WHILE THE NUTRITIONAL NEEDS of the species covered in this book are dissimilar in certain respects, the principles are enough alike to discuss them here. Species specifics are addressed in section 2.
You might assume that you would feed miniature livestock smaller portions of the same things you would feed their larger peers, but that’s only partially correct. Miniatures, as a rule, convert feed so much more efficiently than full-size animals that certain differences apply.
Take concentrates, another term for grain and cereal feeds. Most miniature species don’t need them unless they’re still growing, in the last trimester of pregnancy, or nursing young. High-quality pasture and hay are by far the most important feedstuffs for raising most types of miniature livestock; good hay, lots of clean drinking water, and species-specific minerals are all that most non-lactating minis really need.
In fact, the protein levels in some types of hay can be too high for most classes of miniature species. Again, talk with your county extension agent or a successful breeder of your chosen miniatures to work out feeding plans specific to your animals’ needs.
Certain rules of feeding apply across the board:
Change feeds gradually, allowing your animals’ digestive process time to adjust. Abruptly switching from one feed to another can trigger colic or laminitis in mono-gastric species (horses, donkeys, mules) and bloat or enterotoxemia in ruminants (cows, goats, sheep, llamas).
Store feed where animals can’t break in and overeat.
Feed at the same times every day. Messing with routine plays havoc with animals’ digestive systems.
Don’t feed musty, moldy, or spoiled feed to your livestock. This includes feeding moldy hay to cattle; many cattle keepers think this is okay. You might get by with it once or twice, but the law of averages is against you.
Buy the best feed (especially hay) you can afford. Although it may cost more than other choices, you’ll reduce your vet bills and increase the animals’ performance, seeing higher fertility; multiple births in species that give birth to more than one young; and faster, greater weight gains in meat animals.
Get the biggest bang for your buck by feeding hay and grain in feeders instead of off the ground; feeding on the ground results in excess waste and increased internal parasitism. Choose sturdy, safe feeders that your stock can’t easily demolish or get hurt on.
If possible, provide your livestock access to pasture and browse (leaves, twigs, and other high-growing vegetation). Goats, pigs, donkeys, and some breeds of cattle and sheep derive a good deal of nutrition from browse.
Always provide plenty of clean water. If it isn’t clean enough that you’d drink it, picky species such as sheep, goats, and llamas probably won’t drink it either.
Hay is a generic term for grass or legume plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal feed, particularly for grazing species such as cattle, equines, llamas, goats, and sheep. Pigs will eat hay, but they don’t digest it very efficiently, so they do need concentrates in their diet. Next to good pasture, high-quality hay is the ideal feed.
This chart, adapted from many sources, compares common livestock feed components. Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) is a commonly used method of expressing the energy value of feed. Calcium and phosphorous contents are given because balancing these two minerals in a 2:1 ratio helps prevent urinary calculi in male livestock (we’ll talk more about this in chapter 8).
Grasses used for making hay include timothy, Bermuda, Bahia, Sudan, brome, fescue, big bluestem, prairie hay, bluegrass, Dallis grass, and orchard grass. Farmers in most regions put up mediocre hay composed of wild, native grasses called different names in different localities, such as upland hay (swamp grasses including rushes and reed canarygrass) in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin and bottomland hay in the South (plants like tall Johnson grass that thrive along southern waterways).
There are cereal grain hays as well, such as barley, oat, wheat, or rye, all of which are also types of grasses. These are cut while green and growing, before seed heads mature as grain.
Legumes commonly used for hay making are alfalfa, clover of several varieties (red, crimson, alsike, and ladino to name a few), and lespedeza. Others sometimes encountered include kudzu, vetch, birdsfoot trefoil, soybean, peanut, and cowpea.
Many hay producers put up bales combining one or more grasses with a legume variety; these are referred to as mixed hay. And not every variety grows in every locale. Bermuda and bahai grasses, for example, grow well in the South, whereas timothy and orchard grasses do best farther north.
