[Jacob-list] How do you chop alfalfa hay?

[Susan J Martin]

I believe I remember reading on this list in the past that some of you feed "chopped" alfalfa hay.  How do you chop it?  Do you have it done commercially with a hammermill?  Is there a way to chop alfalfa that would work for a hobbyist like me with a small flock?   We feed  alfalfa but the sheep tend to waste the stems....any suggestions?  I know of a sheep farmer who has a larger flock than us and he collects all the wasted hay (he feeds in a rack with a trough below that catches the waste) and then has a hammermill truck come out to his farm, the stems are ground up in the hammermill and a bit of molasses is added and also some corn, and then he stores this mix in 55 gallon, air tight drums and it ferments into a sort of silage and his sheep love it.  However, this wouldn't be feasible for us - he has around 50 of the drums and he has enough of wasted hay to make it worthwhile for the hammermill to come to his farm.
Sue Martin
Stonecroft
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