Hay and Silage Making

Hay
DANVEER SINGH YADAV

Assistant Professor
Livestock Production Management
College of Veterinary Science & A. H. (NDVSU) MHOW
Hay: Conservation of high-quality forages with minimum loss of
nutrient by drying is termed as hay making.
 The principle of hay making is to preserve nutritional value of
forages through drying it to a level (less than 12-15%
moisture) at which the activity of microbial decomposers is
inhibted.
 In India, sunlight is available in abundance, which enables
farmers to dry the green forage in open sunlight and thus
making hay more economical.

 The hay making leads to reduction of moisture
content to 10-15%, which inhibits the enzyme activity
in the plant to be conserved.
 Various mrthods of drying includes drying on wire,
roof tops, treetops, galvanized tin sheets, tripod
stand, tetra pod stands, field curing.

Hay
Crops suitable for hay making
 Thin stemmed cereal crops like sorghum, oat, reage
grasses, range legumes particularly sylosanthes,
Siretro, cowpea, lablab, and all the cultivated legume
fodders like berseem, lucerne, and cowpea are suitable
for hay making.
 Leguminous forages have high buffering action and
high nitrogen content, and hence are more suitable to
be conveniently conserved as hay.
 Cultivated fodders like hybrid napier, para grass,
guinea grass, teosinte are not suitable for hay making.
Method of Hay Making
Hay making is relatively more convenient and easy for Indian farmars.
1. Cut leguminous crops (berseem or lucerne) in thew pre-blossom

stage in order to ensure conservation of protein and available
energy to a great extent.
2. Chop the forage while still moist (fresh or wilted) with a chaff-cutter.
Thin stemmed crops including crops including legumes can be
dried without chopping while thick stemmed fodders like sorghum,
maize and bajra (pearl millet) require chopping or crushing before
they are allowed to dry.
3. Chopping need not be too fine. The best length of the cut is about
5 to 8 cm.
4 Spread the wet chopped forage in the sun on a smooth
hard surface in a thin layer not exceeding 12 to 15 cm in
height. The the usual threshing floors, roof tops,
polythene sheet. Can be used for dring of forages.
5 Stir the drying forage every 2-3 hours during the day to
speed up the drying process under exposure to the sun
and the air.

6. When throughly dry (usually) after 2-3 days,
depending on the frequency of stirring the intensity of
the sun and the movement of the air, gather the
mixture of dried stems and leaves to store or market.
 When hay balers become available, the chopped and

dried forage can be baled.
 Baling reduce the storage space and facilitates the

transport of the forage to the market.
Hay Storage
7. After it is well dried (dry-matter content at the time of
storing should be around 85-90%) the forage can be
stored at the farm as hay in the same way as wheat
bhusa in the thatched or mud-covered stacks or in
building normally used for storing wheat bhusa rice
straw.
Good quality of hay
 Good quality hay should contain moisture between
12-15%, should be highly digestible, leafy, pliable,
palatable, free from undesirable weeds and moulds.
 It should be free from dust, green in colour and

should have minimum loss of nutrients while curing.
Hay
Advantages of Hay Making
1. It is most suitable method of conservation of green
fodder for small holder.
2. Less expensive to prepare a high quality
conserved from of feed.
3. It is possible to maintain more stock on a certain
area of land .
4. Many undesirable things present in a fresh crop
are eliminated after it is converted into hay.
Disadvantages of Hay Making
1. In making hay from high-quality forage, the biggest
drawback is the loss of valuable leaves in handling.
2. Some nutrients are always lost in field curing of

hay.
3. Drying of green forages at ordinary temperature

reduces its digestibility.
4. Loss of vitamins due to bleaching and

fermentation.
Silage
DANVEER SINGH YADAV

Assistant Professor
Livestock Production Management
College of Veterinary Science & A. H. (NDVSU) MHOW
 Silage is defined as a material produced by
controlled fermentation of crops under anaerobic
condition.
 The process of preserving feed in the form of silage

is called as ensiling.
 The green fodder harvested at proper stage is

stored, packed and compressed in silo and it is then
tightly covered to prevent the contact with fresh air.
 The receptacle or structure in which silage is being
prepared is called as silo, it is generally air
tight/semi-airtight structure.
 In India at most of the farms pit silos are more

popular than other types.
Silage preparation
1. The crops at the time of ensiling should have about
30-35 % DM and should have sufficient soluble
sugars for acid production during fermentation.
2. Crops of high moisture should be ensiled with the

addition of preservatives and additives.
3. The crop harvested in bloom stage is the best for

silage preparation.
4. If a crop is deficient in soluble carbohydrates (e.g
legumes) then a carbohydrate source like
molasses can be added.
5. The crop should be properly trampled/ pressed to

remove the air out of the silo.
6. Crop should be chopped before ensiling.
7. For good silage, the shorter the chop length, the

better is the quality.
Silo
 It is an airtight structure designed for the storage and
preservation of high moisture feed as silage.
 It is a hole/pit in the ground, trench or a tower where
green fodder is stored for preparation of silage.
 While preparing a silo some precaution should be
taken.
 It should be airtight to prevent growth of moulds, the wall
of silo should be smooth, perpendicular and strong so as
to allow better compression, height and depth of silo
depends on demand of silage, water level in the area,
cost of construction and machinery available for filling
the silo, the top of the silo thoroughly covered with a
water proof material like plastic sheet, concrete slabs
etc.
 Normally the height of a cylindrical silo is taken double
of its diameter.
Silo Pit
Crops suitable for silage making
 Crops having thick, solid stems and rich in soluble