Discuss hay with your county extension agent and local farmers who aren’t invested in selling hay. Sellers aren’t always upfront about what’s in the hay they sell, so ask an impartial party to show you the good stuff; then you’ll recognize it on sight. Finger a typical sprig to memorize its feel in your hand. Take a deep sniff. Good hay not only has a clean, sweet smell, but each variety also has its own distinctive aroma. Only then should you set about buying hay.
Since high-quality and poor-quality hay often sell for the same price, it pays to learn how to evaluate hay and buy the best.
HAY BUYER’S CHECKLIST
Buy by the ton, not the bale. It’s hard to visually tell the difference between a 50-pound bale and one that weighs 60 pounds. If they’re of comparable quality and you pay the same price per bale for both, the 50-pound bales are no bargain.
Open several bales so you can evaluate the hay inside. Don’t worry about slight discoloration on the outside, especially in stacked hay.
Refuse hay that is dark and brittle, excessively sun-bleached, or smells moldy, musty, dusty, or fermented.
Choose hay that has soft, flexible stems. Hay with tough, thick stems is less palatable than softer hay. As grass matures, its stems become tougher and more fibrous, and protein and energy levels decrease. The presence of seed heads and thick stems is the hallmark of hay cut at a mature stage of growth, therefore making it a lower grade of hay. Leaves contain most of the plant’s digestible energy and protein, so leafy hay with few or no seed heads is the most nutritious.
Avoid coarse, unpalatable hay with seed heads. It was harvested after its prime.
Avoid hay containing significant amounts of weeds, dirt, trash, or debris.
Examine hay for signs of insect infestation. Be careful to check for dried blister beetles in alfalfa. Blister beetles have long (¾- to 1¼-inch), narrow bodies, broad heads, and antennae that are about one-third the length of their entire body. They are most abundant in arid regions of the United States but occur elsewhere as well. Cantharidin, the poisonous compound found in blister beetles, is comparable to cyanide and strychnine in toxicity, and it remains toxic in dead beetles. Livestock can be poisoned by ingesting beetles in cured hay. Blister beetles are particularly toxic to equines.
Reject bales that are uncommonly heavy for their size or that feel warm to the touch. Unusually heavy bales are usually moldy, and warm bales may spontaneously combust.
When possible, purchase enough good hay to last a season. To preserve its nutritional value, however, don’t buy any more than what you’ll feed within a year of harvest.
Store hay in a dry, sheltered area out of the rain, snow, and sun, or cover outdoor stacks to protect them from the elements.
Green hay usually contains a high level of protein and vitamins. Yellow or beige-colored hay may be sun-bleached or it might have been rained on prior to baling. Rain leaches nutrients from hay and decreases its quality. Dark brown coloration indicates that the hay overheated because it was baled when it was too moist or it was rained on after baling.
Hay should have a fresh, clean aroma. If it smells musty, it was probably baled wet or it was stored improperly and it’s moldy. Hay should also not be dusty. Dusty hay causes respiratory problems in many animals; in some cases, the dust particles are actually mold spores. To distinguish between dust and mold, shake out a flake of hay. If the “dust” appears as a grayish white color, it’s mold. Also, if the flakes are hard or stick together in clumps, the bale is moldy.
While there are many regional-specific hays, one or more of these standards probably grows wherever you live.
The quality of hay is determined in large part by its stage of maturity at time of harvest. The optimal stage varies by plant species:
Alfalfa. Alfalfa should be harvested in the bud stage (when it has buds at the tip of its stems) or slightly later, in early bloom (when it has some purple flower petals and its stems are somewhat heavier than they were in bud stage). Alfalfa cut in full bloom or later may have seed pods, there will be fewer leaves, and its stems will be coarse and woody. Many leaves and soft, pliable stems are excellent indicators of quality alfalfa hay.
Prime alfalfa is harvested in bud stage or early bloom.
Red clover. Red clover should be harvested when 20 percent of its blooms are present.
