JeffL916
Member
Apologies in advance if this is a repeated topic, but I'm new to the site.
My wife and I are first-time cattle owners as of a few weeks ago. We bought a Dexter cow/bull calf pair plus a 2yo Dexter steer. The prior owner had them primarily on pasture in Central FL and supplemented with some grain. My wife and I would like to transition them to 100% grass fed. Since buying them we have weaned them off the grain and this week they're purely on pasture grass (primarily bahia) with some alfalfa pellets twice a day. They seem to be doing fine so far, maintaining their size/weight and the poop looks normal. This has raised a few questions for us though:
- For finishing a steer, is pasture grass with alfalfa pellet supplement a smart idea?
- For the cow and her 3 month bull calf, is alfalfa supplement necessary or should we have them purely on pasture grass while it's growing well and save the alfalfa supplement for winter when the Central FL bahia stops growing and they're on hay?
- Are there other/better options than a pasture grass/alfalfa pellet combo for finishing out a grass-fed steer?
- If we're feeding small amounts of alfalfa pellets as supplement (less than 2% body weight), do we need to be concerned about bloat?
I've been reading up and it seems there are a million different schools of thought, but I'd appreciate any of your thoughts or suggestions. Thank you!
My wife and I are first-time cattle owners as of a few weeks ago. We bought a Dexter cow/bull calf pair plus a 2yo Dexter steer. The prior owner had them primarily on pasture in Central FL and supplemented with some grain. My wife and I would like to transition them to 100% grass fed. Since buying them we have weaned them off the grain and this week they're purely on pasture grass (primarily bahia) with some alfalfa pellets twice a day. They seem to be doing fine so far, maintaining their size/weight and the poop looks normal. This has raised a few questions for us though:
- For finishing a steer, is pasture grass with alfalfa pellet supplement a smart idea?
- For the cow and her 3 month bull calf, is alfalfa supplement necessary or should we have them purely on pasture grass while it's growing well and save the alfalfa supplement for winter when the Central FL bahia stops growing and they're on hay?
- Are there other/better options than a pasture grass/alfalfa pellet combo for finishing out a grass-fed steer?
- If we're feeding small amounts of alfalfa pellets as supplement (less than 2% body weight), do we need to be concerned about bloat?
I've been reading up and it seems there are a million different schools of thought, but I'd appreciate any of your thoughts or suggestions. Thank you!