# Beef cattle and foxtail



## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Ok for cattle (alright, COWS) to eat a moderate amount of smaller type foxtail?
Not milking variety, just 20 month and to the butcher shop variety?


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

If you mean green or yellow foxtail (which we call pigeon grass here) I've baled up areas of the stuff on farmland that was to wet to be sprayed and fed it to cows with no problems. Usually ground and mixed with other hay but have just shredded bales of it with the processor and let the cows eat it. My only concern with feeding it is basically bringing the seed home and then some survives in the manure to be spread on other fields. 20 years ago there used to be lots of grain screenings with quite a bit of foxtail seed in it that was fed to all sorts of cattle with no ill effects. Not near as much of it around now with better chemical and better farming practices.

Now if you mean foxtail barley (which we call foxtail here), is the one that causes problems. Can cause eye irritation, sores, and abcesses in the mouth. A real PITA type of invasive grass.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

IHCman said:


> If you mean green or yellow foxtail (which we call pigeon grass here) I've baled up areas of the stuff on farmland that was to wet to be sprayed and fed it to cows with no problems. Usually ground and mixed with other hay but have just shredded bales of it with the processor and let the cows eat it. My only concern with feeding it is basically bringing the seed home and then some survives in the manure to be spread on other fields. 20 years ago there used to be lots of grain screenings with quite a bit of foxtail seed in it that was fed to all sorts of cattle with no ill effects. Not near as much of it around now with better chemical and better farming practices.
> 
> Now if you mean foxtail barley (which we call foxtail here), is the one that causes problems. Can cause eye irritation, sores, and abcesses in the mouth. A real PITA type of invasive grass.


Thanks

I will try & post up a picture of it tomorrow.

Its a smaller foxtail. We have a giant foxtail variety growing here that has seedheads that are much bigger than your thumb. I dont have this kind.

The foxtail I have is a small variety. Only grows about 18" tall and the seed heads are the size of a small childs little finger (maybe 1" long x 1/4" diameter)


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

http://ipm.missouri.edu/ipcm/2014/5/Weed-of-the-Month-The-Foxtails/


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Thanks.

I have yellow foxtail.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Nutrition value is not very good. I hear more of horses having the seed heads stuck between their teeth than I do cows. That may be due to horse owners closer association to a mouth than the average cattle person.

I personally am more concerned about the nutritional value that I am the seed heads unless the foxtail percentage is high.


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## Coondle (Aug 28, 2013)

There is a difference in the way horses and cows eat. Horses have to chew their food before swallowing it and sending it down to their one stomach. That is why horses have teeth on upper and lower jaw. Therefore if any prickles/whiskers etc the horse has a lot of chewing and in relative terms the material is dry.

Cows on the other hand have teeth on the lower jaw only and a plate on the upper jaw. (Sheep too). In fact sheep even in our arid climate can survive with no teeth at all. :lol:

Cows swallow their food in the first instance almost whole so there is not as much chewing on the prickles/whiskers as would be with a horse. Then when resting cows regurgitate the "under-chewed" forage, this is "cud" or another name for the wad of material is "bolus" and chew it more, hence a cow "chewing its cud". The cow then swallows it down to another of its 4 stomachs. (Sheep have 3 stomachs). Another term for chewing cud is "ruminating" i.e. chewing the material from the rumen. The term has got into our language for when we are thinking about things, i.e. ruminating. The first stomach is called the rumen and is on the left side and is the largest of the 4 compartments. It can hold 50 litres (25 USgallons) or more .

Has anyone noticed a cow usually looks full on the left side i.e. the hollow in front of the hip is usually filled out whereas from the right side the cow looks empty. This is because the stomach compartments on that side have a more controlled flow of material and do not become distended like the rumen.

The rumen soaks the material swallowed so when regurgitated for further chewing the material is softer and any prickles/whiskers are not a problem between teeth and gums.

Horses should not be fed hay made from barley or bearded wheat because the whiskers on the heads are likely to lodge in their gums. Cows and sheep do not experience the same issues and can readily eat barley or bearded wheat hay.

While I have no experience with foxtail of any hue, because I do not have the pleasure of having any (I have more than enough undesirable weeds without that too  ), I would hazard a guess , for the reasons set out above, that cows and sheep would not suffer as horses do with foxtail.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

There's a lot of it been baled here but it seems like the more it's mowed the less of it comes back if you get before it starts dropping seeds. Some fields here have almost been completely eradicated of the stuff.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Grateful11 said:


> There's a lot of it been baled here but it seems like the more it's mowed the less of it comes back if you get before it starts dropping seeds. Some fields here have almost been completely eradicated of the stuff.


Two of the three foxtails here are annual.

The third is Knotroot Foxtail which is perennial. It is bad news, thick clumpy root system and a real pain.


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