Small scale corn silage

[Rob30]

I am planning on doing some small scale corn silage next year. Basically turning our sweet corn left overs into silage for the sheep and goats. My plan is to become less reliant on grain production for winter these critters.
I will be chopping corn stalks into large plastic bags. My issue is keeping critters out. We do not have rats around here, but lots of mice, squirrels, chipmunks. I know sheep are a high risk for listeriosis, so I do not want spoilage. I have thought about using barrels, but that would make production cost very high, since barrels sell for about $15-20 each around here. I may do a few barrels and each year add a few to spread out cost.
My plan is to get silage production down pat before investing in any larger equipment. I have not decided if I want to start feeding the cows corn silage yet. I am maxed out with me grain production due to time and old small equipment, so corn silage seems like a viable option at this point.

[elkhound]

what about doing a small ground pit??

[Forerunner]

I've done this very thing several times.

Chop it fine and pack it tight.

Plastic barrels with sealable lids work great.
I've also used double plastic liner all around.
There is always a little spoilage, and mice have only been a problem where the material was too dry or exposed.
A "pit" as Elk mentioned, could be fashioned from heavy planks to be mouseproof around the walls, lined with plastic inside and then a mouseproof cover made for the tp.

I was feeding cattle, and not terribly concerned, though the spoiled portions did go to the compost.

[elkhound]

here they dig a pit in ground like a trench and fill it with silage.cover it with a heavy plastic.coons can be hard on it as any tear where air gets in causes spoilage and that can create certain molds to grow that can cause abortion in prego cows.many in ground silos are fed to feeder stock that will be sold or to non bred heifers too.

i seen one guy who didnt want to move the feed out into bunks so he built a type of metal feeder that fit across the pit where steers stuck head in and ate free choice when they could no longer reach silage it was pushed in a bit farther.

[Rob30]

The pit will probably be the way I go eventually. I can't justify spending the money on the animals I have now. As it is the chopper and wagons will cost me a few bucks if I decide to upsize to feed the cattle.
I don't plan on feeding bred cows at this time, just the stockers that we are wintering, plus the sheep and goats.
I would like to see some more operations using pit silos. One of our issues is we have clay soil and lots of water, so contamination is an issue. Plus my wife and kids feed the critters when I am at work. So I need it to be fairly easy managed, because they do not like operating the tractors.
This year I plan to chip the corn into a garbage can lined with heavy plastic bags. I will be setting up an electric lawn mower over the garbage can, to use as a chipper.

To go along with this I may try making some haylage in the same manner. Using my small square baler and bagging the bails tightly Not sure if the baler could handle it though.

[geo in mi]

Sweet corn silage, after the ears are harvested, contains about 8% crude protein. Wouldn't you have to add something else to get the protein, and maybe the carbs, they need? And figuring your costs, barrels, equipment, spoilage, wouldn't you have to also calculate the offset from the loss from not returning the stalks back to the soil? After all, it took a lot of Nitrogen o produce it. Just a thought or two.

geo

[FarmboyBill]

Rob, your bailer will handle it . If it dosent, the shear pin will break. IF I was going to do that, id sharpen the knives, which Ive done on my bailer. That would reduc e a lot of pressure on the pin.
Dad thought he wanted a pit silo also. he had the pit dug, had the corn chopped, so he likely didn't make a dime on it. Found it was a bother to feed cows and go to work, so he put a gate in the entrance, and let them in for so long a day, or evening, and all day on weekends. only did that once. We played in the pit for years, as I was in GS then.

[fishhead]

Goats are also susceptible to listeriosis. I lost one to that disease the first year I had goats.

[elkhound]

i have seen corn stalks baled and then local co op come out and use and injector to probe bales at various points and inject molasses to make them more desirable to cows.

[Raymond James]

If the corn stocks go through an animals gut you get lots of good manure to use as fertilizer on the fields. Pasture those animals on the field to clean up any corn and feed your silage in the field so that waste and manure is on the field come spring. Just move feeder around to help spread it.

