what is a reason to use a usi versus a nusi?

Your animals need to have a prissy bedded surface area everyday they are inside the barn, but sometimes you lot run out of straw.

Or the locally bachelor straw is actually expensive, specially the shiny yellowish bales, then yous're looking for an culling. Is hay an option?

Hay tin can be used as bedding material for your animals. While straw is the more traditional bedding pick, hay works only as well for absorbency and animal comfort. The principal difference between hay and straw, bedding wise, is that since straw is light in color, it tends to brighten up the pen more than when using hay.

We prefer to utilize straw (vs hay) every bit bedding fabric for all of our animals.

Unremarkably using harbinger is also the most economic choice for bedding that we have found around hither and then that'due south what we apply.

I as well love how bright and clean the barn looks one time the livestock pens have a new layer of straw put down.

Sometimes though, normal is not the state of affairs yous are in but your animals even so need taken care of and you have to go far happen.

Using hay as bedding is an option, not an ideal option, just an pick.

If your normal bedding material is not available or you merely mess up and forget to proceed enough of the normal stuff on hand, old hay can substitute.

Withal not certain on the hay vs straw thing? Read my article The Differences Between Hay And Straw.

Timothy is on the left and orchard grass is on the correct.

Hay tin be used as bedding

The main reasons to apply hay every bit a bedding material rather than straw are:

• cost of straw existence unusually high
• poor planning (we ran out of straw)
• use up left over hay right before put animals on pasture

Nosotros have used hay to arrive through the tight spots and take intendance of the livestock until we got more straw at the auction.

When prices came down a bit, nosotros go more straw or when nosotros were able to turn them out to pasture nosotros don't need that much bedding, anymore.

The hay we would be using equally bedding is the less well fabricated hay.

The hay was fabricated late (so it is overgrown) or it got rained on before being baled. The quality of the hay as feed is lower than not rained on hay.

Any hay that looks good to you and the animals really like to eat is better fed, use the poor quality hay for bedding.

Here is our bottle infant sitting on some straw.

Bedding with hay tin be cheaper

Sometimes information technology happens, especially in a moisture year, that nice straw was hard to go fabricated.

That means anyone who did manage to become adept looking harbinger baled volition get top dollar at the sale for their cute harbinger.

This is only right, a well made product in high demand equals a high price. That's good news for the farmer selling straw!

If high dollar harbinger could be over your upkeep, so what is program B?

For u.s.a. programme B when information technology comes to bedding is always using some not and so great hay instead.

What are the common hay and straw prices in your expanse? Here is where I get Ohio data, Farm and Dairy Market Reports.

Of course I'm not saying to utilise the really peachy hay you have in your barn! No fashion, go on that to feed.

Apply the not so great animals don't care for it stuff for bedding.

Once the straw for the year is harvested, in our area that's washed in July, the cost for harbinger usually comes down to the range we are willing to pay.

Hither'due south a look at hay vs straw, to requite you a amend idea of what y'all are looking at when buying bedding materials.

Employ hay when you lot run out of straw

Distressing but true, sometimes plans don't match up with reality and we mess up and run out of straw. Not dandy, but it tin can exist managed.

Ordinarily by using (or speedily finding and buying) rained on hay.

This is actually 1 of the benefits of having a wet twelvemonth, where hay and straw are hard to get made on time, the not then great rained on hay is easy to discover.

If y'all have some rained on hay use it, if not expect around on the internet for your local area, and see what y'all can come up up with.

Using upwardly leftover hay as bedding

At least effectually here, we tend to end up with miscellaneous amounts of not so great hay that would exist super for bedding.

Or the very frustrating "the best nosotros could go at the auction that week merely the animals don't like information technology" type hay.

Y'all bought information technology, it's hogging space in your barn, so you might also get some utilise out of it. That'south the hay to use for bedding!

Spread out the hay the same as harbinger

Hay for bedding is spread out the same equally when using straw for bedding.

If y'all take an creature that will toss around the bedding a picayune, like pigs or chickens, permit them do most of the work for you.

Just toss in the flakes of bedding material and let the chickens or pigs have a good time messing with information technology and spreading it out at the same fourth dimension.

Obviously, they will not move the bedding to all corners of the pen or up, like into nest boxes, that you volition have to do yourself.

I toss the bedding to the area that I want the majority of the bedding to stay in so let them acquit around bits of information technology where ever else they want.

Manured hay bedding needs composted

Good news, hay bedded manure packs are cleaned out the aforementioned equally when you use harbinger for bedding!

Any you unremarkably do with your used bedding, like compost it, practice the same with the hay based bedding.

Additionally, hay based manure packs will accept more nutrition for the plants that get fertilized with the resulting compost.

Since hay has more nutrition than straw, manure packs bedded with hay will also take more nutrition in them than packs fabricated with straw.

Using manure pack for compost

What to do with that manure? Consider composting it for your garden.

Corey Leichty, Practise Not Disturb Gardening, has an article on the advantages and disadvantages of making compost with manure.

He is a fellow Ohioan and gorging home gardener, bank check it out!

Straw for bedding is better than hay

And so the terminal verdict hither is employ straw if you take information technology, for economic reasons alone.

Hay volition piece of work as bedding but normally information technology just makes more sense to use harbinger for your livestock.

When yous are in a pinch or just curt on the needed cash when straw prices are loftier, hay tin be a good substitute.

Stick to straw as the normal bedding textile selection for your livestock.

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Source: https://familyfarmlivestock.com/3-reasons-to-use-hay-as-bedding-instead-of-straw/

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