carbohydrate are best for silage preparation e.g.
Maize sorghum, bajra.
 Silage can also be prepared from oat,berseem after

wilting to 35-40% DM.
Crops suitable for silage making
Stage of crops suitable for ensiling
 Maize-dent stage ; Oat, sorghum, Bajra-milk or
dough stage, Berseem, Lucerne-20-25% bloom
stage, natural grasses-early flowering stage.
Method of Silage Preparation
1. First step for silage making is preparation of silo pit at
desired location and leveling the pit.
2. The crop suitable for silage making is first cut into small
pieces of about 2-4 cm length and wilted up to 35%
DM.
3. Silage additives like molasses (@ 3 to 5%) can be

added to provide soluble carbohydrates for efficient
bacterial fermentation.
4.To improve palatability and nitrogen content, salt (0.5)
and urea (1%) can be added, respectively.
5.The whole material is thoroughly mixed and then filled

tightly in the silo.
Silo should be filled rapidly and should not be left open.
It should be sealed as soon as possible and pressed so

that no air pocket is left in the silo otherwise chances of
mould formation leads to spoilage.
6.After filling, silo should be covered with polythene sheet
followed by that of a layer of soil or mud to make it
airtight.
7.Removal of silage can be done after 45 days of ensiling
and used for feeding of animals.
Care should be taken in removing the silage from silo.
It should not be allowed to deteriorate after the silo is
opened feeding.
Covers should be kept firmly in place as long as possible
and the minimum face should be exposed at one time.
Silage Making Steps
Characteristics of good quality silage
 Silage quality is determined mainly by the odour, physical
state, PH, Ammonical nitrogen, Volatile acids and lactic
acid.
 For desirable fermentation, the forage should be rich in
water soluble sugar (more than 5% on dry-matter basis).
 It should have colour : green, yellow or golden brown,
Smell: pleasant or vinegar type, Texture: firm, pH: 3.5-
4.2, Lactic acid: 5-15%, Butyric acid: No/traces (less than
0.2), Ammonical nitrogen: less than 10% of total N.
Silage begs
Advantages of Silage Making
1. It is palatable, slightly laxative in nature, provide
succulent feed during scarcity.
2. Nutrient loss is minimum as compared to other
methods of preservation.
3. Less storage area is required as compared to hay.
4. It helps in biological control of pests and insects by

preventing them to complete their life cycles due to
early harvest of crops.
5. It can be prepared in all seasons.
6. Silage can be prepared from plants which have thick
stems and thus are not suitable for hay making and
also when the weather does not permit for hay making.
7. The organic acid mainly VFA produced in the silage are
similar to those produced in rumen and therefore are
utilized in the same manner.

Disadvantages of Silage Making
1. Silo construction is costly.
2. Loss of nutrients may be very high, if silos are not

properly prepared.
3. Due to fermentation, there is 5-20% loss of dry

matter.
4. If air enter silo, carotene loss is much.

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Hay

DANVEER SINGH YADAV

nutrient by drying is termed as hay making.

 The principle of hay making is to preserve nutritional value of

forages through drying it to a level (less than 12-15%

moisture) at which the activity of microbial decomposers is

 In India, sunlight is available in abundance, which enables

farmers to dry the green forage in open sunlight and thus

making hay more economical.

content to 10-15%, which inhibits the enzyme activity

in the plant to be conserved.

 Various mrthods of drying includes drying on wire,

roof tops, treetops, galvanized tin sheets, tripod

stand, tetra pod stands, field curing.

1. Cut leguminous crops (berseem or lucerne) in thew pre-blossom

hard surface in a thin layer not exceeding 12 to 15 cm in

height. The the usual threshing floors, roof tops,

polythene sheet. Can be used for dring of forages.

speed up the drying process under exposure to the sun

and the air.

 When hay balers become available, the chopped and

 Baling reduce the storage space and facilitates the

 It should be free from dust, green in colour and

2. Some nutrients are always lost in field curing of

3. Drying of green forages at ordinary temperature

4. Loss of vitamins due to bleaching and

DANVEER SINGH YADAV

 The process of preserving feed in the form of silage

 The green fodder harvested at proper stage is

 In India at most of the farms pit silos are more

2. Crops of high moisture should be ensiled with the

3. The crop harvested in bloom stage is the best for

5. The crop should be properly trampled/ pressed to

6. Crop should be chopped before ensiling.

7. For good silage, the shorter the chop length, the

preservation of high moisture feed as silage.

 It is a hole/pit in the ground, trench or a tower where

green fodder is stored for preparation of silage.

 While preparing a silo some precaution should be

 Crops having thick, solid stems and rich in soluble

 Silage can also be prepared from oat,berseem after

3. Silage additives like molasses (@ 3 to 5%) can be

5.The whole material is thoroughly mixed and then filled

Silo should be filled rapidly and should not be left open.

It should be sealed as soon as possible and pressed so

4. It helps in biological control of pests and insects by

6. Silage can be prepared from plants which have thick

7. The organic acid mainly VFA produced in the silage are

similar to those produced in rumen and therefore are

utilized in the same manner.

2. Loss of nutrients may be very high, if silos are not

3. Due to fermentation, there is 5-20% loss of dry

4. If air enter silo, carotene loss is much.

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