Growing your own cattle for dairy or supply can be a great experience. But managing animals in your farm can be a little challenging as well. Not everything will go as smoothly as you thought it would. Keeping them well fed and healthy is the key to get the best results in return.
To achieve something like that, you must choose the best cattle feed suppliers for good quality and avoid some common mistakes that happen quite often. If you are not aware or are not paying attention, it is easy to get caught up and risk causing issues to the health of your cattle. This is something that no one wants to go through, especially when you have raised your cattle for a long time.
Like how you take care of your own food, you must treat the cattle feed with the same responsibility as well. To clear things out, let’s have a look at some common mistakes that are often made in a barn and should be avoided at any cost.
Long Shelf Life
Have you ever thought about the shelf life of your own food items? If so you would know that each item has its own shelf life. Once you have crossed that threshold it is harmful for your health to consume that item. And thus, you take care of the food, and pay close attention to how long it must stay on the shelf or storage in order to be consumable without any repercussions.
The same principle applies to cattle feed as well. It is not just a piece of hay, corn, silage, or grain, it is the primary food source for your cattle that needs the same amount of care that you would offer for your own. Each type of feed has its own shelf life and it is important to understand and identify it ahead of time to keep your cattle healthy.
Low Moisture
Assuming the wrong length of shelf life for the cattle feed can result in a lot of health-related issues for your cattle, which can set you back significantly. To make it easy to understand, always follow the rule of moisture, the higher the moisture your cattle feed will contain, the shorter the amount of shelf life it will have.
For example, any cattle feed that is in a pallet form has a shelf life of four to six months in general. That is how long you should store it and still be able to feed your cattle. But it depends on the quality and the supplier. So, it is best to consult with them before deciding yourself. But in general, the reason behind this is the low-moisture content due to it being a heat-treated food.
Ignoring the right shelf life of the feed you keep for your cattle could be the very reason, they might run into health issues when they eat the spoiled feed.
Wrong Storage Conditions
Again, let’s compare this with your own food. For some specific items to stay fresh, you need to keep them in the right temperature conditions, such as milk or vegetables. If they were to stay open in the room, it is highly possible they will get spoiled.
The same applies for cattle feed as well. Keeping it in a high humidity location or storage will result in getting them spoiled, which eventually can be harmful for your cattle. Additionally, you will lose a lot of feed as well, a mistake that will set your back significantly.
High Humidity Spoils Feed
It is important to understand that moisture should always be in the right range for your feed storage. A great way to make sure the right humid conditions are met is to incorporate some air-drying systems into your storage. Such systems are best if your aim is to keep your cattle feed dry.
If you have your feed stored in a location or a storage area where the humidity is very high, your cattle feed will absorb all the moisture. This eventually leads to mold development and fermentation, which are not at all healthy for your cattle in any condition whatsoever.
Feeding your cattle such feed even the smallest doses will result in health issues. Hence always consider optimal storage humidity conditions when it comes to storing feed. And always consider purchasing your feed from the best corn silage suppliers.
