FEEDING ENSILAGE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 585, 16 July 1913, Page 7

FEEDING ENSILAGE.

(By Alan McNeil).

\±jj man muncii;* The. subject for this month's talk has been suggested by the following incident. A farmer came up to the writer recently and asked how long it would be necessary to wait before using a stack of ensilage. He had just put up a stack for the first time, going by our instructions published in the "Dairyman" Of course the temper&ture went up pretty high, and he though the would have to wait till it cooled olf. The thought then occurred to us that there might be others who, having made a stack for the first time, might be in doubt as to whep and how to use it; to have a good stack of enpilage is one thing - to feed it out in such a way as to get the mo3t satisfactory results is altogether another. In the first place, then, ensilage is ready to feed out to stock as soon as made, andvthe actual process of making only takes a few hour* really. Ensilage may be kept for years, but will be always warm when cut out. One of its greatest advantages for winter feeding lies in this fact, that it is warm. It may be said that hay is also a warm food, but then hay lacks moisture, atid a cow must supply this lack by J drinking a large quantity of cold witer which chill her and necessitates toe utilisation of a considerable amount of food

to bring up the temperature of the body again. Ensilage, containing as it does, within 10 per cent, as much moisture as grass, ' supplies the cow with a large amount of moisture sne needs at lood heat. It is, in fact, steaming when a cow receives it. | The process of ensilage making is a fermentative one, and good ensilage is simply a matter of the processes of fermentation being stopped at a certain stage. As long as the organisms responsible for fermentation are supplied with air, the temperature continues to rise, anil if the air were not excluded within reasonable time the fodder would naturally have all the subbstance burnt out of it. But the pressure of succeeding loads on top gradually excludes the air—the temperature having rnen to, say, 150 degrees, gradually fall, and that strata of the stack is ensilage—the heat rises then to a fresh layer, which is riot so compressed, and contains sufficient air to fan the waning temperature, and up it jumps until the same process is repeated in this strata of fodder also. So, then any particular strata of the stack is ensilage so soon is the temperature, having risen, falls again. This can be easily seen by taking out a sample. It is the same in colour, taste, smell, and appearance :i day after it is made as it is in six nonths. Of course once ensilage is ixposed to the air, decay begins. If xposed to the sun and dried, it be:omes a sort of hay. But it. is obviously much better in its moist state, and more kjenly relished by the cattle. As a general rule, when ensilage is fed out to cattle for the first time, they won't look at it —it is most exasperating. Great persistency must be used, and a considerable amount of patience. They have to acquire the taste. When once one cow takes to it others will soon follow her example, and then they are greedy for it. The temptation, then, is to feed too much. Personally, the writer has never seen a cow suffer from an over-feed oE ensilage, but it is always advisable to begin by giving small feeds of, say, lOlbs a cow, and work up to, say, 301bs at a feed, morning and evening. It is a good thing, too, to let them have the run of a paddock or rough coarse feed, saved from the summer growth, as this will supply the herjfl with just what they lack in the ensilage. Ensilage is not a complete food. To be perfect, it wants a food rich in protein, like clover or lucerne hay. But the writer has found in actual experience that a good feed of rough feed, such as described sufficiently takes the place of such hay during the first part of the winter, v and as this gets all eaten, hay can be added to the ensliage ration towards the end of the winter. As the spring grass comes on the hay can be increased and the ensilage reduced \until, finally, the cows are entirely on hay. the spring grass with its laxative tendency being a corrective to the binding tendency of :he hay. The writer proved, after deveral yearg testing, that this procedure in the feeding of ensilage was by far the best, and.brought the animals out in the spring, in excellent condition, and as sleek as mules. It iB, however very advisable to postpone aB long as possible the opening of the ensilage stack—June is generally the best month, of course a farmer must be guided by circumstances —the cows must not be allowed to run down or even go short. If the stack of ensilage runs out before the winter is over, and there is nothing to take its place, it is rather a serioua matter, for the cows feel the loss keenly. In any case, jt is better to gradually tail off when the stack is, say, three-fourths done. A sudden break or change of any feed is bad. When feeding Id cows that are just dried off it is essential to make sure that the drying off process is thoroughly complete, for otherwise , the ensilage is sure to bring on the milk again. For the same reason, ensilage should never be given to cows that the farmer wishes to dry off a3 speedily as possible, because the process would be indefinitely prolonged, so stimulating is this food upon tbe milking organs. The writer has often known cows come right back to milk again, that were deemed to be about dry. For this reason, if for no other, the farmer should delay as long as possible tbe opening up of his ensilage stacks. Then there comes the question of the best way to feed ensilage out. We think the best, as it is the most convenient way, is in heaps about the paddock. Some farmers may consider this wasteful, but with ensilage it will be found that every bit will be picked, and if only care is taken to put the stuff out on a clean place, and see that each cow has a heap to herself, away from the others —a most important matter, as it prevents squabbling and tramping about over the stuff —satisfactory results will be obatined. One of the poorest and driest fields on the farm can be chosen for this purpose, as it Will be considerably improved bv the large amount of dung deposited upon it. When spring comes the chain harrows can be run over to scatter the drippings, so that the rains can wash the substance into the ground. In conclusion, a word about cutting out may not be amiss. We have found the best way is to take a strip a yard wide across the end of the stack and cut this right across, taking it evenly down to the ground, then another yard strip can be taken, and so on. This prevents a cut face being too long exposed to the air, and so prevents mould.