We hay (with an old school scythe) about 1/5 acre dedicated Rabbit Hay plot to get 14 rabbit breeders through Winter - three cuttings, all three put up for Winter feed ... but from May through Oct we just dry our lawn clippings from the lawn around the house like this. For 6 months lawn waste makes up about 40% of their daily feed.
Thank you very much for sharing your interesting experience. About a month ago I got 1 rabbit girl, and I still have 4 ex battery chickens, due to my health no more sheep, but I still dry grass clippings for my rabbit Zoe and chicken girls. All my animals former or today´s love it and it saves me money too.
A conventional residential lawn mower grinds the grass into small pieces, which reduces its useful shelf life as animal feed. The finer you grind up organic material, the faster it will decompose. Ideally, hay should be cut in such a way that the grass is cut near the ground and left intact. I would recommend either cutting it by hand with a scythe or using a sickle bar mower.
Thank you for your comment. I have classic mower, clipping are aprox. 4cm - 1.5inch long. My mini sheep preffer mower hay over commercial bail. They are healthy, I give them mower hay now 13th year. In com. bail there are not so many grasses as they have from our meadow lawn. When they eat bail they leave many grasses on the ground while mower hay they eat to the last piece. And I have 2 in 1 - nicely cut lawn and happy healthy sheep. The mower hay is also key important for me to keep sheep without teeth alive as long as possible. For them it is much easier to chew it by their gums and highly nutritious. The last is the storage, it can be compressed and takes less space. Cutting grass by hand....Honestly - I am lazy to do that in such quantities that I need... 😃
Yes you are right :-) just choose the nice sunny day so that it is dry in teh evening. I always mow the lawn according to weather forecast. Mow at about 10-11 a.m. and have it dry in large sacks in 5 p.m. :-) Wish you a nice day.
Hi Linda, I am in Europe - don´t know Fescue, Kentucky Blue - our lawn is from meadow grass. I´m sure it would sell under some name in your area too. Good luck :-) Jana
Hi, thanks for the question....I haven´t seen any insects in the hay, so far...i think that when sheep eat regular grass they also "meet" insects and have no problem with it, so in hay might be the same. In 10 years when I feed sheep with this hay we had no insects in it, no molds or other problems. They key is also not to store it in closed plastic bags, must be "breathing" bags - but I think this everybody knows. Nice day :-) Jana
What kind of grass is your lawn ? Could you do this with any kind of grass , or do you need a perennial that doesnt go to seed until it gets real tall?
Our lawn is a natural meadow. You can do it with any lawn, even golf turf, but for animal´s good health it is the best to have there variety of grasses, flowers, seeds...so if sometimes we have empty places or with only dandelions or other grass, I buy a sack of meadow seeds and spread it there. Also every year I leave a small space of lawn to grow up to blossom - you´d be surprised with nice various blossoms and many nice butterflies, bees, bumblebees coming :-) - and I let the wind to spread the seeds then on our lawn. Also the meadow doesn´t get that easy dry as golf turf, which you must water more often. And meadow is nice soft, even kids can play barefoot. Hope I gave you the answer you wanted. Nice day :-) Jana
It is up to you :-), my videos are just for inspiration from my own experience - you don´t have to do it. I use it already many years, my sheep love this hay the most than the regular long, and several friends use it even for rabbits and guinea pigs pets.
Ayahoda It won't make extreme high quality long term storage food. It will make VERY useful short term food. If fed immediately after cutting every animal I've had will fight over it. If dried and stored for a month they still prefer it over last years cut.
@@cody481 Yes I think you are right. My sheep eat this type of hay within 7 mths, it is nicely dark green, we do not have a huge land, just 4500m2, I am hobbist no farmer. I am not expert in quality of hay in time, but I buy also 1 large commercial bale, which lasts for about 8 mnths, and if they bring me older "yellowish" sheep donˇt want it. They start to eat it when our doesn´t come and winter hunger force them :-)
We hay (with an old school scythe) about 1/5 acre dedicated Rabbit Hay plot to get 14 rabbit breeders through Winter - three cuttings, all three put up for Winter feed ... but from May through Oct we just dry our lawn clippings from the lawn around the house like this. For 6 months lawn waste makes up about 40% of their daily feed.
