Lucerne is the king of fodder, yielding a large volume of high quality hay that’s rich in protein. According to Pliny (died 79 AD), it was introduced to Greece in about 490 BC when the Persians invaded Greek territory. In the spring, summer & fall they free range on about 8 acres. Timothy is a type of grass hay. I think it’s an effective way to get them back into shape after a birth too. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. The plant superficially resembles clover (a cousin in the same family), especially while young, when trifoliate leaves comprising round leaflets predominate. The protein levels will vary as to fertilizer and moisture conditions. High quality alfalfa grass cattle feed seed lucerne seeds hay for sale. They love it and don’t waste any of it! It has clusters of small purple flowers followed by fruits spiralled in 2 to 3 turns containing 10–20 seeds. Here is more info on zinc deficiency: When I got started with goats I barely knew the difference between hay and straw. The official language of Lucerne is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. This is Goats 101 — https://thriftyhomesteader.teachable.com/p/goats101/ Alfalfa hay may not be suitable for horses suffering with hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis (HYPP) as its concentration of potassium is often quite high (14 – 25+ g/kg). We are working to help UK growers of lucerne/alfalfa and to provide a market place for lucerne hay, haylage, chaff and other lucerne products. Also known as- Medicago sativa, lucerne, holy-hay, and trefoil. Our supplier ran out of hay so we had to buy second cutting alfalfa. Sometimes, they just regard it as grass that seemed to have overgrown. Hi there. Otherwise there is probably mold growing in them, which can kill goats. Lucerne may have anywhere from 16 to 20% protein, while grass may only have 4 to 12% protein, depending on the quality of the hay. The main difference between Lucerne and Alfalfa is that the Lucerne is a city on Lake Lucerne, in central Switzerland and Alfalfa is a species of plant, alfalfa. Make sure you keep potassium in particular at the 100% RDI in these horses, regardless of the feeds you use. A free bag would be great! Leaving a comment is one way to enter the giveaway. The name alfalfa is used in North America. I would love to try one of their products. Do they not grow lucerne in SW WA? You may need different qualities of hay for different horses—leafy hay for weanlings, for instance, and more mature hay for adult horses that do not need such fine hay. I would love to try the hay forage! It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. The name alfalfa is used in North America. They’re one of those people who think goats can eat “anything.” Only buy round bales that have been stored inside. Calf Manna is extremely high in protein, which is tough on goats. I’m assuming that none of them will be perfect. Thank you Deborah for a great blog and online courses about goats! That is definitely not the case. Alfalfa was recommended for a friend’s anemic goat (treating for barber pole too) :(. Alfalfa hay for cows It is worth to notice that due to its immense nutritional properties Alfalfa hay is considered to be one of the most applied and popular as a horse feed. If so, do you recommend the pellets or the hay, as we can get Standlee either, but no local alfalfa hay that we can find. Alfalfa is native to warmer temperate climates. Goats eat differnt forage than horses? We use Alfalfa & Grass hat for our goats. Unsubscribe at any time. If you’re sitting there thinking that you’ve seen oat straw before, you may have! Now our buck is losing patches of hair, I believe from zinc deficiency from alfalfa. I can’t believe I didn’t know about possible zinc deficiencies in my dry does and wethers if they get alfalfa hay. https://thriftyhomesteader.com/what-do-goats-eat-it-depends/, Your email address will not be published. And if you leave a comment, don’t forget to click on the Rafflecopter entry stating that you left a comment because the winner is chosen randomly by Rafflecopter. I’m not a horse expert, but I think most horses do okay on grass hay. Alfalfa is a type of Legume hay. But alfalfa hay is not the best for all animals. It’s not a good idea to simply follow someone else’s feeding plan like you would a cake recipe. I’m a new goat mama and have been feeding the kids Standlee Alfalfa. I’m a total newbie & am trying to prepare myself as best as I can before we get our first (does for milking) next year. LOL. In the US it is called alfalfa, here we call it lucerne (the proper English term :-)), and it is grown mostly in irrigation areas. Alfalfa (), also called lucerne and called Medicago sativa in binomial nomenclature, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. Alfalfa has two to three times as much calcium as grass hays. This is usually what dairy cows eat, the protein content is too high for a horse. Thanks for the info! This is why I buy my hay from three different cuttings every year. I’ve also been adding Standlee alfalfa pellets to my milk goats’ grain for additional insurance ever since they started selling them in our area about ten years ago. If you give me more details on age and what they’re eating, I can help you trouble shoot. Alfalfa generally has the highest nutritional value of all common hay crops, particularly protein and energy, making it a great choice of feed for cattle, horses, rabbits, goats, or sheep. Thank you for this article! If you would like a chance to win, follow the directions below. And of course underbrush and grass/weed forage. Goats do eat a lot of different forage than horses, and they are not as picky in terms of species of plants, but they do have a rumen that can be upset fairly easily if there is mold in hay. I need all the help I can get. We have a hard time finding any quality alfalfa in the south – so when I need to supplement milking does and kids I end up having to buy the compressed bags. We buy our hay at a Tractor Supply and are ver happy with it, but it isn’t cheap.. Lucerne (also known as alfalfa) is grown throughout Australia, for use as a green fodder crop for pasture or for conservation as hay, silage or as a dried ground product. It's really good for putting on weight fastAlfalfa is a type of leguminous plant that is made into hay. Nutritionally speaking, however, they are very different. I use grass hay but sometimes it is stemmy and my goats leave a lot. Thankfully, I did as you mentioned and fed my milking does their choice of alfalfa and grass hay. That means that if you’re milking your does for the first three months of pregnancy, they are just always eating alfalfa from pregnancy through milking. So yesterday i learned that lucernce and alfalfa are the same thing! 