The main source of food for cattle in the summer is green fodder. The product contains a lot of useful substances. But before you let your animals go out to pasture, it is important to find out what kind of grass cows usually eat. You also need to know about poisonous herbs that are dangerous to the health and life of cattle. Green food is used not only as summer food. Hay is also made from it, which is actively used in the winter diet.
What grass is suitable for cattle feed
There are many varieties of green forage that grow in pastures and meadows.In addition, you can sow various types of grass yourself, as well as prepare food for the winter period.
In the pastures
Pasture vegetation is divided into four categories:
- cereals;
- legumes;
- sedge;
- forbs.
90% of cereal plants can be used as food, and they are also highly digestible. The rest are either poorly digested or completely hazardous to health.
Cereals are divided into the following groups:
- Hygrophiles. They grow near water or in ponds. This includes canes, perennial rice and more.
- Xerophiles. They grow in steppe and semi-desert zones. This is fescue, feather grass and so on.
- Mesophylls. They prefer mountainous and forested areas. This group includes wheatgrass, foxtail, bentgrass, etc.
- Salt marshes. Inhabitants of steppes, deserts, semi-deserts. Found on salty soils. This category is represented by mulberry, beskilnitsa, and coastal.
- Annual plants. Examples include oats, millet, firewood, etc.
The next group is legumes. In the wild they are found in forests and water meadows. This type of pasture grass is more nutritious and has a more palatable taste for cows. In addition, the mowing period lasts twice as long.
The sedge category includes large, moisture-loving plants with tough foliage. Due to these properties, the grass is not one of the favorites among cattle representatives. The sedge group includes:
- moisture-loving inedible plants;
- moisture-loving eatable;
- well eaten.
The last group of pasture plants is forbs. Includes more than a thousand families, representatives of which grow in mountainous and forest areas, as well as in deserts and semi-deserts. Of these, about half are easily eaten plants, about 40% are poorly digestible and about 10% are poisonous. The most popular herbs in this category are wormwood, dandelion, coltsfoot, horsetail, and yarrow.
What can you sow?
Forage grasses are specially grown on artificial pastures, including:
- Annuals:
- Sudanese grass is a cereal plant whose bush reaches 0.5-3 meters in height; characterized by the light green color of the leaves having a lanceolate shape;
- ryegrass - grass can reach one meter in height; leaves are light green, elongated;
- white mustard - grows up to one meter in height; stems are covered with hairs; during the flowering period, the bush is framed with white or yellow flowers;
- spring vetch – height is one meter; creeping shoots; the plant is high in protein;
- phacelia - the stem reaches a height of 0.6-0.9 meters.
- Perennial herbs. The advantage of these plants is that they do not need to be planted every year. Among the most common representatives:
- alfalfa is a winter-hardy and drought-resistant plant that is characterized by medium height, green ellipsoidal foliage and purple flowers;
- white clover - has creeping shoots, can grow on clay and sandy soils, quickly adapts to various living conditions;
- sandy sainfoin – the length of green shoots can reach 0.8 meters, the foliage is green, bare at the top, pubescent at the bottom;
- meadow bluegrass is a green bush reaching a height of 0.7 meters.
There are two types of artificial pastures:
- short-term;
- long-term.
Cultivated pastures are of the following types:
- legumes;
- cereals;
- cereals and legumes.
The choice of crops that are planned to be planted is determined by many factors, for example:
- climatic conditions;
- type of soil;
- soil moisture and acidity.
What can be made from grass?
In winter, livestock have to be given pre-prepared feed. There are four varieties of grasses for winter feeding:
- Hay. Roughage, the proportion of wet grass in which is no more than 17%. To prepare it, do the following:
- mow grass in pastures;
- dry the plants in the sun;
- turn them over with a rake from time to time;
- collect grass into sheaves or press;
- store in a clean and dry place.
- Straw. Made from dry stems of legumes and cereals. Humidity level – 20%.
- Silage. Vegetation is treated with lactic acid bacteria. Humidity – 60%. The preparations are placed in a special pit, and root vegetables, vegetables and sourdough are also placed there. Then they press, cover with film and after a month they get the finished product. Silage has a yellowish tint and emits a sweetish odor.
- Haylage. Humidity is 55%. Legumes and leguminous-cereal plants are used to prepare feed.
Herbs that are poisonous to cows
The following types of plants should not be given to cows:
- wild rosemary (paralyzes vital organs);
- Euonymus warty (in small quantities it provokes bloating and diarrhea, in large doses it leads to death);
- black henbane (causes convulsions, violent behavior, swelling of the rumen);
- hemlock speckled (causes weakness, paralysis of the central nervous system, death);
- Vekh is poisonous (paralyzes the respiratory tract, provokes increased secretion of saliva);
- anemone buttercup (affects the excretory system and gastrointestinal tract);
- stinking dope (causes paralysis, leads to disruptions in the functioning of the heart and brain);
- St. John's wort (tumors appear in the cow);
- buttercups (the plant provokes diarrhea and bloating);
- swallow (paralyzes the central nervous system, leads to dysfunction of the cardiovascular system, provokes vomiting and diarrhea).
Feeding livestock with green fodder is the most important component in animal husbandry. Both natural and artificial pastures can be used. But at the same time, you need to know which plants are suitable for feeding cows, and which are harmful and life-threatening.
