How to Feed Silage to Cattle and Sheep and Precautions

Silage has a sour, aromatic smell, is soft and juicy, highly palatable, rich in nutrients, and suitable for long-term storage, making it an excellent feed source for livestock. Commonly used silage raw materials include grasses such as corn, ryegrass and smooth bromegrass; legumes such as alfalfa, clover and Chinese milk vetch; and other root, stem and leaf materials such as sweet potato, pumpkin, amaranth and aquatic plants. So do you know how silage should be fed to cattle and sheep? What problems need attention?

How should silage be fed to sheep?

1. Start taking feed from one end of the storage pit, and take only as much each day as will be finished that same day.

2. After each removal of feed, the pit must be sealed immediately to prevent rainwater from entering and causing spoilage.

3. Clean the trough thoroughly before each feeding. Feed that has frozen in winter should be thawed before use, and spoiled or moldy feed must not be used.

4. When salt is added during straw storage, it should be deducted from the daily salt allowance.

5. Regularly check whether the drainage ditches are unobstructed, and whether storage pits from which feed has not been taken have cracks, damage or air leakage.

6. In early pregnancy, ewes have a relatively strong ability to digest roughage, so high-quality straw can partly replace hay for feeding, and supplementation with high-quality hay or silage should also be considered. The daily ration can consist of 50% green grass or green hay, 40% silage or micro-storage, and 10% concentrate. Concentrate formula: 84% corn, 15% soybean meal, 1% multivitamin additive, mixed evenly, fed once daily at 150 grams per animal per feeding. Because silage has a high moisture content, its dry matter, energy and protein levels are relatively low, so it needs to be fed together with a certain amount of hay and concentrate. It is especially worth noting that silage has high acidity and a mild laxative effect, so it should not be used as the sole feed, especially for ewes in late pregnancy, who should be fed little or none to avoid miscarriage.

7. The proportion of silage fed to sheep is: rams 1.5-2% of body weight; young ewes 2.5-3% of body weight; fattening sheep 4-5% of body weight. Silage contains large amounts of organic acids and has a mild laxative effect, and excessive amounts can cause diarrhea in sheep. During feeding, if diarrhea is found, the amount should be reduced or feeding stopped immediately. Sheep suffering from gastroenteritis should also be fed little or not at all to prevent mild diarrhea and acidosis (in acidosis with a relatively slow course, affected sheep are initially excited and toss their heads; later they become depressed, completely lose appetite, have dull eyes, show severe dehydration symptoms, and are accompanied by diarrhea).

8. Long-term feeding of silage alone can lower the pH value in the rumen, which is unfavorable to the activity of rumen microorganisms and can thus lead to protein deficiency and vitamin deficiency. Therefore, on sheep farms where silage is the main feed, the proportion of green hay in the daily ration should be no less than 1/3 to maintain the dynamic balance of rumen microorganisms. If silage is the main feed and hay is also fed, coarse hay can raise the pH value, and only 0.5-0.7% needs to be added. If concentrate is > 60%, causing the pH value to drop and become strongly acidic, 1.0-2.0% baking soda should be added; baking soda is alkaline and can neutralize acidity. If only silage is fed, besides adding baking soda to neutralize acidity, another method is best to first treat it with 1%-2% lime water, rinse it and then feed it, so as to reduce acidity, improve palatability, and promote digestion and absorption, without adding baking soda.

9. Sheep farmers with the means to do so had best thoroughly mix concentrate, silage and hay to make a “total mixed ration” for feeding cattle and sheep, which will give better results.

How should silage be fed to cattle?

1. When feeding silage, always pay attention to cleaning the feed trough, and leftover silage should be removed from the trough immediately to prevent spoilage from being stored too long.

2. In winter, when the weather is cold and silage has a high moisture content, livestock cannot be fed large amounts of it alone. It should be mixed with a certain amount of hay or chopped dry corn stalks. Also, when feeding silage, take it and feed it promptly to prevent frost or freezing on the silage. It is best to feed silage first on an empty stomach in the barn or a warm shed, then feed hay and concentrate, so as to shorten the time spent eating the silage.

3. When feeding silage to dairy cows, it should be done after milking. Never store silage in the milking area, so as not to damage the smell of the milk.

4. Because silage contains large amounts of organic acids and has a mild laxative effect, dams in late pregnancy should not be fed much of it, and feeding should stop 15 days before giving birth. Inferior silage harms animal health and can easily cause miscarriage, so it must not be fed.

5. During feeding, if diarrhea is found in livestock, the amount should be reduced or feeding stopped, and feeding can continue after they return to normal.