1.1 Conserving Animal Feed: Hay

• Meaning of hay as dried grass or legume forage, contrasted with silage
• Methods of conserving forage in drought: baled haymaking, standing forage and stacking
• Hay process: cut at the right stage, wilt, ted, bale or stack, store dry and off the ground
• Box-baling and stacking using grass and maize stover
• Judging hay quality by colour, smell and leafiness; never feed mouldy hay
• Feeding conserved hay in the dry season; records; household adoption

• describe methods of conserving forage in coping with drought
• conserve forage to cope with drought
• adopt conservation of forage in coping with drought

“How can hay conservation contribute to coping with drought?”

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1. Hay is dried forage, not silage
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Hay is grass or legume cut and dried in air. Silage is packed wet without air and fermented. This sub-strand makes hay.
2. Why conserve forage for drought
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Kenya dry seasons empty paddocks. Conserved forage — baled hay, stacked hay, or standing forage — is planned feed for drought.
3. Cut at the right stage
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   Cut hay grasses at early flowering: leafy enough to feed, mature enough to yield, still able to dry. Leave stubble. Cut after dew.
4. Wilt the swath until it is hay-dry
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Wilting is sun and wind removing water from a thin swath until stems snap and leaves rustle, about 15-18 percent water, before any stack.
5. Ted: spread and turn the swath
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Tedding spreads and turns cut forage so the underside dries. A thick heap stays wet in the centre and spoils.
6. Box-bale or stack — only when dry
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   School conservation uses a timber box-bale or a peaked stack. Both start with snap-dry forage. Wet packing spoils the store.
7. Store hay off the ground, dry
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   A hay store raises dry bales or a stack off the soil, under a roof, with air, away from rain, leaks and fire.
8. Judge hay: colour, smell, leaf — no mould
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Good hay is green-gold, sweet-smelling and leafy. Musty, black, slimy or very dusty hay is unsafe. Never feed mouldy hay.
9. Feed hay in drought — rack, water, no mould
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Offer checked dry hay in a rack with water. Change from green feed gradually. Never give mouldy hay. Reduce trampling waste.
10. Keep a hay record
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    Write crop, place, dates, bales, quality and feeding so the store can last the dry season and the next cut can be planned.
11. Adopt hay conservation at home
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    Households adopt forage conservation with a method that fits: box-bales, a stover stack, or standing forage — then a real dry store, not a poster.
12. Review: the hay chain for drought
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    Cut at early flower, wilt, ted, box-bale or stack only when dry, store off the ground, judge quality, feed with water, record, adopt at home. No mouldy hay. No wet stacks.