In the Feb. issue of The Fur Taker, Gary Jepson's article "Excerpts From Chronicles of a Longliner" mentions "caking" cows.

"My partner's cows were still out and he caked every other day, quite a long process."
"The next day my partner was caking cows."

What is meant by caking cows? My guess is it has to do with a type of feed?

Yes, cow cakes or cubes

Feedin them out on the range as opposed to in a lot with bunks. It is used to supplement pasture that is in poor condition due to winter or drought and / or catch a set of cows led by a high headed (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman)

Range cubes

Large pellets/cubes made out of cotton seed. Additional protein and carbs for cattle in poor grazing conditions, or inclement weather.




Charlie

Just caked a few cows a minute ago. Extra cake in this weather.i must admit I had been cubing cows up until I read this post

Can I ask, where do you get cow cubes in southern Michigan, and what do they cost per ton?

Any tractor supply, or feed store will have it.

Or your local feed dealer can hook you up with bulk.

I'm a little disappointed here boys..... golden opportunity for a little tall tale and we miss it . The first answer never has to be the truth. Lol

Just curious how that lasts in wet conditions? Does it rot if exposed to the elements for an extended period of time?

They eat it right away

A lot of alfalfa product cubes here.

Water breaks them down fast . Don't feed them more than they can eat at once . Rarely do we feed more than 50# for 80 head . Maybe a hundred before it gets in the single digits day after tomarrow night . For us it's more like getting them hooked on cow cokane than a supplement . Those cows will follow a bag of cubes anywhere . Our main herd is eighty head of cows ,if you have cubes they all want to be close to you about twenties will eat from your hand and are aggressive about it . All three of our bulls eat from your hand . It's a great adventure for our city friends to come out and hand feed the bulls and cows

I agree yes sir that could have been entertaining

I was sure it had something to do with Scottish bachelor parties and sheep....

I have seen videos of stranded herds during severe blizzards being fed via helicopters cubes or cakes or whatever one wants to call them. Big demand in Asia for alfalfa cubes as density is much better than even tight bales. One advantage of feeding cubes is one can order the quality you need or want. Cubes are not common in WI but we have a couple sizable alfalfa mills that buy hay of varying qualities and then can formulate product with different levels of protein, RFV etc.

Bryce