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Value of Legume Hays for Dairy Heifers

Arkansas Agricultural Experimental Station

Abstract

1. Cowpea hay was about equal to alfalfa hay for producing body gains on dairy heifers, the tendency being to lay on more fat.
   
2. Alfalfa hay produced greater growth of skeleton than cowpea hay as shown by greater increases in body measurements.
   
3. Cowpea hay was not as palatable, nor was it consumed with as little waste as alfalfa hay.
   
4. Soybean hay made from mature large stemmed plants, was not as palatable as alfalfa hay but when leafy, bright colored and not too woody, it can be substituted for alfalfa hay in the growing ration of dairy heifers with equally good results for gains and growth.
   
5. The addition of bone-meal and cod liver oil to a grain and soybean hay ration showed no beneficial effects.
   
6. Mung bean hay proved equal to alfalfa hay for producing gains and growth with dairy heifers when fed with skim-milk and a grain mixture.
   
7. Chopped mung bean hay will be eaten more readily and with less waste.
   

The legumes—cowpea, soybean and mung bean—should be used more extensively by Southern dairymen as hay crops, especially where they yield more hay and fit better into the farm management plan than do alfalfa or clover.