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Hay is made from the stems, leaves, and seed heads of plants that are fresh. It is cut and baled when it has the most nutritional value, and is fed to livestock.
What are hay made of?
hay, in agriculture, dried grasses and other foliage used as animal feed. Usually the material is cut in the field while still green and then either dried in the field or mechanically dried by forced hot air. Typical hay crops are timothy, alfalfa, and clover.
What is difference between straw and hay?
Hay is a crop that is grown and harvested as a feed crop for cattle, horses and other farm animals. Straw on the other hand is a byproduct of a grain crop; in our area it’s usually usually wheat straw that we see. Hay often is made up of a combination of different plants growing in a field or meadow.
Is hay just dried grass?
Hay is a grass or can be a form of grass. When referring to it as a form of grass, it is a cut grass that has been cut then dried for the purpose of becoming an animal feed or food. Hay is a common food commodity for livestock owners who raise horses, cattle, sheep and goats.
Can you make hay out of any grass?
Although you can’t make haystacks as above form suburban lawn (you’ll need taller grass and lots of it), grass clippings are excellent for making hay in smaller amount. The two most important things to check are: The lawn shouldn’t be chemically treated: no weed-killing solution or chemical fertilizer used.
What is hay making?
Hay making is the process of turning green, perishable forage into a product that can be safely stored and easily transported without danger of spoilage, while keeping nutrient loss to a minimum. Feeding hay to livestock helps reduce the amount of concentrate feeding, and thereby, the cost of feeding.
How is hay bales made?
Farmers cut hay in the field and let it dry for several days in the sun. Then they raked the dried hay into rows and ran baling equipment over the rows. This produced the bales. Storage is key to keeping this crop ready to be fed to animals in the winter.
Is hay a wheat?
Most hay is grown to be used as animal feed, and is generally, as Mary Beth correctly notes, timothy, rye, alfalfa or a specialized grass. But cereal crops like wheat, oats and barley are sometimes grown for animal feed as well as human consumption. When the plants are left intact and bundled up, it’s hay.
Can chickens eat hay?
While not common, providing hay for chickens can be a good thing. It’s an inexpensive way to provide food and a little entertainment to these animals. A hay bale in a chicken run gives birds the opportunity to search for a variety of tasty treats. Many chickens don’t enjoy eating straw or hay, however.
Do cows eat hay?
Hay is the most commonly used winter feed for beef cattle, but it’s also the most expensive. Each cow requires a daily intake of 40 pounds of round-baled hay, which amounts to $1.61 if pricing hay at $80 per ton.
Can humans eat hay?
Hay is edible for humans. It just is not as digestible for humans as it is for other animals like cattle. Some upscale restaurants serve food with hay in it. It can be used as a flavoring component in food or as a presentation component or garnish.
Can I make my own hay?
You don’t need a tractor and big farm equipment to make hay, it’s extremely easy to do on your own. All you need is access to grass and somewhere to dry and store it. If you have poultry I’m going to assume you have a backyard of sorts, but you can even dry hay inside your own house you are so inclined.
What exactly is hay?
Hay is a plant that has been cut, dried, and stored for animal feed. Hay is made from the stems, leaves, and seed heads of plants that are fresh. It is cut and baled when it has the most nutritional value, and is fed to livestock.
Is hay ruined if rained on?
Rained-on hay often has relatively high protein values compared to fiber content unless there’s great leaf loss. Leaves contain a lot of the plant’s protein. As soluble carbohydrates leach, structural fibers make up a greater percent of forage dry matter. The digestibility of rained-on hay can decline 6 to 40 percent.
Can you grow hay in your backyard?
Commercial farms have little difficulty raising hay or sourcing out their needs, but smaller farmers and urban hobbyists can also grow, harvest and bale hay even on a smaller scale. Haying can be challenging, and some farmers simply enjoy that challenge.
What type of grass is used for hay?
Commonly used plants for hay include mixtures of grasses such as ryegrass (Lolium species), timothy, brome, fescue, Bermuda grass, orchard grass, and other species, depending on region. Hay may also include legumes, such as alfalfa (lucerne) and clovers (red, white and subterranean).
What is hay made from in Australia?
The wheaten hay is made from the Baroota Wonder variety, which is well recognised as a dedicated wheat variety for making wheaten chaff for the equine industry. Wheaten straw for fodder substitution is a common by-product of the extensive wheat industry in Western Australia.
Can you ferment hay?
Fermentation is a biochemical reaction accomplished by bacteria as they consume the plant sugars and oxygen. With the ensiling of corn and hay crops, the desired fermentation end product is lactic acid.
