Posted by Errin OH on August 24, 2012 at 21:56:16 from (71.79.150.206):
In Reply to: How much hay do I need? posted by Jim Dandy2-4D on August 24, 2012 at 13:35:57:
Back when I raised Jerseys I had a 10/1 rule. 10% body weight in hay, 1% in mixed feed (corn/grain/supplement) per animal. But that was good hay, I bump it up for just grass hay (say 15%).
If in doubt put out a flake and if they eat it all before next feeding, increase it until they have some left over, then drop back. And do not just put it on the ground. They will eat the best parts and lie in the rest spreading it out wasting hay. I tried to keep hay in front of them most of the time, but did not let them get picky on me.
Just guessing from memory, I would figure on average a 4 month old jersey is going to weigh in around 80-100 lbs. Figure he going to gain about 180-200 lbs if fed properly. So if you figured a 150 lb average weight, 15 lbs hay a day for 180 days, or about 2700 lbs of hay. With 50lb bales, that’s 54 bales, but you're going to want extra on hand. Same with feed, about 270 lbs feeding on average 1.5lbs a day, but have a little extra on hand. If it were me I would want 60 bales of good hay (about 80 of grass) and 300 lbs of feed on hand for the winter per calf.
You might have another issue to deal with though. If there is no competition for the food they may not eat properly. I would try to get at least two calf’s.
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