Would you like to hay for your cows or rabbits yourself and dry the hay properly? With our practical instructions and valuable tips, it works without any problems!

If grass is to be dried, the right choice of lawn mower is important

Drying hay - how to proceed

Important preliminary remark: Only the grass of high meadows is suitable for haymaking.

  1. Cut/mow the tall grass with a scythe, sickle or suitable lawnmower (only models that keep the grass reasonably long should be considered; also the equipment used should leave little or no lubricating oil/fumes).
  2. Leave the mowed grass in the sun for three to five days, depending on the weather.
  3. Only when the hay is bone dry do you store it in a shed.
  4. You should let the hay dry in the shed for another five to six weeks.

Be careful with lawn mowers…

We recommend that it is better not to use a lawn mower for cutting/mowing the grass. They often flatten the meadow and cut up the individual grasses several times so that you end up with very fine, chopped hay. This does not require enough chewing work from the rabbits - apart from the fact that the grasses are far too close together due to the short stalks and therefore do not dry as well. Later the hay gets too little air. In the worst case, it absorbs moisture and begins to mold - or even to gas, causing it to self-ignite.

In short: If you want to use a lawnmower, you have to check its quality and operation carefully in order to avoid nasty surprises.

Why the long drying time is so important

One reads from many hobby gardeners that they only dry their hay for a few days and then feed it to their animals. However, this is not recommended. It can cause problems in the digestive tract.

Store dried hay correctly - our tip

We advise you to wrap the dried hay in towels so that it is airy. In this way it stays dry and fresh all year round - and therefore a pleasure for your animals.

Note: Do not wrap the hay in cloths until it is really dry all over. This is the only way to ensure that it does not cause problems such as diarrhea or other unpleasant digestive problems.

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:

  • as a free PDF file to print out yourself

Category:

Garden design