How To Make Silage Using Plastic bags

Local dairy farmers especially
those doing dairy farming for
business now have a reason to
smile.
The new method of making silage
using plastic bags has become
much easier to secure feeds for
your cows from the excess forage
that you get during the rainy
season.
Here are seven easy steps to
making silage using plastic bags.
Step 1:
Using a chaff cutter... chopper or
a panga, chop your forage (Napier
grass, maize stalks or grass) into
pieces of about 1 inch or
2.5cm.On a flat surface, spread a
polythene sheet or a canvas and
pour on it a bagful of the chopped
forage (about 50 – 70 kg).
Spreadthe forage into a thin layer.
Step 2:
Dilute 1 litre of molasses with 1-3
litres of water. The mixture should
be just enough to spread over the
layer of chopped forage material.
Step 3:
Using a watering can, pour the
molasses mixture evenly onto the
spread material of chopped
forage. Turn the material
repeatedly as much as you can to
ensure an even spread of the
molasses mixture over the
material.
Step 4:
Tie one end of a plastic bag you
will be using to make silage. The
bags come in various sizes.
Step 5:
Fill the plastic bag with the forage
mixed with molasses. Compress
the forage to produceas compact
material as possible. If the bag is
not full, prepare more material by
following steps 1-3 and continue
filling up all the time compressing
as hard as you can.
Step 6:
Once the plastic bag is full with
silage, tie its top tightly ensuring
that you leave inside as little air
as possible.
Step 7:
Store the silage bags away from
direct sunlight and rain. To ensure
that you maintain the
compression on the material, you
may need to place weights such as
stones.
Note carefully.........
A plastic bag filled with silage can
be very heavy. It’s therefore
advisable to fill it on the position
where it will be stored.
Silage is only made to conserve
forage for use during the dry
season when green fodder is
limited. Therefore, it should not
be used to replace concentrates
fed to your cow.
Each time you open a bag of
silage to remove some feeds,
make sure you tie it tightly and
leave as little air as you can
inside. Otherwise, you risk
spoiling your preserved cow feeds.
Feed your cows at least 2 hours
before milking or immediately
after milking. This helps you to
avoid tainting.
A dairy cow can consume more
than 25kg of silage in a day.
You can get the Plastic bags on
order while molasses can be
found in most cow feed shops.