ear corn ?
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buckeye
Member
yes...ground, but I think some added supplement would be needed. hopefully some one smarter than me on nutrition can help.
TexasBred
Well-known member
My dad used to break each ear in two and feed it to the old milk cow. Protein won't be but about 6% but good energy.
turklilley
Well-known member
I feed it to mine sometimes. I put a 5 gal bucket full in the trough. Some are slow to eat it, but they learn.
I've seen cows eating the corn husks and they seem to really enjoy them. Is there much nutritional value in the husks alone?
kjonesel
Well-known member
It used to be common a few decades ago to pasture the corn fields after harvest especially after a year with a lot of down corn. Now with all the fences gone it's a rarity to see cattle turned out on corn fields. When we turned our cows out we would depend on the nutritionist where we purchased our premix from to develop a ration for us. It was a great service and it developed us as loyal customers. I still use their premix today.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
I have a different opinion. Yes a cow will eat it and do well but a calf's teeth are not developed enogh to chew it very well. They might try but wont do very well with it. Even a cow until she gets her adult teeth has a problem with it. If the ear corn is cheap just load the truck and take it to the local feed mill and have it ground and some suppliment added. Makes very good feed that way.
Farmerjon
Well-known member
If you do want a labor intensive situation, chop an ear into four or five pieces with a hatchet. Then the old timers always ran a hog with a few feeder calves, hogs gleaned the corn that spilled out of the bunk and went straight thru the calf. Oh, run a few chickens in the same pen, they will glean the corn that goes straight thru the pig. Waste not, want not.
High Cotton
Well-known member
When I was a kid the man down the road I helped feed corn. He would get ear, husk and all. Then it we would load it in to the crib. In between cutting hay we would grind it. He had a stationary pto powered grinder. We would load the grinder by hand with a big seed scoop. We would set 4 55gal drums on a pallet. The grinder had a discharge chute just like the big pull type silage choppers only smaller. We would fill the 4 drums then put the whole pallet in the barn. It's not something I would want to do to feed a large number of cows but 20 or less it wouldn't be to terrible.
Farmerjon
Well-known member
High Cotton":x22n1rmr said:
Hammermill? With husks on, would think even ear corn would mold. Clean ears circulate air and dry. But that is another topic.
TexasBred
Well-known member
My dad always put it up in the crib like that. Usually dried well enough mold is not a problem. Can't remember the last time I saw any ear corn put up. Most is combined now and shucks and cob discharged and plowed into the ground.
High Cotton
Well-known member
It was pretty dry when it was picked. We shoveled it in to a crib that was probably 10x20 or so. It was set up off the ground and the walls and floors had cracks. It was far from eat tight. It still being whole there were air pockets all around it. It may have molded a little bit where it may have leaked on it but the lose was minimal. What was ruined just got racked out for the critters. I don't remember elxactly what the grinder was. I remember it was small and sat on a stand. It didn't take much power to run it. Most of the time we ran it off a Farmall Super H.
Mid South Guy
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Ear corn is a good ingredient to use on growing calves and also cows. But, it has to be in balance with everthing they are eating to meet their nutritional requirements. I used it, until I lost my source, on fall calving cows in the winter when they were eating low quality hay, which I always seem to have. I took the hay test results and calculated how much protien and tdn I had to supply to meet their requirements and mixed a ration in a grinder/mixer. If I remember right it was about 1000# ground ear corn, 400# cottonseed meal, 500# white salt, and 100# mineral fed free choice in a self feeder. The cows ate about 2-3 lbs/day which made up for the poor hay.
I bought a Gehl hammer mill (PTO style) last year and I was hoping to harvest a small ear corn crop to make into feed. I live in a drought area and my corn crop failed. So I have been trying to locate some ear corn but no one sells ear corn at a resonable price if you could find it. I think I can come out just as cheap by buying some commodities and mixing them by shovel. It is really hard on my back but I cannot afford expensive feed. I planted a lot of winter grazing, but it is still going to be a hard winter on my pocketbook. One of these days I will be able to afford a vertical mixer and become an efficient producer like the rest of you guys!!!!
