Hay is a stable roughage for almost — if not all — hobby farmers with four - legged livestock . We trust on it during the wintertime when grass is go or covered with snow and throughout the sleep of the year when our animals may have limited access to forage for various reasons .
At first blush , hay is not complicated . It ’s skip and dry plant matter , after all . But herein lies the mystery . The type of plant and when it was cut can make for drastically different nutrient profiles .
Let ’s take a deeper look into this all - around fiber .
Types of Hay
The two most commonly encountered type of stock hay in the U.S. aregrass and legume Will Hays . And several specific types live within these two categorization . There is also mixed hay , which , true to its name , is a mixture of both grass and legume type .
Grass William Harrison Hays are true grasses . These let in ( among others ):
The type of smoke hay you ’re most likely to encounter depend on where you and your farm animal are in the country . Grass species fall into cool - atmospheric condition and fond - weather types , describe which conditions they grow well in .
For example , if you ’re further north , you may typically see timothy grass hay . Timothy is a cool weather grass . Contrast this with more southerly locales , where brome or Bermudas grass ( both fond conditions grasses ) tend to farm .
Legume hay is made from a different type of plant than bare Gunter Grass . Botanically speaking , legumes arenitrogen - fixers . Symbiotic bacteria within their antecedent systems employ environmental N for growth , benefitting both the bacterium and the works . Grass does not do this .
Common types of legume hay include Medicago sativa , clover and lespedeza ( among others ) .
Nutritionally , there are a few large differences between grass and legume hays . Generally , legumes are higher in calcium and protein mental object as compared to grass William Harrison Hays , and are typically higher in overall caloric capacity . For this cause , legume hay like alfalfa is a great option to feed young grow animals . Same start for adults that have higher Energy Department requirements , such as pregnant animals and senior with lower body condition score due to health issues .
instead , if you have over - conditioned animals ( a dainty way of saying rich creature ) , you may consider cut their calorie by feeding only Mary Jane hay .
Because of their general nutritionary superiority , legume hays also tend to be more expensive than grass Will Hays . Knowing the professional and confidence game of each type of hay shock both your creature and your pocket book .
scan more : Should you measure hay by the Basle or by bulk ?
Time of Cutting
In many parts of the U.S. , the growing time of year go on over several months through belated spring into early fall . This means that a field of crop spring up for haycan be cutup to three or four time during a single time of year .
This creates further choice in what you purchase : first - cut versus second - cutting versus third - cutting off , etc .
How untried or old a plant is when cut also impact its nutritional content , as base on leaf to shank proportion . broadly speaking , the more farewell within a certain hay newspaper clipping , the more nutritious it is . When you evaluate whether to purchase a sure type of hay , ask about what cutting it is and look for foliage .
establish on your animals ’ requirements , this can help you make a pick on what to buy .
Read more : These are the 20 political machine and pecker you ’ll need for baling hay .
But How Do You Know for Sure?
Of course , all of this is to say that you ca n’t be totally certain of your hay ’s nutritional economic value just by look at its leave , knowing what geld it is and its type . Laboratory analysis of your hay is a fantastic way to really understand what you ’re feeding your animate being .
To grab an adequate sample of your hay to take for analysis , you ask a creature called ahay corer , also called a hay probe . Many pocket-sized operations do n’t have one . Contact your local extension agent to grab one on loan .
Refer to theNational Forage Testing Associationfor inside information on how and where to commit your sample distribution . Their website carry a wealth of data , admit utile and easy to realize infographics .
Once you ’ve mail in a sample , results in term of percentages will be return . But terms likedry matter and acid detergent fibercan seem bizarre , intimidating and unhelpful . So talk to your wing agent and veterinarian about what they mean in relation to your herd ’s nutritional requirements .
In this way , a picayune homework can reap a large payoff in understanding on the nose what you ’re feed your animals .
