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Every year around this time we start to plan for the years hay resources. At Abenaqui Alpacas we feed our alpacas quality second cut hay. That means for us Hay Season, which is weather dependent, can be anywhere from middle of August to Early October. In the very beginning when we only had three alpacas and a little bit of pasture in each of our paddocks, the amount of hay we needed to get us through the year was drastically smaller than what we need now and much easier to calculate. So, how do we determine how much hay we actually need?
Ask that question of 10 different farmers and you may get the same answer: "depends upon the quality of the hay, other forage and the alpacas health." Well of course it does. We found ourselves a reliable hay provider locally. As with most of what we do here, we try to keep our money in the local economy. We have had the same loyal hay farmer for the last 6 years. He takes the making of hay very seriously and scientifically. He tests his soil and the forage produced regularly. He invests in state of the art equipment for cutting and baling and spends the time and money to fertilize his fields. I wouldn't say he is passionate about it, but I would say he is very serious about his hay. We know that we can trust that the hay Dave brings us has been produced in a way that will provide our animals with top quality nutrients.
Even though we like the guy, how do we know his hay is good quality? There are many ways to tell, and Dave is the first one to educate us on what makes a good forage. He will set with us and show us each blade in a bale, explaining what variety of plant it is (timothy, orchard, alfalfa, clover etc.). Then he will go on to describe to us the characteristics one should look for in a quality growth. For example, last year he pulled out a piece of Timothy and showed us the seed top. He explained that the length of that top was a good indicator of the growing season, the smaller that top the better the hay. Our local agriculural extension also provides many online resources for understanding how to identify forage and what characteristics one should look for that may indicate the quality of the nutrients. The Maine Agricultural Extension even has an online course you can take (for FREE) that talks all about pasture and grasses.
Another way to determine the quality of your hay of course is to run a sample off to a lab. Again, contacting your local agricultural extension is one way. They can mail you a kit to allow you to take the sample along with a mailer to send it back for laboratory analysis. Another potential option is to contact your local grain rep. A few years back our grain rep was offering to do these analyses for free. What we receive is a laboratory report identifying the nutrient levels in the hay. This laboratory report can then be passed on to your veterinarian who can take into consideration the health of your herd, your environment and other types of food sources to determine how much hay may be of best benefit to your herd. The only problem with testing your hay is that it is typically done after you have made your order. So this does not really help me when trying to determine that years rations. I instead use this information to estimate the next year. I figure the person I am getting the hay from is doing his best to maintain the proper levels of nutrients and that he obtains my hay from the same field year after year. To us this is more valuable, knowing where our hay comes from and how it is produced.
Based upon our testing and information I know we can get away with about one flake per animal per day. To factor how many bales we will need is another story. I always count on at least up to 10 bales of waste each year. For us this could be because a mouse has made her nest in the bale, something got it wet and maybe mold began to form. No matter what we decide we need, I always try to add on 10 extra bales. There is on average 15 flakes per bale. At 17 head of animals this year (with maybe 22 next year) I can count on 1.5 bales going to critters each day. I then figure when our herd will increase. We expect babies in June/July next year. They will not be eating a whole lot of hay the first few months, but those nursing moms may need a little extra, I really only need to consider 1/2 flake per cria per day to be conservative between the months of July and September.
The math and exercise for determining the amount of hay we will need is critical to us. We certainly do not want to run out of hay before the next season. Typically the price per bale will increase if the farmer has to unload it from their hay storage. They will often charge an extra handling fee, which could increase the cost by up to 1.00 more per bale. We also do not want to order too much, this would be a waste of valuable resources - Space and Money. I would say my estimates are considered conservative. But so far, every year for the last 6 years of making this calculation we have never run out and have never had more than 20 bales left over. So I think I am doing pretty good. One thing that must be considered, we do not currently have natural forage here. We are dry-lot farming which means at this time we have no natural pasture. Our alpacas are only fed hay and grain.
Here is the calculation I use.
#head= 17 (that is actually the number of flakes per day)
#months with that many animals = 9
Avg # days per month = 30 (I use averages as it is easier)
17 flakes X 9months X 30days per month = 4590 flakes of hay during those 9 months. At approximately 15 flakes per bale - that is 306 bales of hay.
I then calculate for the remainder 4 months when I expect our herd to increase with offspring and run the same calculation. Then I cut that estimate at least in half, knowing the cria will not be consuming large quantities of hay during that time period.
This years estimate brings me to a conservative number of 450 bales. Of course I have to now run this number by Farmer Steve, he usually talks me down a little. So far this tactic works and we have been doing well. Good luck in determining your hay needs. There is a lot to consider. This works for us and hopefully you can take some information out of here that is useful to you.
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