This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Anneli Sundkvist) >>Maybe what they call "canned grass" in Sweden is put up differently han our haylage. Anneli, can you tell us how the grass is cured before it is put in the bags?>>
Hehe...'canned grass' was my constructed name, since I didn't know the proper one. Actually we use the SAME word as you do - 'hösilage' or 'ensilage'. THANKS everybody who helped me with the name of this stuff! Somebody described the making of haylage in a previous post (my mailbox broke down so I don't know who it was). From what I remember it sounded that we make our haylage pretty much the same way you make yours. The grass is cut and left to dry only 1-3 days. It isn't turned over like you do with hay. Then it's put into these large bales by a machine and wrapped in plastic. After this, you have to wait for some weeks before you use it. We were lucky enough to have square bales, looking like a huge bale of hay, instead of these round 'marshmallow-bales' that are hard to handle. Haylage is getting more and more common as food for horses here in Sweden. This summer was extremly rainy and in the part of Sweden where I live few people who hasn't got an indoor hay-fan (another word of my construction!) to dry the hay got any at all. Haylage was the only solution for many of us. I wasn't to happy, but what can you do? The prices of hay (IF you were able to find any hay at all on the market...) was about 30 cents a pound + 25% tax in august which is at least twice as much as normal. We started to give our horses shots to protect them from botulism (see my previous post 'botulism' for more info) as soon as we realised that haylage was what they were going to eat this winter. We started to feed the horses haylage a month ago. We needed to wait until the temperature sank below zero since we have only 7 horses at the barn. Otherwise the waste would be much. Once you've opened a bale it's fresh only 3-4 days if the weather is warmer. A temperature below zero gives you fresh haylage for c. a week. Of course, this isn't a problem if you got many horses. In larger barns like riding schools they use haylage even 'normal' years. It saves money and time and the horse actually LOVE haylage. Still, horses die from botulism every year. I hope the new medication can stop this (as far as I know, no horse who have had shots has gotten infected), because it seems like haylage as horse fodder is here to stay. Regards Anneli
