Hay, silage and grazing in the ration

In short

• Work in dry matter: 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.
• Hay for a 180-day winter: goat 400 kg, sheep 350 kg, cow 2,300 kg, horse 1,650 kg, donkey 700 kg, plus a 10–15 % reserve.
• Silage only if it's good, and only for ruminants; never for horses or rabbits, and goats with caution.
• Onto grazing gradually over 7–10 days; in spring watch for bloat and grass staggers.
• Meadow saffron, yew, hellebore and ragwort stay poisonous in hay too.
• Losses in the rack and on the ground easily exceed 20 %: good hay racks soon pay for themselves.

What's inside

Chapters

1. Forage in the ration: what's what
2. Dry matter: how to convert
3. Hay quality: eyes, nose and hand
4. Silage and haylage in the ration
5. Grazing in the ration
6. Poisonous plants in meadow and pasture
7. Winter ration without grazing
8. Losses in the rack and how to cut them
9. Common mistakes
10. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Hay and grazing calculator
• Winter ration plan
• Hay and silage batch record
• Hay barn inventory
• Forage calendar
• Forage shopping list