In this article I thought I would just answer some common questions I have been receiving via the phone. First is about turning in on Johnsongrass. Well, this year we really have not had a drought. Johnsongrass is the most toxic when we get a rain after a drought. That short, young, tender Johnsongrass is the most toxic. The old rule of thumb is if it is knee high, it’s alright, is generally true. The only fallacy to that rule is if you have just heavily fertilized. Then after a drought and we get rain, it is ALL toxic.
I normally say feed your cows and turn them in with full bellies. All toxicology is dose dependent. A full belly will dilute the toxin out and of course, not let the cow lay her head down and mow off the fresh new grass as quickly. I also, recommend turn them in when you can take the time to watch them for at least 2-4 hours. Normally, if they get a toxic dose from Johnsongrass, they will start dropping within 30 minutes to 2 hours. We need to hang around for that amount of time to rest assured they will be safe on the new pasture.
Another hot topic in the fall is acorns. When we have a lot of acorns drop from the trees and there is nothing else to eat, cows will eat them. The toxic principle of acorns or oak is tannic acid. This tears the GI system up and hits the kidneys. We normally see cows affected with this having black diarrhea and they begin acting weak. Since, this is an acid, let’s counteract it using a base. The cheapest and simplest base compound that can be feed to cattle is hydrated lime. An old timer told me to add 10 percent of mineral as hydrated lime to counteract acorn poisoning. He didn’t know why it worked but it is simply back to acid-base balance. Hydrated lime is a calcium carbonate compound that can be feed to cattle. It is a little higher priced than regular lime, but works in the body better. Now that 10 percent of your mineral being hydrated is only adding 5 pounds of hydrated lime to a sack of mineral or 10 pounds of hydrated lime to two sacks of mineral.
Of course, another way to offset and keep cows from eating acorns is to give them other feed to eat. In other words, provide proper nutrition so they do not have to eat acorns.
Another topic right now that is important is to have all of your cows at a body condition score of 6. This gives them a little extra fat to survive the cold weather. If your cattle are at a BCS (Body Condition Score) of 6, then just maintain them through the winter. If they are a little thin, then we need to pump up the calories to them. If they are too fat and have a BCS over 6 then back off and save your money on high priced feed. Part of this can be done simple by feeding your best quality hay to your thin cows and your worst hay to the fat ones. But, I would also remember we need our best quality hay when these cows are lactating or have had their babies in the spring.