Grasses. Orchard grass, tall fescue, Bermuda grass, and reed canarygrass should be harvested in the boot (when grass heads are still enclosed by the sheath of the uppermost leaf and no seed heads are showing) to early heading (when seed heads are just beginning to emerge) stages. Timothy and brome should be cut in early bloom (when the plant’s tiny flowers are beginning to form in the uppermost seed head) and when fully headed. Early-cut grass hay is greener than late-cut; plump brown seeds are indicators of less nutritious, fully matured grass hay.
Mixed hay. Grass and legume mixes should be cut when their legume component reaches its ideal stage for harvest.
Make sure the hay you feed is free from trash, insects, and weeds (I’d be suspicious of any weeds you couldn’t identify). Sticks and chunks of mud are heavy nuisances when buying hay by the ton, and baled-up briars and stickers injure mouths and tongues. Blister beetles, sometimes found in western-grown alfalfa hay, are extremely toxic to equines. And toxic weeds can be hard to distinguish from nontoxic species once the plant has dried and been baled into hay.
Thick-stemmed weeds, like milkweed, that aren’t completely dried prior to baling can cause moldy areas within the bale.
Occasionally a snake or something larger is caught and killed in the baling process. If you find a dried-out critter in baled hay, throw the hay away. These finds are fairly common, and livestock that eat hay exposed to spoiled carcasses are at risk for botulism.
To be certain that your animals are receiving adequate nutrients, purchase tested hay or have large batches of homegrown hay tested. To find a feed-testing service in your neck of the woods, talk to your county extension agent. He or she will also loan you the tools you need to gather core samples and show you how to use them; later, your agent can show you how to read and evaluate the results.
Small square bales (traditional rectangular-shaped, string or wire-tied bales weighing 40 to 100 pounds each) are most everyone’s choice for easy feeding. Putting them up, however, takes far more labor, time, and money than baling large round or large square bales, so they’re increasingly harder to find and buy every year. The solution for some is feeding large square bales (rectangular bales generally 3 × 3 × 8 feet in size, weighing 600 to 700 pounds [272–317 kg]) or, more commonly, large round bales.
Large square bales are easy to use, breaking off in flakes like their smaller counterparts. Their only failing is that you’ll need a tractor with a loader spike to move them. (Perhaps it’s not a failing when you consider that having the tractor lift the hay is protecting your back; however, the tractor and loader spike do cost money to purchase and operate.)
Large square, small square, and round bales of hay all work for feeding miniature livestock.
Large round bales, ranging in weight from 500 to 1,800 pounds (227–816 kg), are the most economical type for farmers to bale and for livestock owners to buy. They have several drawbacks, however.
Large round bales are designed to be fed whole, in the field, with or without a hay ring (a cage designed to prevent livestock from lying in or pulling down hay and wasting it). It’s possible to remove individual feedings by gradually unwinding the bale and forking them off, but it’s hard work. And once opened, big bales exposed to the elements start to spoil, so you need to have a lot of animals that can polish off a bale in two or three days. Alternately, they work well if fed under cover.
Protect valuable hay from the elements by covering it and placing it in a building that doesn’t leak and has good ventilation.
If possible, don’t store hay in or near a building that houses livestock, even though it’s tempting to use overhead space as a hayloft. If you can’t store your hay in a separate location, the next best thing is to keep only small amounts of hay in the barn at one time to help reduce the risk of fire. Hay is highly flammable; you don’t want it overhead if your barn catches on fire. Also, improperly cured, high-moisture hay creates an environment where bacteria and mold fungi survive and create heat by consuming the hay. In worst-case scenarios, the heat generated can cause hay to spontaneously combust.
If the storage area is open on one or more sides, or it’s a shed with only a roof, cover the hay with a tarp to keep out weather and light. Sunlight bleaches hay, causing it to lose as much as 20 percent of its nutritional value, especially protein and vitamin A.
Store hay where it’s accessible. Choose a building in an elevated, well-drained area so the hay doesn’t soak up moisture from wet soil or standing water. Storage should be near a road or driveway that large trucks can navigate, with room to back up and turn around. Doorways must be wide and tall enough for the hay to be easily unloaded and not far from where it needs to be stacked.
Don’t stack hay higher than you can safely navigate and move (this is especially important when stacking large round bales).
