# Making Chaffehay / Haylage Yourself.



## CluckyJay (Aug 3, 2011)

Everyone is talking about that Chaffehay stuff. I wonder how hard it would be to make it yourself? It contains;

Alfalfa
Yeast
Molasses

Right?

Here is a link about Haylage. I am really thinking about trying to make my own after we harvest our alfalfa and hay next year. Wonder how you keep it from spoiling, hmm.

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/dairy/as1252w.htm


----------



## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

Air is what makes things spoil I believe. Thats why the Chaffhaye comes in airtight, compressed bags. They have sucked the air out, and this also causes it to ferment, as the mollases heats. I'm not sure if the yeast is put in it, or if grows itself as the product ferments. :shrug:

Oh, and btw, the nearest Chaffhaye dealer is in Cookeville.


----------



## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Why would you want to do this? It takes less room to store, but just baling the alfalfa seems better to me, if you can store it. I had to use Chaffhaye one winter when I didn't know what I was doing, and I couldn't get any hay, and my goats got enough to eat, but they felt like they were starving until I could get hay finally. They scarfed up their half day's ration of it in about five minutes and then there was nothing to eat for half a day.


----------



## CluckyJay (Aug 3, 2011)

What keeps it from spoiling after you open it Jess? Is it because you feed it so quickly? :chin: 

I usually like to make things instead of buying them Lissa. I'm very organic and DIY minded. :greengrin:


----------



## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Okay but what I meant was why would you want to ferment your alfalfa instead of just feeding them your alfalfa? I didn't mean you should buy Chaffhaye. I found the actual hay keeps them much happier. Also, I just recovered a couple goats of mine a month or so ago that were at a place feeding chaffhaye, they were in terrible condition, I don't know that that had anything to do with it, but they were terribly bony, and the little one looked like he stopped growing when he left here. He is less bony now, but I don't think he is ever going to grow. He was 3 months old when he left here. 10 or so now. I have no idea what caused that, or if he would have stopped growing if he had stayed here, but for the first five months or so they had them they were feeding chaffhaye exclusively. The doe looked terrible too, plus her coat was completely washed out of color and rough. Maybe they just weren't getting enough of it.

Chaffhaye was developed for horses, and their digestive system is totally different than goats, I'm not convinced it's a great idea to feed it to goats unless you have no choice. Better than nothing of course.

And maybe their condition has nothing to do with Chaffhaye, I will never know. But they are home now.


----------



## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

There are enzymes in the chaffhaye from the fermentation that make digestion easier for them. Thats why I like it. My goats love it and it also has natural probiotics.

To keep it from going bad we either keep it in a tied garbage bag or containers. We've done both and it works out good. One bag lasts us 2-3 weeks the way we feed it. And we feed it out to about 12 goats a day, and some as a treat to the horses, and sometimes the nursing rabbits get it as a boost for milk production.


----------



## CluckyJay (Aug 3, 2011)

If it was making goats lose condition, why are people still feeding it? I thought I had seen quite a few people feeding it to their goats? Jess has some pretty nice looking animals. In the end, I am going to go the best route for our homestead so I may or may not ferment anything. But I do want to try it because it looks like a nutritious thing to dole out here and there. That and for the chickens.

Were planting alfalfa next year so they will be getting standard hay and herbal hay like earlier this year. Its just another idea to think about and share if I get around to making it.


----------



## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

Well thank you for the compliment Jay! :hug: My goats are just fatties tehee.

Lissa- I went back and read your post. I didnt read it all the way through as I was in a rush. I'm very sorry that those goats came back to you that way. It's happened to me, too. You wonder why you even sold it to that person in the first place. But things like that most of the time are beyond our control. I don't feed the Chaffhaye exclusively. One, because I would go broke....and two because it would have to be out 24/7 practically for them to actually feeling full and stay fit. I'd say I probably feed about 3lbs a day. But I also give grain/alfalfa pellets and some hay at night. My goats actually go to the chaffhaye first. If I havent put in their dishes yet, they are following me around yelling at me. :laugh: They hay is in their feeder for them to munch on while I clean out their dishes, but nope, they are just too eager for the good stuff. 

You're are right in saying that it could have been a number of things that could have caused those goats to lose condition like that. Poor parasite control, mineral deprivation, even not providing enough chaffhaye for them.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with it, and to each their own. But I know this is a product that works spectacular for me.


----------



## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

I think you are doing it right. Feeding it alone is something I really worry about. People around here are being encouraged to do that. Three pounds a day per goat is a lot too, especially for NDs. When I used it because it was all I could get the instructions said 1 lb a day per 100 lbs. I guess that works for horses, but it certainly isn't enough for a goat. (Which I figured out immediately) I think they have changed that now. But they are still talking about feeding it exclusively. It sounds like you are feeding them the recommended amount of chaffhaye at least in addition to hay and grain. They still need the long stems of the hay in order for the rumen to function properly. Since you are doing both it is working well for you. That is way different than what the chaffhaye dealers are recommending. I visited the one around here and they have too many goats who are all small and skinny. I was pretty surprised by their goats. So I think it depends. I have an excellent and reliable source for alfalfa hay and a place to store it, so I stick with that. Yes there is more waste. It has been six years since I studied it and used it for a winter. My goats loved it at first, but hated it at the end. They were ecstatic when I could get hay. I was new and only had two, and it was a bad year for hay and I didn't know I wouldn't be able to get it. I thought a neighbor had agreed to keep me in hay and he didn't think so. So they had only chaffhaye to eat all winter. Plus some grain, but that was all the hay they had. 

So I guess I have had two less than ideal experiences with it.


----------

