How to make hay for your rabbits

How to make hay for your rabbits

B. Tembani (Senior Animal Scientist)

R. Kofi (Agribusiness Consultant) 





Many farmers make hay for their livestock or for income and this has been happening for years. The

process of making good quality hay is far from just cutting and baling. Efficiently processing hay
results in good quality feed available for livestock-rabbits in this case.

This module was developed to specifically for rabbit farmers, on how to make or purchase good
quality hay for feeding their rabbits to achieve good selling weights. The objective when making hay
is to capture and preserve nutrients in a storable form with minimum expenditure. This is mainly so
because hay is the main feed in rabbitries, pellets being a supplement.

Rabbits are fed nutritious hay to reduce; feed costs and incidence of enteritis/ diarrhoea.  

What is hay?  

In this module, we define hay as grass, legumes or other nutritious plants that have been cut at
flowering stage, dried and stored as feed for rabbits. There are, however different types of hay. The
difference is mainly in the hay-making process which involves;
1. Selecting grass type and quality
2. Cutting at the right stage,
3. Curing or drying,
4. Raking
5. Processing
6. StorageSelectionHay can be made from legumes or grasses. The nutritional composition is key on selecting the type
of legume or grass to use for baling.


Legumes

Lucerne is the most commonly used legume in forage making, mainly because it is high in Protein.
Lucerne is used by many feed companies as the major feed component. It is followed by clovers.
Most clovers are highly palatable and are similar to Lucerne in their nutritional value. Clover hay can
be used in feeding rabbits as long as the levels of Protein, fibre and calcium are monitored.  



Grasses

Grasses are lower in nutritional value (low protein, low calcium and low in vitamins) when compared
to legumes. Most grasses are more palatable when fed as hay for roughage. Tropical grasses have a
lower nutritional value than temperate zone grasses. Most grasses contain 0.2 to 0.4 percent
calcium and 0.2 to 0.3 percent phosphorous. Nutritional composition of some common grasses are
illustrated below.  




Cutting/ mowing


Mowing is done when the grass is fully grown but not over-mature, at first bloom or heading
stage. When grass matures, its nutritional content begins to deteriorate. The stem becomes
tougher and more fibrous and the nutritional composition begins to deteriorate. There are
more leaf material in good quality hay. Images below illustrate the process of mowing or
cutting grass at the right stage of growth.  


Curing or drying and Raking

Drying can be done naturally or artificially but for a specified period of time. Natural drying involves leaving the cut grass or legume in the fields or under a shed to lose moisture down to a certain percentage. Artificial drying is when grass or legume is allowed to cure for 2-3 hours in the field then turned and left for another 2hours. This reduces moisture from 75% to about 40% and costs of drying as well. After that, it is taken to a drier where after being evenly spread on the floor. Fans and heaters are turned on to accelerate the process of drying. Using artificial drying, hay should be ready in 60hours.

Processing and Storage

A baler is used to compress and make round or square bales for easy storage. Hay s considered a fire hazard and should be stored farm from buildings. A cool, dry place under a shed is an ideal storage facility. Bales should be elevated from the ground to avoid the formation of moulds from moisture rising from the ground. (see Storage below)



Conclusion

Rabbit farmers need to select or make good quality hay to achieve improved finishing weights and
reduce enteritis. Storage is key in maintaining quality and reducing the risk of fire. Presentation of
hay in mangers reduces wastage and feed costs  

Grab a copy of our 64-page Rabbit Production Manual for only $15.00
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0774075579
agriconsultzw@gmail.com









  

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