You still get areas with heavy amounts of manure moving it but not as bad as if you feed in one place all winter.

[jwal10]

You need something that will cut 1/2 to 3/4" pieces, not shredded like a lawn mower will do. Then pack it into the trash can good. Use good quality bags and double them. Need to be put where animals will not poke holes in them. Me I would feed to cattle, not enough protein for smaller animals. Goats and horses are not good, any spoilage is not good for them. I have fed sheep silage, very carefully. Any silage pit or silo needs fed off at a rate of about 6" a day to keep from spoiling. After a bag is opened it should be fed in 2 feedings. Not as critical with cattle, 4 will be OK. A round baler with bags works best for smaller batches. Not net wrap. An ag bagger for large amounts. Very important to get the material fine and packed tight. We had pit and upright silos....James

[Forerunner]

I used my wood chippers.

Both models, a larger industrial version and a 6 inch, did the job well.

Incidentally, as per the protein concern, silage and alfalfa make a phenomenal cattle feed combination.

[jwal10]

Originally Posted by Forerunner

I used my wood chippers.

Both models, a larger industrial version and a 6 inch, did the job well.

Incidentally, as per the protein concern, silage and alfalfa make a phenomenal cattle feed combination.

Sweet corn puts the sugars in the cob, silage corn stays in the stalk but also has the kernels. 2 different things. We made silage from a lot of things, sweet corn stubble, green bean stubble, silage corn, sudan grass, grasses, clover, lotus, grains at boot stage, etc. Depending on use. Dairy cattle or beef cows and fed cattle....James

[Forerunner]

Who said the sweet corn stalks that I used were harvested of their ears ?

Many farm folks around here plant a patch of sweet corn with the corn planter at the end of the planting season.....and there are a LOT of leftovers......

I've also tasted the juice in green sweet corn stalks....and it was sweet.

[elkhound]

in ww2 in u.k. they cut everything for silage....even stinging nettles.

[elkhound]

when i was growing up the older farmers planted sorghum in with corn for silage now you just dont ever see that.i wonder why? it adds sweetness to the mix .seems it should be in there to make silage more appealing.

[elkhound]

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/index.html

[myheaven]

With just a few animals I often pack it into old clean frosting buckets. I can bring it in the house and thaw it. I have done it in 55 gallon metal barrels also. I get them cheap. Line with double layer of contractor bags put on a lid of wood or metal. Silage comes out pretty easy with a potato fork. If you need to bump proteins. You can add distillers grains. In layers. Add a couple tbls of molasses to a quart of water to ensure proper bacteria and make it more edible.
I use my lawn and leaf/ brush chipper to make it. For the hay silage I use my push mower with bagger. You can also make it out of poplar leaves. They contain 20% protein.
I just fed my milk cow some hayledge. Along with her alfalfa. My dh was amazed she ate her silage before the alfalfa.
Now my thing I'm looking to build is a small tmr mixer out Of my cracked plastic stock tank. A small tmr mixer runs almost 9,000 without delivery.
With silage you are only limited to your imagination and what you can find around you.

[Rob30]

We grow a heritage sweet corn that grows at least two cobs per plant. However not all cobs are harvestable by the end of the season. There is a lot of waste. I am planning to do this mostly to get some good feed off of a waste product. We never plow our corn stalks in to the garden. That is how you become infested with corn borers. They winter in the stalks down by the root of the plant. We usually pull and compost the whole plant. However animals are extremely inefficient and for every pound of feed that enter you get almost the same return in manure. So fertility is not a problem.
I could feed the silage to calves, but I am really looking for a way to help my sheep and goats break the grain habit. Silage and haylage seem like a good alternative. As far as protein, I am not planning to feed corn silage solely. As far as I have read that is not good for any animal. I only plan to supplement their hay. A little extra energy to help get through our Canadian winters. Haylage from grass clippings is another plan for the summer.

[myheaven]

Here is a great video from a small scale farm. I hope you can watch it. Just do the same with corn.

YouTube