Hay is one of the feed sources mostly utilized for our domestic ruminant animals. It is grass, legumes or any other herbaceous material which is cut, dried and stored for the animals. It is a readily available feed material and the animals really love it. But have you ever thought about what does it really entail.

Hay is generally any grass plant dried and balled up to form a cube like structure. A tractor baller is used or maybe a balling box.

Good quality hay contains readily available dry matter. From our understanding in cows, they should consume 4% of their body weight per day. Hence hay really provided this. Apart from that, hay also has energy sources which are readily utilized by the animals. Energy sources are very important for them to run their daily activities smoothly without having a toll on their bodies which sadly, turn to body fat when there isn’t enough glycogen in the blood.

However, a lot of hay dealers do not really consider the quality of the feed which in turn leads to poor feeding methods for farmers and in turn poor yields.

Therefore, we should be on the lookout for quality hay products!