February 18-21 Happy Hen Farms Weekly Newsletter: Silage for Chickens

Good Morning, 

Since there is no school today (Monday), Tuesday thru Friday is available for deliveries. 

My grandparent's office is open Tuesday and Thursday (10-3) and Friday (10-5). 

Eggs: 

This week, I have about 30 Md dzn and about 6 Lg dzn available to start out with on Tuesday. Egg production has stayed at the 5.5 dzn/day mark consistently throughout the week. 

Newsletter: 

I recently had an idea last week about alternative ways of getting greens to the chickens during the winter, besides hay. That's what I have used the past few years as a supplement for the chickens in the winter, but had never really thought of anything else to feed. What really got me thinking of alternatives was the current state of portions of grass within the "kingdom of the chickens." There are a few spots that the chickens hang out on quite a bit, and they keep the grass pretty short in those areas. This last year, I started fencing off sections of the yard to let the grass regrow. Ideally, the grass should have a resting period of some sort, so the plant as a whole doesn't get stressed. 

When I saw an article about making and feeding silage for chickens, I slapped myself for not thinking of it sooner! Silage can be made out just about any plant (typically from the family of grasses though, ie, wheat, barley, corn, sorghum. It is a whole-plant-harvest, meaning that the plant is cut before full maturity.) Now that I have used the term "silage" a few times, some of you might wonder what it is. 

The first step for silage is having an immature plant that is cut when it is at a certain moisture content. In order to have a silage with high nutrient value, there are certain percentages of moisture that are catalysts along with bacteria that determine the end quality of the silage. To give you an example: 

Typically in Idaho and much of the U.S, corn is commonly turned into silage for dairy and beef cows. There are different varieties of corn that are specifically for silage, and others just for the actual corn-grain (that's another topic for another newsletter). 

 For dairy cows, the optimum percentage of moisture in the plant when it is cut is right around 35% moisture. After the corn has been cut (whole plant) into small pieces (about 0.75 inches), it is put into some sort of hill, or placed in between concrete walls (also called silo's, but not the tall cylinders that you typically think of when you hear 'silo.') During the process of storing it, the corn is packed down to get the air out of it. If there is air in the silo, it won't be too long before mold stars to grow, which then ruins the silage. After it is all packed down, a few layers of plastic (called silage tarp) is put over the pile, or silo, to seal it and keep as much air out as possible. After sealing, the packed corn sits and ferments for about a month. It is during the fermenting process that all the nutrients are preserved. After about a month, it is ready to be fed to the cows. 

 This is what the silo's look like before corn, ect... is put in them. 

To get a visual of the process from cutting to packing, here is a video You can skip through it to get a general idea, as it is about an 8 minute video. 

I got the opportunity to participate in a corn silage harvest last September, and to say the least, it is very monotonous, but exciting. 

As far as my intent for making silage for the chickens, it is mostly to provide a good source of greens in the winter so the lawn can take a break and not get exhausted from being grazed year round. After all, the amount of grass clippings that are produced from my lawn each year is close to 1500 lbs when it is wet. Last summer I was picking up about 120-150 lbs of grass per week from the lawn. Just the grass clippings alone can make quite a bit of winter feed. 

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please feel free to ask them! 

Thank you!