Don’t store hay near machinery (trucks, tractors, mowers) or near any type of heat source, and don’t let anyone smoke in your barn. By the same token, don’t store fire accelerants like gasoline, kerosene, oil, and aerosol cans near stored hay.
If you stack hay on bare ground it will wick moisture up through the bottom tiers, ruining the hay. The floor of a hay storage building can be earthen, but top it with a 4- to 6-inch (10–15 cm) coarse rock base to minimize bottom spoilage. Other materials that successfully break contact with wet soil and provide some air space are telephone poles, wooden pallets, and tires. Concrete floors also draw moisture, so treat them the way you would a dirt floor.
Don’t stack new hay in front of older bales. Pull the old bales to the front and feed those first. Stack the bottom layer of small square bales on their sides, with the strings facing sideways instead of up. The uneven surface allows better air circulation. Stack the second layer with the strings facing up, all pointing in the same direction. Then, stack the third layer perpendicular to the second layer, so that if the second layer of bales is pointing east and west, the third layer of bales should point north and south. This will lock the stack in place and make it more stable. Be sure to leave some space between rows to promote airflow and allow moisture to escape.
Proper way to stack square bales of hay: stack the first layer on its side, with strings facing sideways; stack the second layer with strings facing up; stack the third layer the same way as the first.
Outdoors, cover stacks of square bales (large or small) with tarps, securing the tarps in place with strong tie-downs. A sloped top created by pyramiding the final layers will shed snow and rain better than a flat top. When covering hay with tarps, make sure they’re good tarps — strong, sturdy ones free of holes or rips that might let moisture through. If you have to use more than one tarp to cover the stack, overlap them by 3 to 5 feet (0.9–1.5 m) to prevent water from seeping in where the tarps meet. Monitor tarps on a regular basis to make sure they’re securely tied down; loose, flapping tarps wear out quickly and allow moisture to reach stored hay.
Large bales stored outside invariably sustain some spoilage, depending on a combination of factors including moisture of the hay at baling time, amount of rain and snowfall during the storage period, drainage of the soil on which the bales are stored, amount of space between the bales, type of hay (grass, legume, or grass-legume), and the skill of the operator making the bales.
It’s best to place round bales in such a way that there is about 1 foot (30 cm) of air space on all sides for good ventilation. Round bales also store well when flat ends are butted end-to-end in long rows. Orient these rows north and south so prevailing winds won’t create snow drifts and so both sides of the row receive sunlight for drying. Don’t arrange them in a row with the twine sides touching, creating a water-absorbing valley between bales. If bales must be stored side by side, leave at least 24 inches (60 cm) between bales. If more than one line of bales is needed, space adjacent lines at least 3 feet (0.9 m) apart so water from one row doesn’t run off onto another. Never store bales under trees; storing hay in damp, shaded environments prevents the sun from drying the hay after a rain and encourages the bottom of the bales to remain wet.
Choose densely packed large round bales. These sag less, resulting in less contact with the ground. Opt for big bales put up in plastic or net wrap or that use plastic twine; these factors reduce bale sag and help maintain bale shape. Plastic twine resists weathering, insects, and rodents better than natural fiber twines. Twine should be snug and spaced 6 to 10 inches (15–25 cm) apart. Densely packed bales are also more stable when stacked, though stacking does increase losses because moisture gets trapped in the hay that is not exposed to sun and wind.
Whenever possible, store large round bales under cover. The outer 4-inch (10 cm) layer of a round bale that is 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter contains about 25 percent of the total bale volume. Studies indicate that outdoor storage losses range between 5 and 35 percent, depending on the amount of precipitation, the storage site location, and the original condition of the bale. Storing the hay indoors can reduce storage losses by approximately two-thirds.
No discussion of hay would be complete without mentioning fescue, the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of forage crops.
Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea or Schedonorus phoenix [scop.] Holub) is one of America’s most widely used forage crops. It’s hardy, productive, insect and nematode resistant, tolerates poor soil and climatic conditions very well, and has a long growing season.
