Grass clippings as hay?

[mailman]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone knew if I could use my grass clippings from my riding mower that I pick up with a yard sweeper as hay once it has dried in the sun? No chemicals are used on the lawn. I would like to use it as feed for Dexters and sheep. Thank you in advance....Dennis

[Haggis]

Some French farmers do something similar. They cut their fields while the grass is short and get as many cuttings as they can of very high quality hay as opposed to two or three cuttings of longer indifferent hay.

Try it and see if it's worth the effort for you. Who knows, you may start a trend here in the States.

Haggis @ Wolf Cairn Moor

[wr]

I've fed it to cows and it's never hurt them but never ever feed it to horses.

[pointer_hunter]

My uncle use to cut the grass for others in the area just so he could get the clippings. It is a great treat for them fresh or dried.

[AR Transplant]

I was wondering, would it matter if the yard was treated with fertilizer, pesticides, and other chemicals?

We purposely left the chemicals off our yard because of our organic cow. Until I got really tired of picking about ten ticks off me every time I milked her in the yard. We did use chemicals and now make sure that none of that grass is available for our cow. Not my favorite choice but pulling ticks off me, the kids and even my mom (bless her heart) got to be a bummer.

[Patt]

Get some guineas for those ticks!
We've fed ours grass clippings, only downside is it kills the grass you throw it on so you might want to stick it in a manger or something.
Patt

[Ken Scharabok]

You will get a better quality of 'hay' if you spread it out under shade so it dried slower out of direct sunlight.

My cousins in Croatia feed their rabbits with fresh cut forages when available, cutting some extra every day to go on the hay rack. Then the rabbits get this grass hay during the winter.

Ken S. in WC TN

[AR Transplant]

<<Get some guineas for those ticks! >>

That made me laugh, I read it fast and I thought you meant guiness, the beer, and than I thought, "I wonder if you got that from Jerry Baker that organic gardener that uses beer, soda, amonia and all sorts of weird stuff on plants.

I was getting pretty excited until I read it again and realized that you were talking about the birds. :haha:

Thanks for the tip, and I won't be putting beer in the yard now.

[Patt]

Ah now, that would be a terrible waste of good beer wouldn't it?
We do the same thing for our rabbits, cut fresh clover and grass for them now and dry some too for the winter.
Patt

[Ken Scharabok]

Perhaps it is OK to run the beer through a digestive system first.

I have a standing request with my younger sister for her to be the one to scatter my ashes by plane over the farm. Asked to have a bottle of beer mixed in first. She asked if it was OK to have processed it first. I said I wouldn't know the difference.

Ken S. in WC TN