Feeding baled cornstalks.

[aj]

I am putting up some round bales of corn stalks. Is there a way to feed it without grinding it and mixing it in a feed wagon. Cornstalks are interesting cause you have shucks that are very edible. Then then you have the slender tops of the stalks that look pretty patatable. Then the base of the stalks that are like tree limbs. Can you roll the bales out and let the cows pick through it? Inject it with liquid protein and put in bales feeders? Burn it? Sell it? Use it for bedding?

 

[PowersShowStock]

We wrap them dry and feed them free choice next to the hay.  Cows come running from the hay to get a cornstalk bale.  Works really well.  I think it is best to feed free choice so the rumen does not get screwed up going back and forth.

 

[chambero]

There are a lot of cows in Texas this fall that are learning to love cornstalk round bales, ours included.  We feed it just like a regular round bale.  For our pens of heifers that are calving, we put out two cornstalk bales and two coastal bermudagrass bales at a time.  It took them about two or three days to decide they liked the cornstalks, but now they'll eat those before they eat the coastal.

 

[nkotb]

I would not feed them without first taking a nitrate test.  The cornstalks in our part of the world are notorious for high nitrates.  That being said, have seen them fed just fine free choice.  If it is swathed and baled all the better, you get some corn, a little cob, and most of the leaves.  If it is baled behind the combine you lose some of the more palatable parts, but can still be a good filler.

 

[aj]

I almost wondered if you put some wet distillers grain on top of the flat part of a round bale if it would seep into bale over a months time.

 

[woltemathangus]

roll it out in the cold winters... the cows can pick through and use it for pretty warm bedding...

 

[aj]

I had thought about making a hillbilly injector system. A sharpened pipe with a hole drilled every 5 inches or so. THEN I would drive the pipe into the bale and attach a 5 gallon container to the pipe......pour in molasses. Let it soak via gravity all night long while product ran into bale. I may have some kinks to work............like how to lift bucket of sticky molasses over my head and pouring into the giant container without getting drenched?

 

[aj]

Maybe I could get a giant shringe(100 cc's) with a 6 inch needle and shoot in mollasses all around the bale........or get an electric corer machine and do a bunch of cores.......and THEN I could take a super soaker Captain K soaker gun and shoot product in.

 

[AStar]

If it has been shredded it is my experience that you can not roll it out. When you take the wrap off it just falls apart there are not any long pieces to hold it together.

 

[JWW]

i have been feeding them for quite some years now ( about 8 or so) and i have come along a long way from when we first started...

1. best way to use them is to grind them and mix them into a TMR with cornsilage and your desired protein source into a feed wagon; there is less waste, cows get more fiber in the diet and it is easy to manipulate the ration depending on BCS of cows, or for different groups of growing cattle
2. feeding the bales in a ration/ chuckwagon without grinding them first allows the cows to sort the heck out it. especially if you are feeding in everted tractor tires... they will fill up cobs like crazy and you'll have to move the tires. more of the stalk is wasted as they won't eat that either.... hence more manure and junk to haul out of dry pens in the spring. they can pile up so much in the corn fields enough that they need to be spread out b/c the field implements won't get through them well enough
3. feeding in a roundbale feeder - similar to #2, cobs and big stalks build up and you'll have to move the bale ring more often.
4. have seen success in using wet distillers grains poured on top of a loose bale in the bale ring... cows go nuts over the DGs and eat more of those cobs/big stalks... we have tried to put a bale up on end like a beer can and pour the distillers solubles into a bale hoping that it would soak into it - it doesn't and we tried a variety of hays and not just corn stalk bales.
5. a neighbor used to utilize a liquid molasses deal on his bales and set them up on end and let them soak through... but using molasses in colder climates is problems enough already and one needs to watch out how much molasses the cows are eating when someone does that
6. it makes great bedding.. the cows can pick through it and then lay on the rest
7. the bales are very fragile and fall apart easy, when we bale them we put lots of strings on them if we don't use the wrapper and we move them only once - out of the field and then to when they are used. they don't really roll out ... i would bet that the moment a DewZEE bale bed tried to unroll one , it would hit the ground and explode and as you drove away you would be left a 6 inch core on the truck and a pile behind the truck

i think it is a great product to use and will keep on using them for about everything we feed and use them for bedding
hope this helps.... JMO

JWW

 

[Doc]

I've heard of them injecting them with chicken litter.
I fed them 1 year when hay was tough to find. I got lucky though & the ones I fed hadn't been picked so all the ears were on them still. The stalks had been stunted & the ears of corn also & the farmer had turned it on his insurance.