Fescue has been around a long time. Tall fescue came to this country from Europe in the late 1800s and was officially discovered in Kentucky in 1931; it was marketed in 1943 as Kentucky 31 Fescue. It was an immediate hit with farmers and spread quickly throughout the midwestern and southern United States. Unfortunately, it also has a downside. Roughly 80 percent of the tall fescue grown in North America (about 40 million acres at last count) is infected with a fungal endophyte — so called because it is in (endo) the plant (phyte) — that produces ergotlike alkaloids that are toxic to animals. The seed head is the most toxic portion of the plant. Toxicity is especially severe when pregnant livestock graze tall fescue during the last trimester of gestation.
Grazing species react slightly differently to fescue toxosis, but it’s a serious thing in every species.
Tall fescue
Mares and jennies grazing endophyte-infected tall fescue experience reproductive problems such as late-term abortions and stillborn foals, prolonged gestational periods, dystocia, thickened or retained placentas, laminitis (founder), poor conception rates, and agalactia (diminished ability to produce milk).
Foals born alive are frequently larger than normal and have poor suckling reflexes, bad coordination, and lowered body temperatures. Foals may also have poor immunity due to lack of colostrum production by their dams.
Because equines are especially sensitive to the toxins in endophyte-infected tall fescue, even the lowest levels of endophyte can produce equine fescue toxicosis.
Multiple studies show that consumption of endophyte-infected tall fescue decreases the feed intake of cattle and therefore lowers their weight gains. They also produce less milk, have higher internal body temperatures and respiration rates, retain a rough hair coat, demonstrate unthrifty appearance, salivate excessively, and experience multiple reproductive problems.
Tall fescue fertilized with high levels of nitrogen can lead to bovine fat necrosis. As hard masses appear in the fatty tissues surrounding the intestines, this condition causes digestive problems and can interfere with calving.
Ewes and does suffering from fescue toxicosis kid up to 10 days late. When they do go into labor their cervixes may not dilate, contractions are often weak, and offspring may be too large to be delivered without human intervention. Unusually thick umbilical cords are hard to break, and placentas are so thick that the young can’t get out unless someone tears them open. Female llamas are prone to the same sort of ills.
Weight gains are often reduced by 50 percent (the same rate as in cattle). Also like cattle, goats and sheep are prone to fescue foot, a type of dry gangrene in which parts of the hooves and tail rot and fall off.
So should you feed fescue to your livestock? Probably not if you have a choice — but many people don’t. Fescue is so well established in the United States, especially the Midwest and parts of the South, that unless it’s purposely killed out, most grasslands and hayfields contain at least some fescue. Eradicating ultra-hardy fescue isn’t easy, and replacing it with new, “improved” endophyte-free fescues is not the answer in many cases; the endophyte itself contributes to fescue’s hardiness, so endophyte-free varieties often fail to thrive.
If you live where fescue prevails, assume it’s in your pastures and in most of the grass hay you buy. The best ploy is to remove late-term pregnant females to a dry lot and feed hay known to be fescue-free. Some hay dealers and feed stores sell guaranteed fescue-free grass hay for just this reason. Judiciously feeding baled or chopped and bagged alfalfa works, too.
It can’t be said often enough: Most minis don’t need grain. If you elect to use it, add it gradually and back off if your animals gain too much weight. Should you choose to create your own mix based on locally available grains, get advice; your county extension agent or a nutritionist at your state agricultural university will be happy to help you formulate a plan.
If you feed individual grains or homemade mixes, it’s important to learn to evaluate the grain you buy. You’ll probably order it in bulk at your feed store, so ask to see samples before your bags are filled. There are several factors to consider. They are, in order of relative importance: plumpness, foreign material, color, and a few other considerations.
Grain is used as an energy source in livestock rations. The energy-supplying portion of a grain kernel, called the endosperm, is made up of high-energy carbohydrates (starch and sugars) and proteins. A plump kernel has a well-developed endosperm. Plumpness also indicates a lower percentage of hull or bran (or both), and thus a lower percentage of crude fiber, resulting in a higher feeding value for livestock. Kernel plumpness is particularly important when evaluating oats or barley, as these grains are naturally high in fiber due to their hulls.
