We live in Papua, Indonesia and have been raising goats for about 6 years. Up until now we have been foraging for fodder (mostly tree branches and grasses) and feeding this fresh to the goats. We would like to experiment with silage. Any simple reproducible recipes out there?
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@Shaun_Snoxell , @Keith_Mikkelson , or @Erwin_Kinsey - do any of you have experience with silage for goats and if so, could you please advise Brandon? If not, do you know anyone with helpful experience?
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Hi Brandon,
Iāll share some basics below that may help you figure out a recipe that suits your conditions. Youāll find lots of potential recipes from a bit of googling. Iām hesitant to provide a specific recipe without knowing your local conditions and prices of inputs. E.g. molasses is commonly used, however if molasses is expensive or unavailable for you then this is not essential. Many farmers make high quality silage with no additives at all.
It is common to add a fermentable sugar source (typically molasses) if the forage material is low in sugars, to help feed the bacteria which conduct the anaerobic fermentation.
It is also common to add salt, which helps suppress the ābadā bacteria and fungi which can also grow in silage (especially if the top layer of silage is exposed to air. This is also not essential.
You will also hear about people adding inoculants to improve fermentation, or urea to increase nitrogen content. There are numerous variations. There are many perspectives on best practice, but in my opinion these additives all have marginal effects. The most important factors for good quality silage are the quality of the forage itself, and ensuring a completely anaerobic (air-excluded) environment.
- Harvest high quality forages. Younger forage with more sugar and less fibre will produce silage with higher energy and protein.
- Chop the forage into small pieces. Smaller pieces are easier to compact, ensuring that you can get all the air out. Try to get them to less than 25mm long per piece.
- Ensure that the fodder is not too wet. Fodder should be around 25-35% dry matter. As a rough rule of thumb to test this, pick up a handful of chopped fodder and squeeze it. Your hand should feel moist, but no drops of water should come out of the fodder. Most fodder crops will require wilting in the sun prior to chopping to get moisture low enough. After trial and error you will quickly figure out how long you need to wilt fodder to get a silage that is not soggy.
- You can use plastic bags, pit silos, plastic bins, and more as ensiling containers. A Google search will give you plenty of options. Make sure that air and water cannot infiltrate, and that silage effluent doesnāt drain off causing pollution. For small scale production, could consider trying large drums, or large heavy-duty plastic sheeting. Place fodder in the drum/bag/pit, in thin layers. Compact after each layer. At a small scale, this can be done effectively by repeated treading on the forage. At a larger scale, farmers often use trucks to drive over the piles and compact. It is crucial to get out as much air as possible. Repeat layers and compaction until all fodder is used. Cover with an air-tight layer, typically heavy duty plastic sheets. Any holes in the plastic, or air pockets in the fodder will cause it to rot on exposure to oxygen. Try to keep the forage clean, goats will not find muddy silage palatable.
- If desired, molasses (say around 3% of the volume of the fodder), can be mixed in with each layer. A handful of salt can be added to to the top layer if full air exclusion is not possible (for example, at the top of a barrel).
Good luck!
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Thanks for this response, this is very helpful information. Any idea about how long to let it ferment?
Im also wondering, after it has fermented and become silage and I open the drum to feed to goats, what I do with the remainder of the silage? Wont the air make it go bad?
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Brandon, the general idea is try to make it in containers sized so you donāt have a lot of silage exposed to the air. So, for example, if using a silo, you try to use the top 12 inches out of it each day and thatās usually fast enough to stay ahead of spoilage. We make it in 55 gallon barrels with a plastic liner in it. That way when we take some out, itās easy to close the plastic bag and keep the air out and thus eliminate spoilage.
The information provided by Shaun is excellent. But at the same time I see people make it all kinds of imaginable different ways and they all seem to work. For example, I see people make it out of just grass and not use anything like molasses or sugar or salt or anything. They do it year after year and it always works.
We make it out of corn and donāt add anything, but when in the past, we made it out of grass, I did use molasses. But again, I know lots of people who donāt.
We have made it in bags as small as 5 pounds and also in bags of approximately 600 pounds. The difficult thing we have with bags is mice. We find it almost impossible to keep mice from biting holes in the bags and spoiling the silage. For that reason, we now use 55 gallon barrels with plastic liners.
Certainly depends on the variety of factors, but most people around here, where we are in Honduras allow it to ferment for a month before using it.
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We make a fermented hog feed but ruminants do best on cut and carry / pasture when available.
"ā¦from Chapter 5 (AN31) āIntegrating Ruminantsā:
Farmers feeding cows, goats, sheep, and buffalo should attempt to keep purchased inputs to a minimum. Farmers must balance the dietary needs of their animals with safety, comfort, and security from theft. No matter how ideal your goals for your ruminant herd, make sure you carefully plan and manage for the overall benefit of the animals and the farmer. Most small farms in SE Asia would do well to develop and manage some amount of pasture for ruminants, combined with a cut and carry strategy. Manure should be incorporated on the farm to maintain soil fertility for the forages and plants, and tighten nutrient cycling loops so that the benefits of integrated livestock will translate into more economical and sustainable food production. "
Thank you, this is helpful, I wondered about a plastic liner. We made the forage yesterday and opted not to use more plastic as we are also trying to help our community reduce its plastic consumption, and reduce pollution. But I can see how that would be very helpful.
The plastic liners are reusableā¦ not only for silage, but for bokashi and other things.
One more thing Brandon, if you use a barrel, you probably donāt need to use a liner. In silos, the top of the silage is covered with a heavy piece of plastic to keep air out. Each day when pitch forking silage out the window, the ācapā is removed and then replaced when the unloading for the day is done. That is old technology from the old days but my guess it would work well enough in a barrel.
The other reason we use a liner is because the barrels we use are metal and would rust. We can buy 3 or 4 metal barrels for the price of one plastic barrelā¦so we use metal.
Hi Brandon, the pH of the silage is something you should consider when introducing it to goats. The fermentation process, when done correctly, lowers the pH of the feed to 3.8-4.2 and the goatās rumen pH is typically 6-7. Keith pointed out that fresh fodder, when available, is best for goats, but if you have to use silage, introduce it slowly over a period of a week, and mix it with fresh fodder or dry hay to not overwhelm the goatās digestive system. The bacteria and other live bugs in the rumen need time to adjust to new feeds in general, especially if you are changing the pH.