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Baleage and sheep
Author: Ed Cokeley 
Date:   08-16-16 14:09

I noted in years past that you were feeding silage bales to your sheep. Are you still feeding
baleage? Are you able to feed soybean/millet baleage to sheep or do you mix it with other
forage? We are in West Virginia and we are at wits end trying to bale dry hay. The last few
summers have been very difficult to bale dry hay due to the frequency of rain.

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Re: Baleage and sheep
Author: Stan Potratz 
Date:   08-16-16 14:56

90% of the forage we feed is bale age. We prefer it to hay very much.. and only make hay to feed during the warm months of summer (when silage tends to spoil quickly after the silage bale is opened).

We've made soybean bale age and millet bale age but not the two combined. Soybean bale is a little difficult because a higher % of leaves detach from the stems prior to baling..

Bear in mind that we use a round baler that has a precutter in it.. which thus can make v. tight, compact bales. This is, in our opinion, a key factor in making bale age for sheep that has the minimum of listeria organisms in it.

We also use a rake whose teeth does not touch the soil- because soil contains listeria organisms and one must do all one can to reduce the Amount of those that go into the bale.

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