Feeding cattle on hay in the dry season

Unlike their counterparts in Kenya, very few farmers in Uganda use hay to feed their cattle thus making it seem like an imported culture, which is meant for exotic animals only. However, this is a cost-effective method of feeding farm animals.

Because ordinary farmers in Kenya lack enough green grass for pastures, they have resorted to using hay as a major source of nutrients for their animals.

They harvest hay from their small plots of land and even use road reserves to plant fodder like Napier grass for their animals.

Making and using hay
Hay can be made from grass or legumes by cutting and baling it before storage. Tools for making hay locally include a sickle or slasher, a wooden crate and a rake to collect the grass. There is abundant grass during the rainy season which goes to waste because of lack of knowledge on hay making.

Farmers start looking for pastures when there is scarcity in the dry season. Hay is ideal for farmers with small pieces of land, less pastures, and dairy farmers who keep few but quality animals which zero graze.

Julia Kariuki from Gatanga in Thika, Kenya, found herself resorting to keeping animals which zero graze so as to have something to keep her busy, after her retirement from teaching five years ago. She had been a teacher for 35 years and had just a 1.5ha piece of land on which she now keeps chicken, pigs and four heads of cattle.

She heads Rwatira farmers, a self-help group on zero grazing and maize growing. With the help of agriculture extension workers, her group has been taught how to make hay and silage for their cattle using locally available materials.

Hay or grass is the foundation of the diet for all grazing animals and can provide as much as 100 per cent of the fodder required for an animal. Hay is usually fed to animals at a time when grazing on fresh grass in a field becomes impossible due to long drought.

Get it right
Animals that can eat hay vary in the types of grasses suitable for consumption, the ways they consume hay, and how they digest it. Therefore, different types of animals require hay that consists of plants similar to those that they would eat while grazing. Also, plants that are toxic to animals in pasture remain just as toxic if they are dried into hay.

The Assistant Agriculture Officer for Gatanga area, Peter Ken, says farmers are taught communally to save time. “We carry out field days (days designated in a month for communal learning activities), farmers compose songs so as not to forget what they are taught,” he says.

The best timing for cutting the hay is when the plants are at their optimal nutrient value. The hay should be cut when the grass is tender. However some people cut the grass at a later date than this.

“This is not a cost effective decision in terms of resulting animal performance. Quality is the key when considering time of cutting,” Ken says.

Drying
Hay is very sensitive to weather conditions, particularly when it is harvested. In drought conditions, both seed and leaf production are stunted, translating into very low nutritional values. If the weather is too wet, the cut hay may get spoilt in the field before it can be baled. Hay may also develop rot and mold after being baled, creating the potential for toxins to form in the feed.

This condition can make animals sick. It also has to be stored in a way that it stays dry. To avoid hay going bad and reducing nutritional value and causing illness to animals, it should not be allowed to grow molds. The bales of hay should be stored in a shade that allows air to go through.

Sometimes, hay stored outdoors will look dry and pale on the outside but still be green inside the bale. A dried, bleached or coarse bale is still edible and provides some nutritional value as long as it is dry and not moldy, dusty, or rotting.

This should be the time for farmers in the country to harvest hay, now that rains have started and there is plenty of grass. By the time the dry season sets in, a farmer should have harvested enough hay to last him part of the dry season.

Water
To be able to feed your animals on hay, a steady supply of fresh water is advised in order for cattle to digest the hay properly. A cow will need more than 20 litres of water per day for this. Clean your tank or pond thoroughly once green algae start appearing in the water during the dry months.

Try this; fill a small cloth sack with copper sulfate and just swish it around in the water once or twice a week. For ponds, use a large sack and pull it around behind a small canoe or two people can hold it and move it around.

Algae is very common in Uganda in areas which are water stressed and where the easiest way of storing water is by digging ponds. This is particularly so where water remains stagnant, without any fresh water coming in during the dry season.

So do not let your cattle go hungry during the dry season because there are no green pastures, give them a little hay to tide them over the season.
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