Choose grain with plump, full kernels.
This is any undesirable substance found in grain, such as stones, chaff, bits of sticks or wire, and straw. They add significantly to its cost because you’re paying the same price for inedible junk as for grain. Also, for your animals’ health and safety, you may have to clean the grain before it’s fed.
Insects, living or dead, are sometimes found in grain. Their presence indicates that the grain was stored at too high a temperature or moisture content. Insect feeding activities can rapidly deteriorate grain, and some dead insects are toxic.
Grain sometimes contains unwanted weed or other crop seeds. Some seeds and bulblets (such as wild onion or garlic) affect the flavor of feeds and should be removed. Weed seeds, unless they’re toxic or present in large amounts, don’t greatly affect the feeding value of grain; however, some can pass through an animal’s digestive system and, in doing so, inadvertently seed your fields with weeds.
Ergots are also found in grain. These are black, hornlike fungal bodies that are poisonous to stock when fed in large quantities or if fed in small quantities over a long period of time. They mainly occur on rye (its most common host), wheat, barley, milo, and millet. Ergot affects oats only rarely.
Weathered seeds are bleached or darkened (seeds darken due to the growth of decay molds). If molds aren’t present, weathering causes only minor deterioration in quality.
Grain that is stored at high temperatures or exposed to high temperatures during processing may be dark brown and have a burnt taste or odor. Heated grain can be less palatable to animals and therefore problematic.
Oats naturally occur in a wide range of colors; their colors are genetic in origin and have no effect on grain quality.
Never feed moldy grain of any kind. Moldy grains, particularly corn, are capable of producing dangerous amounts of poisonous fungal mycotoxins called “aflatoxins.” Aflatoxins are caused by mold fungus, usually Aspergillus flavis.
Aflatoxin contamination is greater in corn that has been produced under stress conditions; drought, heat, insect, and fertilizer stress are all conducive to high levels of aflatoxins.
Aflatoxin levels are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at 20 ppb (parts per billion) in food and feed. Aflatoxin can also appear in the milk of lactating animals fed aflatoxin-contaminated feed.
Mycotoxins, including aflatoxins, are known to cause serious health problems in animals, including equine leukoencephalomalacia in horses and porcine edema in swine. Reduced weight gain, capillary fragility, reduced fertility, suppressed disease resistance, and even death have been attributed to mycotoxins. No animal is known to be resistant, but in general, older animals are more tolerant than younger livestock. Some mycotoxins have also been associated with human health problems.
Because aflatoxin contamination is fairly common, many livestock producers eschew feeding corn.
Cracked kernels have no major impact on grain quality. One disadvantage, however, to cracked grain is that it doesn’t store for long periods of time. Oils in the cracked grain break down, causing rancid taste and odor. Cracked grain is also more susceptible to insect infestation.
Seed grain is often treated with chemicals to prevent diseases like seed and seedling rot. Most seed treatments are red colored for easy recognition. Should you find colored kernels in your grain, discard the entire bag; some of these substances are exceedingly toxic.
Responsible livestock owners provide their animals with loose or lick-type mineral supplements appropriate to their locale, the species and type of animal consuming the product, and the sort of other feedstuffs fed. As is true of every other aspect of livestock nutrition, mineral supplementation is a very complex issue and a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work. Discuss your needs and your feeding program with your county extension agent, a nutritionist associated with your state university’s agriculture college, or with a knowledgeable representative from the company that manufactures your bagged feed.
Some mineral supplements are fed in conjunction with salt and others aren’t, so read the label on mineral supplement packaging to be certain.
Mineral supplements and salt come in blocks, tub licks, and loose forms. Blocks work well for rough-tongued species such as cattle but are next to useless for equines, goats, and sheep. Most species relish tub licks because the majority of them are formulated using plenty of molasses. However, all species fare best with loose minerals, which should be served up in mineral feeders designed for that purpose. Llamas, because of their unique tongue structure, must have loose minerals in lieu of blocks or licks.
