Making nutritious silage for your livestock

Silage and hay are dual multipurpose forage feed which is processed and fed to ruminant animals as supplementary feed in case of lack of green pasture shortage especially during dry season.

It is the end product of fermenting a high moisture crop with 40-80 percent water and storing the product is called ensiling.

Ensiling fodder has been around a long time and now contributes more than 50 percent of the nutrients for beef and dairy cattle production in the country

“The process requires consideration of a wide variety of factors including plant growth, harvest, storage and feeding practice,” says Brian Natwijuka, a livestock agronomist.

How to make silage
Making silage involves fermentation under anaerobic (an absence of (oxygen) conditions. It prevents fresh fodder from decaying and allows it to maintain its nutrient quality.

It needs adequate soluble carbohydrates or sugar for organic acid production. 
You must add molasses to the fodder as it is very rich in sugar and allows the bacteria to produce the organic acids immediately. 

The more molasses you will add, the quicker the acidification and preservation process will take place
Crops such as maize, sorghum, oats, millet, and hybrid Napier grass are considered perfect for making silage. 

In addition, the quality of the silage you get from these crops can be enhanced by adding molasses and urea.
Silage is formed through the use of pits or trenches, towers and sacks for small quantities. But, pits are mainly used to make silage for large dairy units. 

The silage pit must be located at a place that is safe from rodents with high elevation and away from direct sunlight.
The materials used in making silage should have a moisture content of about 60 and 70 percent or dry matter of between 30 and 35 percent and a pH under 4.2 for wet forage and 4.8 for wilted forage. 

In rainy seasons when the fodder is too damp with more water farmers are expected to wilt it in the sun.
Crops such as maize, sorghum, oats and pearl millet must be used for preserving green fodder as they contain fermentable carbohydrates essential for bacteria to produce sufficient organic acid. 

Although farmers can use leguminous fodders, as they are rich in proteins and low in sugars, it makes them difficult to store. 

Harvesting sorghum or maize for silage makes it ideal when the seeds are soft.
Additives such as common salt, formic acid, lime or urea are also used to facilitate good fermentation process.

The process
To begin with farmers are expected to make a pit and then place a big polythene sheet on it.
Make sure the walls are covered so that the forage does not come into contact with the soil.

Cut the fresh forage in small pieces of about 1 to 1.5 inches in length using either a panga or a chaff cutter.
Add little salt, urea, molasses in it to improve the quality of the mixture.

Fill the pit properly by spreading the copped greens and other materials evenly.
For the growth of fungi, dilute molasses with water in 1:2 ratio and shower evenly over the forage layer using a garden water sprayer and cover it properly. 

Then repeat the same process of adding bags of chopped forage and diluted molasses until the pit gets filled.
After the final filling, cover the polythene sheet around the silage and wrap the top of the pile with another sheet to prevent water entry.

Lastly, cover the stack with a thick layer of soil. With good covering and with enough soil on it one can keep the silage for more than one year.

The silage will be ready in about 30 - 40 days and once it is ready you can give it to the cattle. But never open the whole silage pit at once. It is better to open it from one side.

Good silage should be of light greenish or greenish brown colour. It should have a nice smell like that of vinegar and acidic in taste and must not contain mold. 

If the silage turns out black, this means it is of poor quality. Poorly fermented silage has bad taste and slimy soft texture.

Feeding

Farmers are expected to feed their cattle with silage depending on its body weight. 
It is recommended not to feed silage immediately before milking the cattle as the milk may have a foul smell. 

Once a farmer has been milking the cow feed it with fresh grass, hay, legumes and concentrates.

The feed may be placed in a reasonable container where the animal is able to feed directly.

How to make hay
Hay is usually prepared as dry ratio and farmers expected to spread the grass clippings in a thin layer on the ground, preferably on the concrete. 

Turn it and mix it around a few times during the day. It shouldn’t take more than half a day or so until it’s completely dry. 
Before night time, gather it on a pile and store in a box or another container and leave in the dry place.

Regardless of the amount of hay one produces in a year, it all can be broken down into four basic steps which includes cutting, tedding, raking and bailing.
Several cereal crops can be used for hay bailing, although most species are used for straw and some for silage. 
If cereals are cut while they are still leafy, excellent hay can be made. Oats and barley are commonly grown for hay, with oats being a better crop for hay making. 

Good hay comes from good grass, and good grass comes from good soil.  If the area holds too much moisture, the good quality grass cannot grow. 

Feeding animals with hay
In most cases farmers feed their animals with hay during dry season. Farmers provide an animal with hay at a reasonable size depending on the feeding rate of a particular animal.
This must be accompanied with clean drinking water since hay is a dry matter to cause ease digestion.

Feed lots 
Selected farmers from cattle corridor districts were trained on construction of a feedlot structure

This involves allocation of specific land for the construction site and the size depends on the amount of silage to be prepared and fed to the animals in a particular feedlot.

The trained farmers are expected to go out and train fellow farmers in their various districts in the cattle corridors.