07.02.2019 by thriftyhomesteader // 38 Comments. For example, Grandma-T feeds Calf Manna, which sounds like it’s working for her, but that is normally only used to fatten up calves for butchering or giving to a goat that is extremely underweight, and you’ve already done a full health check to be sure that it doesn’t have a medical problem that’s causing the low weight. We feed first cut grass hay from our farm! We’ve never had our hay tested, but someone shared five of their alfalfa tests with me. Although I quickly learned that hay is food and straw is bedding, I just assumed that all hay was the same. They really need a buddy that speaks their language. The name lucerne is the more commonly used name in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Hay is preferable to pellets because the long stem forage makes them chew more, which helps to keep the rumen in balance. Be sure to use your real name when leaving a comment so we can match it up with your entry in case you win. If junk is ok for the goats then that is fine, just checking if it would be fine. Alfalfa. We use a mixture of grass hay and alfalfa. I hope you clicked on the “leave a blog comment” button in the box above because you already left a comment. He was started on soaked cubes … Yes - just the same. It was a hard sell at first, but now they love it. Do you have any suggestions? Alfalfa hay is exactly that, hay. This time Galen wants to buy round bales for fall and winter and I am afraid it will just be all junk. Round bales can hide a lot, so you would really need to talk to the person who baled it. Thrifty Homesteader is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Great! Alfalfa, as part of a balanced recipe does not present the same issues associated with feeding Alfalfa as a hay. You pay the same price when you purchase through affiliate links as you would if you went directly to Amazon, and our site earns a small commission, so by shopping through our links, you are helping to support our blog so that we can continue to provide you with free content. If they were getting less hay, I would feed the same feed of a morning, and probably increase the night feed by 50%. They also get 1 lucerne & 1 1/2 bisc grass hay a night, and a bisc of lucerne of a morning. I’m currently waiting for my goat kids to arrive but when that do I’ll know exactly what to feed them thanks to you. Alfalfa is a type of hay.. but is richer than say local or timothy. Lucerne hay and other products for sale. To give everyone a chance to win, each person can only win once every 6 months. The protein level varied from 19 to 26%, while calcium varied from .97 to 1.31%. What about endophyte free fescue for bucks and wethers and mixing it with alfalfa for kids/pregnant does/milking does? If you’re sitting there thinking that you’ve seen oat straw before, you may have! Now check your email to confirm your subscription. What is lucerne mulch, and what’s the scoop on lucerne mulch benefits? Regardless of whether you are buying a grass hay or a legume hay, it should be green on the inside of the bale. The Alfalfa sprouts you eat in your sandwiches are a variety of the lucerne hay you feed your horses or cattle. If they say something like, “it’s good enough for goats,” then it is NOT. Four months is good but three months would be better. Don't sprout commercial lucerne seed, for eating as it will have been treated with In a balanced rabbit food, the calcium and protein levels are formulated in the overall recipe to meet the pet’s exact nutritional requirements, therefore avoiding any associated issues with too much calcium or protein in the diet. Your horse should never eat a first or second cutting. https://thriftyhomesteader.com/goat-minerals/, I use the Standee Alfalfa pellets for my horse,! It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as … I remember when I first started and was using hay for bedding….didn’t realize how much warmer straw was, and how much cheaper! Hay is basically a grass that is cut green, then dried and baled. It is about the same as Timothy in nutrition. We need money to operate the site, and almost all of it comes from our online advertising. thanks! Typically bucks recover from zinc deficiency just fine after you remove alfalfa from their diet. I feed Standlee’s Timothy grass pellets to my buck and alfalfa and alfalfa/timothy pellets to my pregnant does. If I had a horse I wouldn’t buy it. If it was newly baled, it should still be green on the outside, but over time, the outside of the bale will fade to brown, although it will still be green inside. https://thriftyhomesteader.com/goat-minerals/, https://thriftyhomesteader.teachable.com/p/goats101/, https://thriftyhomesteader.com/zinc-deficiency-goats/, https://thriftyhomesteader.com/what-do-goats-eat-it-depends/. So is Orchard, Bermuda, Coastal, etc. Lucerne (or Alfalfa) is different because it provides a high annual yield of around 14t DM per hectare on its own and without nitrogen fertiliser. I’m glad you find it helpful! The high-quality hay for horses ALFALFA Glenn E. Shewmaker University of Idaho Dan Undersander University of Wisconsin Laurie M.Lawrence A lfalfa is often the pre-ferred forage for horses because of its high quality, high digestibility, and good roughage value But actually, they are closely related to one another. I know the basics about soaked cubes, but I am