Are there hazards to grazing oats

bja105

Member
I have 4 acres I planted this spring in Timothy and oats. Between late planting and low PH, it didn't grow very tall. Rather than haying it, I want to graze it. The oats are in boot stage. I am grazing cows and horses. Is there any risk to the livestock from the hulls? How about as the grain matures?

I ask because oats are de-hulled and rolled when fed as grain. I wonder if the hulls get stuck in the animals mouths or throats.
 

I know of no problems when grazing oats. I have a friend that grazes yearling steers on oats from around Thanksgiving day to June 15 every year. Back in my youth I filled calf creep feeders with whole combine run oats for the nursing beef calves to eat.
 
As with any ruminant animal, gradually introduce new feedstuffs. They can bloat on
most any feed, but much less likely on oat/grass mixture. Once their rumen bacteria
have adapted, they can go on full feed with little or no side effects.
Ben
 
We used to chop oats just before they headed out. Cows loved them and milked like crazy on them. They didn't care so much for them once they started to head out.
 
I fed them too. Was warned on feeding Wheat to ruminants however. Said it makes dough and gets hung up....don't know validity of tale, just passing it
on and didn't feed them.
 
I've head the same thing. The gluten clogs them up. But grazing would probably mix enough roughage in to keep things flowing. Wheat makes good hay before the kernels start filling, but after it heads the feed quality drops way down.
 
I'm talking about headed out, mature plants. Grazed wheat in the winter many times, nice and succulent, beautiful fields......till the cows got on it and would take 2 bites and 20 steps, and 2 bites and 20 steps. Got tired of that and it was hay and cubes or do without.
 
Since you planted this past spring the soil may be too soft to support much foot traffic without losing too much young grass. Mowing the oats
and leaving it to rot down is what I would be tempted to do.
 
(quoted from post at 19:18:43 07/01/18) I would worry about the horses eating the heads of the oats and foundering too.

I was told yrs ago by a veterinarian that because oat seeds have such large husks & low protein value that it's unlikely for a horse to consume enough oat seed to founder. I know of a woman not far from me that's feeding her horses free choice oat rd bales that contain seed heads
 

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