Hay, silage and grazing, step by step
Interactive lesson: convert grass and silage into hay, judge hay with your senses, feed silage to the right species, turn out to grass without bloat and watch out for poisonous plants.
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The whole lesson as text
1. Dry matter
An animal eats to meet its dry matter needs, and the water in grass and silage is just water.
- Weigh the feed — Weigh the grass or silage in kilograms fresh. That's the starting figure for the sums.
- Times dry matter — Multiply by its dry matter: fresh grass has 15–25 %, maize silage 30–40 %. 6 kg of grass × 0.2 = 1.2 kg of dry matter.
- Convert to hay — Hay has 85–88 % dry matter. Divide the kg of dry matter by 0.86 and you get the hay equivalent.
- Compare with need — A 60 kg goat needs roughly 2 kg of dry matter a day. If she eats 6 kg of grass at grazing, she's roughly 0.9 kg of hay short in the evening.
Why: So it's easiest to convert everything into kilograms of dry matter or into hay. That way you know how much grazing, silage and hay goes into the same ration.
- 10 kg of grass ≈ 2 kg of dry matter ≈ 2.3 kg of hay; 10 kg of silage ≈ 3.5 kg of dry matter ≈ 4 kg of hay.
- A 550 kg cow needs roughly 13–16 kg of dry matter a day, a 500 kg horse 8–10 kg of hay.
2. Hay quality
Two hays of the same weight can be as different as day and night, and you judge them with your eyes, nose and hand.
- Colour — Good hay is greenish. Brown from heating is worth less, so check it for mould.
- Smell — Good hay smells pleasant and sweetish. Stale, sour or musty hay doesn't go in the rack, but into bedding or compost.
- Dust — Shake a handful. A white or grey cloud is mould: not for horses, rabbits or milkers. Wear a mask.
- Leaf and stem — Plenty of leaf and soft stems go to milkers and young stock. Bare woody stems are for dry females and males.
Why: Early-cut leafy hay has almost twice the protein of late, stemmy hay. Mouldy hay causes listeriosis, abortions, lung disease and colic in horses.
- Listeriosis: goats and sheep walk in circles, tilt the head, can't swallow. Call the vet straight away.
- A forage analysis once a year pays from 5 cows or 20 goats and sheep upwards; ask your feed merchant, Teagasc or your county Extension office.
3. Silage in the ration · Locked
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4. Grazing in the ration · Locked
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5. Poisonous plants · Locked
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6. Winter ration and racks · Locked
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