Thank you very much for sharing your interesting experience. About a month ago I got 1 rabbit girl, and I still have 4 ex battery chickens, due to my health no more sheep, but I still dry grass clippings for my rabbit Zoe and chicken girls. All my animals former or today´s love it and it saves me money too.
A conventional residential lawn mower grinds the grass into small pieces, which reduces its useful shelf life as animal feed. The finer you grind up organic material, the faster it will decompose. Ideally, hay should be cut in such a way that the grass is cut near the ground and left intact. I would recommend either cutting it by hand with a scythe or using a sickle bar mower.
Thank you for your comment. I have classic mower, clipping are aprox. 4cm - 1.5inch long. My mini sheep preffer mower hay over commercial bail. They are healthy, I give them mower hay now 13th year. In com. bail there are not so many grasses as they have from our meadow lawn. When they eat bail they leave many grasses on the ground while mower hay they eat to the last piece. And I have 2 in 1 - nicely cut lawn and happy healthy sheep. The mower hay is also key important for me to keep sheep without teeth alive as long as possible. For them it is much easier to chew it by their gums and highly nutritious. The last is the storage, it can be compressed and takes less space. Cutting grass by hand....Honestly - I am lazy to do that in such quantities that I need... 😃
So you just lay it on the lawn and turn it over once ?
Yes you are right :-) just choose the nice sunny day so that it is dry in teh evening. I always mow the lawn according to weather forecast. Mow at about 10-11 a.m. and have it dry in large sacks in 5 p.m. :-) Wish you a nice day.
This is what I've been looking for. What kind of grass seed is your lawn? Fescue? Kentucky Blue?
Hi Linda, I am in Europe - don´t know Fescue, Kentucky Blue - our lawn is from meadow grass. I´m sure it would sell under some name in your area too. Good luck :-) Jana
Thank you!
@@Linda-we6en You´re welcome :-)
Brilliant 😊 thanks
What if there is insect in the hay? Idk alot about hay.
Hi, thanks for the question....I haven´t seen any insects in the hay, so far...i think that when sheep eat regular grass they also "meet" insects and have no problem with it, so in hay might be the same. In 10 years when I feed sheep with this hay we had no insects in it, no molds or other problems. They key is also not to store it in closed plastic bags, must be "breathing" bags - but I think this everybody knows. Nice day :-) Jana
What kind of grass is your lawn ? Could you do this with any kind of grass , or do you need a perennial that doesnt go to seed until it gets real tall?
Our lawn is a natural meadow. You can do it with any lawn, even golf turf, but for animal´s good health it is the best to have there variety of grasses, flowers, seeds...so if sometimes we have empty places or with only dandelions or other grass, I buy a sack of meadow seeds and spread it there. Also every year I leave a small space of lawn to grow up to blossom - you´d be surprised with nice various blossoms and many nice butterflies, bees, bumblebees coming :-) - and I let the wind to spread the seeds then on our lawn. Also the meadow doesn´t get that easy dry as golf turf, which you must water more often. And meadow is nice soft, even kids can play barefoot. Hope I gave you the answer you wanted. Nice day :-) Jana
@@ayahoda1783 thank you so much 🙏🏻 I really appreciate the guidance.
@@savingmayberry387 Thank You for coming to my start up channel - I am glad to help if I could :-)
That’s not proper hay the stalks are chopped up for hay you need to cut at the bottom of the stalks and keep it in one peice
It is up to you :-), my videos are just for inspiration from my own experience - you don´t have to do it. I use it already many years, my sheep love this hay the most than the regular long, and several friends use it even for rabbits and guinea pigs pets.
Ayahoda
It won't make extreme high quality long term storage food.
It will make VERY useful short term food.
If fed immediately after cutting every animal I've had will fight over it.
If dried and stored for a month they still prefer it over last years cut.
@@cody481 Yes I think you are right. My sheep eat this type of hay within 7 mths, it is nicely dark green, we do not have a huge land, just 4500m2, I am hobbist no farmer. I am not expert in quality of hay in time, but I buy also 1 large commercial bale, which lasts for about 8 mnths, and if they bring me older "yellowish" sheep donˇt want it. They start to eat it when our doesn´t come and winter hunger force them :-)