 

[wfq]

I would agree with the impossible to unroll statement.  We just bales some stalks and we had a bale that failed to tie string correctly so I took the bale truck down to unroll the bale and all I got was a little core on the rollers and a big pile of cornstalks I had to string out with a pitchfork to rebale.  Not sure how we'll feed these this winter but we'll come up with something.  My first plan was to unroll them.  Not gonna work!

 

[Mill Iron A]

Id be careful with DG's on cornstalks.  Many of the tests coming back in right now are showing less and less calcium in stalks and DG's will def. get you in trouble there.  Also pay close attention to sulfur levels with them as well.  I would put out a liquid supplement in an open top trough.  This will save a lot of time and effort and will work just as well as injecting it.

 

[mooch]

Agree about injecting being a pain. Not worth the hassle. Supplement free choice with tubs or lick tank.We have used for years with no problems.We use to stretch the hay not as a replacement.

 

[Alscows]

We have used them alot the last 5-6 years.  I have placed them into brushy/weedy ares let the cows rumage through and eat what they want.  The rest makes a mulch that the following year will not let that brush or weeds come back.  We can then overseed with a pasture mix, plus there is alot of manure there for the new seeding to feed off of.

 

[furinsilex]

We fed them a couple years ago had the local coop come out and put molasses and portein supplement on them.  Cows ate them ok when fed choice alongside hay.  Big problem we had with them was cows rectums prolapsing had several do that just bc they are so hard to digest.

 

[woltemathangus]

shouldnt have said unrole them. we put them in the haybuster bale processor that is pulled behind the tractor.

 

[oakbar]

I feed a combination of hay & corn stalk bales each year.   I have put them in side by side feeders or alternated one bale of stalks then one bale of hay.  I've even used a 2 bales of stalks to 1 bale of hay ratio with success.    I usually feed a small amount of grain/DDGs mixed with a rumensin product each day just to help with feed intake and I regulate how much grain I feed with the temperature and wind chill--I don't feed any until the temps get down to around 10 degrees or so and reach  a high end of 3-4 pounds if it gets down to 10-15 below zero.   My cows are probably overconditioned in most people's minds, however, and I don't have any roof for them to get under or really effective windbreaks.  My reasoning is that I probably spend a little more on feed but I haven't spent a lot of money on buildings, etc.   Remember, I have a very small operation(12-14 cows).  

I also use stalks for bedding although they are somewhat difficult to unroll if they are dry(as someone mentioned you'll end up with a pile) and impossible to unroll if they are put up a little wetter(they turn into ice blocks  in our environment) the cows can't even break them apart much less eat  them.    I can't imagine that I could afford to stay in business if I had to use a complete hay diet for my cows.    There is a lot of waste but with the snow cover we usually have, I don't mind moving the rings and letting the cows use the remainder of the bale as bedding.  I even blow the snow off part of my drylot and spread out a couple of bales when the weather is cold so the cows don't have to lay in deep snow or on cold ground.   Works for this Iowegian but may not be for everyone.

 

[Cox]

I had thought about making a hillbilly injector system. A sharpened pipe with a hole drilled every 5 inches or so. THEN I would drive the pipe into the bale and attach a 5 gallon container to the pipe......pour in molasses. Let it soak via gravity all night long while product ran into bale. I may have some kinks to work............like how to lift bucket of sticky molasses over my head and pouring into the giant container without getting drenched?

Take a look at www.baleplus.com. We make injector systems for front end loader and 3 point hitch and have developed formulas specific to adding protein, vitamins, minerals and energy to any baled forage.  We also sell a starter, portable system with enough concentrates to treat 50 tons of forage, any forage.  Injector and supplments for $998.
Guranteed or your money back. satisfied customers in 47 statesree.. Contact me for more information [email protected]. Call 877 353 5747.

 

[Cox]

Id be careful with DG's on cornstalks.  Many of the tests coming back in right now are showing less and less calcium in stalks and DG's will def. get you in trouble there.  Also pay close attention to sulfur levels with them as well.  I would put out a liquid supplement in an open top trough.  This will save a lot of time and effort and will work just as well as injecting it.

Take a look at our injector system and ag-engineered baled forage supplements.
www.baleplus.comcall me or email if we can help.
877 353 5747
[email protected]
Thanks,
Tom