Haylage

InvalidID · #1 04/01/12, 05:22 PM

I've heard talk of this before but thought I'd ask anyway. What do you guys think of haylage? How well does it store? Would it make a decent winter feed? I found a really cheap source and am thinking of stocking up for next winter.

myersfarm · #2 04/01/12, 07:19 PM

I feed baleage here high moisture grass hay baled in 4 x 4 bales wrapped in plastic....

what are you talking about ....loose grass..baled grass..what kind of grass....or is it something else
...store in single bales..in a long wrapped tube....in a pit

myersfarm · #3 04/01/12, 07:28 PM

Haylage and Other Fermented Forages

genebo · #4 04/01/12, 07:30 PM

I fed haylage one year and my cattle loved it.

It was difficult to handle, since the bales weigh so much. I broke my hay spear twice and had to buy a stronger one.

Haylage doesn't store well. Just a matter of months.

A bale of haylage contains about the same amount of nutrition as a bale of dry hay. It's a convenience for the baler and is tasty to the cattle.

My friend that milks says he quit baling haylage because it made the milk taste like haylage. It's sort of a dill pickle smell.

kycrawler · #5 04/01/12, 08:02 PM

I have fed baleage before high moisture alfalfa baled and wrapped 3x4x8 big squares drove the trailer load through the pasture and dropped them at freeze up went out during the winter on 4 wheeler and cut the top plastic off they ate out of the plastic like a trough , feeds ok cows like it

DaleK · #6 04/01/12, 08:22 PM

Depends what you're thinking of using. I've used about everything, tower silos, bagged haylage, bunker silos, tube wrapped bales and individually wrapped bales. Any of them can work depending on what you're doing with it and if you have enough animals to eat enough to keep it fresh.

springvalley · #7 04/01/12, 08:23 PM

Haylage is put in silos or bags, baleage is baled by a baler and sealed in either a wrap or bag. It is wonderful feed, if you can get a good source that is a good price, buy it. > Thanks Marc

sammyd · #8 04/01/12, 09:34 PM

if it is haylage how are you stocking up?
I would worry about taking it out or the silo or bag and restacking it. Allows a bunch of air back in and spoilage would be the result.

InvalidID · #9 04/01/12, 11:08 PM

This stuff is bagged. It's something like 1200 lb bags for about $30 bucks and certified organic. I don't really care about the organic art but it's a bonus I suppose. I wonder how long it will stay good after I open it though. Provided it's still sealed in the bag it'll stay good right?

genebo · #10 04/02/12, 08:21 AM

Once I opened a bale of haylage, the cattle really ate it up!

I only had 8 Dexters at the time, so the bale should have lasted 10 days for them. However, at about the 7th day, they quit eating it. It had soured or something and they no longer liked it. The smell had changed a lot. From alcoholic to vinegary.

Most people wouldn't have this problem, having so many more cattle than I did, but for a small owner, it made some serious problems.

One was the waste. They weren't getting all that I was paying for.

Two was the disposal of the wasted haylage. It never did dry up enough to burn it and it was packed too tighly to rot. I still have spots where I fed it that won't grow good grass, several years later.

It's funny, but the first bale of corn haylage I put out really smelled alcoholic. The cattle acted like they never wanted to quit eating it. They spent the next 24 hours glued to the round bale feeder. Finally, my bull decided to go into the shade inside the barn to lay down. The door to the barn is 10 feet wide. He missed it. Drunk as can be, he'd slammed into the door jamb.

He slept good once he got in.

sammyd · #11 04/02/12, 01:21 PM

7 days is a loooong time.
3 would be pushing it most times.
Even in a silo we liked to remove 3-4 inches a day to keep the stuff from spoiling.

Oakshire_Farm · #12 04/02/12, 04:01 PM

We have been feeding bailage. To make it we cut the grass, and within 24 hrs it is round baled and wrapped in plastic.

A bale weighs about 800-900 lbs. We put one in the feeder and have 2 horses (drafts and draft x) 4 Jersey cows, a Dexter bull and a Llama eating it. They generally last about 4-6 days. Depending on the quality of the grass...... we have a few fields that are "low land" grasses, it is quite coarse. But when bailed damp, the grass does not dry out and is still palatable. The horses are not fussy and eat anything! The cows can be fussy and if they are not eating as much as I like to see them eating we put out hay for them as well.

lonelyfarmgirl · #13 04/02/12, 05:15 PM

We have fed baleage all winter this year, and we are still feeding it now. These are single bales, in the 1500-1800 pound range and we got them for 35$ each, but they were a 2+ hour drive away. That is a steal price, but then add the cost of a semi run for every 32 bales. With dry hay topping 300$ a ton, finding these for that price, even with the drive was a blessing.
The cattle love it, but it make them poo a little loose since it is wet. Some of the bales smell like booze, some smell rotten, and some smell like candy. They like it either way.

myersfarm · #14 04/02/12, 06:13 PM

My calfs gain weight in the winter on Baleage.....but will not on just Hay they just maintian and gain very little from the same field....that is a sign to me to keep doing it

how it is put up and how many wraps are put on the baleage makes it last longer.....I wrap mine in singles....but my firend wraps his in the long tubes...both of us have kept Baleage over a year old and still looks and feeds great.....I have never had drunk cows with it....all ours here is FESCUE Baleage...If you see my first post I bale mine in 4 X 4 bales because of the weight ...my baler is a 4 X 5

bruce2288 · #15 04/03/12, 08:30 AM

Haleage is like hay it is only as good as what you start with. The other consideration is that you are buying 50-60% water as opposed to 10-20% in hay.

myersfarm · #16 04/03/12, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InvalidID

This stuff is bagged. It's something like 1200 lb bags for about $30 bucks

I wish you could get the name and model number of the machine that does this..

..UNBALED stuff into a 1200 lb. BAG...

.I have searched and can not find anything like this......I only can find baled and wrapped or stuffed in to a 100 foot long bag

InvalidID · #17 04/03/12, 11:38 AM

I'll ask him the next time I see him. HE lives about 20 minutes from me and if I decide to buy some of this stuff for the winter I'll want to lock in early.