is left over after the starch or sugars have been removed from the corn or in the case of bio-diesel soy bean. It has been used for years as a feed. But it has not been in such abundance until the ethanol boom of recent.
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Honeycreek Dexters
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All Natural Drug Free Grass Fed Beef, From Our Herd Sire Phoenix
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Post by Honeycreek Dexters on Jun 26, 2008 10:21:56 GMT -5
I don't use'm cause i don't want the hassle i just saw a spot about'em on RFD TV and read a couple articles bout'em in FARM WORLD i guess the terms are what is used in the industry that has to do with fuels from crops, we had a Anheuser plant here years ago it got bought by Staleys from Illinois it still makes the same stuff, corn syrup, and stinks up the town. That left over stuff is big business now days contracted to Con Agra, Purina and that type of outfits. Use'n it to make their feed, it has consistent known food values and can be used to formulate what they peddle.
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Honeycreek Dexters
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All Natural Drug Free Grass Fed Beef, From Our Herd Sire Phoenix
Posts: 362
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Post by Honeycreek Dexters on Jun 27, 2008 14:37:20 GMT -5
Just thought I'd skip rite by that stuff and get back to where we were.
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Post by Wags on Jul 10, 2008 21:44:02 GMT -5
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Honeycreek Dexters
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All Natural Drug Free Grass Fed Beef, From Our Herd Sire Phoenix
Posts: 362
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Post by Honeycreek Dexters on Jul 11, 2008 11:38:55 GMT -5
thanks for posting it
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