Table of Contents
What does fresh hay look like?
Good quality hay should be bright green in color with little fading. A bleached, yellow, brown or black color may indicate aged hay, mold or poor storage conditions. Storage condition and age have a significant effect on vitamin content of hays.
How do you tell the difference between straw and hay?
Straw is yellow, and it is made from grain crops (like wheat) by removing the grain and chaff. Straw has no seeds, and it is used for animal bedding, mulch, or compost. Hay is yellow or green, and it is made from dried grasses or legumes (like alfalfa). Hay has seeds, and it is used as animal feed.
What is the difference between hay and 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.
What is hay made of?
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.
How can you tell good hay?
Look for the following characteristics: Maturity – High quality hay will have a high proportion of leaves in the bale, with few or no coarse stems or seed heads. Condition – High quality hay will contain little dust or mold. Color & odor – High quality hay generally has a bright green color and a sweet, fresh odor.
Is hay different than straw?
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. Straw on the other hand, is much better for use as a garden mulch.
Should I use hay or straw in my garden?
Hay and straw both make great mulch in the garden as long as they weren’t treated with persistent herbicides or contain noxious weed seeds. Using hay or straw as mulch in the garden has the following benefits: Reduces moisture loss and reduces watering. Keeps soil cooler in hot weather.
Is hay a good mulch?
Hay will not give you a dry layer of cover that is pleasing to look at, but it is a great mulch for growing flowers and vegetables, and you’ll get a fantastic yield. To start a garden, with seeds or starters, first create a thick layer of hay, up to eight inches (20 cm.), right over your garden soil.
Is hay just cut grass?
Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs.
Is hay better than grass?
Nutritional Baselines for Hay Grass Hay averages 10.8% protein and 12.9% NSC. Alfalfa Hay is also higher in Calcium, with about 3 times as much as Grass Hay. This can become important when considering the ideal Calcium:Phosphorus ratio for horses, which should be about 2:1.
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.
How do you plant hay?
Ten steps for a successful new seeding Ensure soil pH and fertility are within recommended ranges. Plant high-quality seed. Seed early. Plant into a good seedbed. Calibrate the drill or seeder. Don’t plant too deep. Use press-wheel drills in a conventionally prepared seedbed. Companion crop or not?.
What is hay food?
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.
How do you identify hay grass?
To identify grasses in established pastures, first check to see whether the grass is sod forming (spreading) or bunching (forms clumps). If you’re examining a sod-forming grass, the next step is to look at the width of the leaf blades (1⁄2-inch wide, 1⁄4-inch wide, or less than 1⁄8-inch wide).
Is alfalfa the same as hay?
There are quite a few different types of hay that people feed to horses, but hay generally falls into one of two categories – legumes and grasses. Alfalfa hay, sometimes called lucerne hay, is the most popular legume hay fed to horses in the U.S., while timothy and orchard are popular grass hay choices.
How do you keep hay looking green?
“Generally, we start adding preservative when moisture levels get much above 15 to 16%,” says Chris. “In addition, we try to leave a space between each stack of bales when we put them in the shed. That allows the air to move around the bales so they maintain their green color.
What should hay smell like?
Color and aroma. Good hay smells fresh and slightly sweet. Acrid or musty smells usually indicate the presence of mold.
Is my hay bad?
Signs that your horse hay may be bad include a lack of color or dried-out appearance, a moldy smell, excessive dust, visible mold, or excessive heat towards the center of the hay bale. Because hay provides your horse with so many essential nutrients, you must provide your horse with the best quality hay available.
