Owning cattle can be a rewarding experience, but it also comes with a lot of responsibility. Your livestock requires a lot of care and consideration. One of the primary responsibilities involves how well to feed them. You can’t give your cattle just anything to eat if you want them to be healthy and strong. When ranchers and farmers need to choose an ideal feed with many benefits and are packed with nutrition, alfalfa hay is one of the best things to use.
At David Woods Hay, we have top-quality alfalfa hay perfect for feeding your cattle. We read on to see some of the many benefits of choosing alfalfa hay to feed your cattle and other livestock.
More Energy
Livestock such as beef cattle tend to be huge animals. As such, your beef cow needs a steady supply of nutrients that will give it tons of energy. A high-energy source is especially valuable when your beef cow is pregnant with a growing calf. Like any other gestation mother, she needs extra calories for herself and the baby. Unfortunately, the right amount of energy in a feed can often be one of the top ways that typical hay rations need to be improved.
This is where alfalfa hay comes in, as it can compensate for the difference in such deficiency. You would need as much as 25 bushels of corn to match the nutrient content of a ton of alfalfa hay.
There’s little comparison between the digestive time of alfalfa hay versus grass hay. A beef cow feasting on alfalfa will digest it in 36 hours compared to the 70 hours it takes to digest grass.
Good Supplementation
It’s natural for cows to graze on grass, especially in areas where the grass is so prevalent. Unfortunately, relying on grass hay during certain times of the year may be hard for cattle producers that want stronger animals. Therefore, using alfalfa hay is a great supplement and backup. Alfalfa hay is easy to combine with grass hay as well as other feed. Due to its high nutrient quality, alfalfa hay makes up for any nutritional deficiencies that grass and other hay may have.With David Wood hay, you always have access to easy alfalfa hay supplementation.
Great Vitamin Source
Beef and dairy cows are large animals that can suffer stress. However, the right blend of nutrients and vitamins can help give their bodies the resources they need to fuel their bodies and reduce stress. Many beef cows often have vitamin A deficiency. Luckily, when you order alfalfa hay from David Wood, you can give your beef cows all the vitamin A it needs thanks to its high quality of carotene, a precursor of vitamin A.
If you want your cows to have the best concentration of vitamin A, you need to have the freshest supply of alfalfa hay possible. Luckily, David Woods always applies the freshest hay for clients.
If you leave your alfalfa hay out in the sun long enough, you will naturally add other necessary vitamins, such as K & D, to its nutrient quota.
Vitamin E and selenium are also necessary for beef cow nutrition. When cows have a deficiency of selenium or vitamin E, they are more susceptible to issues such as white muscle disease. This disease can quickly kill off young calves, costing ranchers money and time.
Mineral Content
In addition to high-quality vitamins ranging from A to K, beef cows also need minerals. When you give your beef cow the ideal proportion of alfalfa hay for body weight, you’ll ensure they receive the daily requirement of magnesium, iron, sulfur, potassium, calcium, zinc, and manganese.
While alfalfa hay doesn’t supply the daily requirement of phosphorus, it will provide 2/3 of it. Like any human female that’s recently given birth, beef cows also need a high amount of calcium during the lactating period. To ensure you get the proper supply of minerals in your alfalfa hay, you want to use the best supplier possible. The specific mineral content that your beef cow will get relies solely on the quality of the fertilization and soil the alfalfa hay came from. That’s why using a reliable and experienced supplier such as David Woods is essential.
Protein Intake
Protein is vital to all the muscle and strength a cow or bull has. When using a cow for beef production, the more protein it gets, the more likely it will be bulky enough for a good supply of quality meat. What better way to ensure your beef cows have a higher range of protein than by feeding them alfalfa hay? Over 70% of the protein in quality alfalfa hay is digestible for the cow.
The time of cutting can affect the amount of crude protein it has, but it still outpaces the amount of protein in grass hay by a huge margin. You can expect your alfalfa hay to have 12 to 20 % crude protein. On the other hand, grass only has an average of 8.4% crude protein.
As you can see, purchasing quality alfalfa hay for your beef livestock can go a long way. You want to ensure your beef cows have the nutrients to resist stress, birth healthy calves, and resist disease. Of course, you want to avoid getting your alfalfa hay from just any source. As mentioned, alfalfa’s soil, fertilization, and storage methods can affect its quality. Therefore, go with the best and the most experienced supplier out there. David Woods should be your top choice for your alfalfa hay needs. When beef cows need ideal supplementation, protein, vitamins, and minerals, look no further than David Woods.