finding that there is so much waste. If you click on the “Shop” link above, you can also order my books. Alfalfa Hay Alfalfa Hay, Medicago Sativa, also known as Lucerne hay or Lucerne grass, is one of the most important forage crops cultivated in agriculture.It is widely grown throughout the world as forage for cattle and is typically harvested as hay. We are getting a load of grass hay tonight so hopefully he will start growing his hair back, but in the meantime I wonder if he needs a supplement? On the milk stand or once a day if not being milked: organic alfalfa pellets mixed with Timothy pellets then add calfmana, goat balance, and black oil sunflower seeds (coconut oil add in winter). The city's urban area consists of 19 municipalities and towns with an overall population of about 220,000 people.Owing to its location on the shores of Lake Lucerne (German: Vierwaldstättersee) and its outflow, the river Reuss, within sight of the mounts Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne has long been a destination for tourists. There is. Not just a bit either. While milk cows should have alfalfa, beef cattle should stick with grass hay. The leaves are the part of highest nutritive value but can be easily lost during the hay making process. I often hear people say they want to give their animals “the best” feed, and they assume alfalfa is best because it has more protein and calcium. Alfalfa, red clover, timothy, bermudagrass and tall fescue are all types of hay grown as feed crops for animals from horses to rabbits. There was an error submitting your subscription. The same procedure is followed by Saremco international as well. I tried to enter the giveaway but I don’t have Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest so I guess I cannot. Alfalfa, clover, and peanut are legume hays, while timothy, oat, bermuda, and orchard are examples of grass hays. Required fields are marked *. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the district of the same name. We currently feed our goats with grass hay from our property. A few months ago I wrote about the differences between baled hay, hay cubes, and hay pellets. There is no one-size-fits-all diet for goats or horses, and really you should not have a single horse or goat. A plant, principally of Medicago sativa, grown as a pasture crop. Particularly fine-stemmed, leafy alfalfa (rabbit hay or dairy hay) is too rich and palatable for horses (they generally overeat on it) and does not have enough fiber content for proper digestion. We pack them in three different types of bales that we are going to discuss below. We won't send you spam. It has been cultivated as livestock fodder since at least the era of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Alfalfa cultivation is discussed in the fourth-century AD book Opus Agriculturae by Palladius, stating: “One sow-down lasts ten years. No sweet feed or grain ever. Lucerne hay, when it is produced and stored correctly is commonly green in colour and should, on closer inspection contain a high percentage of leaf material and fine stems. Alfalfa’s high protein content makes it ideal for milk The nutrient value of the hay is also dependent on when it’s harvested—early maturity harvests will contain more of their nutrients than hay that is harvested closer to seed production. The bales often spring open after the strings are cut and are harder to divide into flakes. Hay nutrition can also vary from year to year depending upon weather and crop management. The tests covered five cuttings across three years. When oat seeds are planted, they first grow as a grass. important European leguminous forage plant with trifoliate leaves and blue-violet flowers grown widely as a pasture and hay crop. Lucerne Hay For Sale, Alfalfa Hay For Sale, Hay Bales For Sale Near Me in Australia. Is this a good practice? hay because the hay is a bit harder to manage than alfalfa. I start feeding alfalfa hay when they are about 4 months into their pregnancy . Lucerne ( loo-SURN, French: [lysɛʁn]; German: Luzern [luˈtsɛrn] (listen); Lucerne German: Lozärn; Italian: Lucerna [luˈtʃɛrna]; Romansh: Lucerna [luˈtsɛrnɐ] (listen)) is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. https://thriftyhomesteader.com/zinc-deficiency-goats/. Once established, the root structure is vast and deep. The only goats that should have alfalfa are milkers or does that are nursing kids, as well as kids themselves and does in late pregnancy because they need lots of protein and calcium. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of our to goats and find your article helpful. I’ve been feeding everyone mostly alfalfa for five years!! a Rafflecopter giveaway. We do not implement these annoying types of ads! They always went for the alfalfa. Alfalfa hay is used primarily for dairy cattle which provides an ideal combination of crude proteins, fats, sugars, fibers, as well as essential minerals. For my does in milk and kids: Standlee Timothy grass compressed bale hay. Lucerne Hay Alfalfa hay, Medicago sativa, also known as Lucerne grass, is one of the most important forage crops cultivated agriculture. And the Please try again. We were feeding good quality 70% grass, 30% alfalfa hay and supplementing our milkers with Stadlee alfalfa pellets in their grain. You’re welcome, Alysha! I have now transitioned them to bermuda grass, which is the only grass hay available in my area, and Standlee timothy grass pellets. And that seems to have worked well for us. I also don’t recommend protein pails or mineral blocks. You’ll have 3 days to respond if you win or we will draw another winner. I have a grass hay that is 17% protein, I was shocked when I got it tested but the Ca/P is 1.46. Wow what a difference in his attitude! I have a 10 yo performance gelding, and he eats very slow. I mostly give my goats grass hay, as that is what I have available. Obtaining lucerne hay with a moisture content low enough to prevent mould sporulation in storage was always a problem with the older “small square” balers. 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