HAY CUTTINGS – FACT VS. FICTION

Immediately, I wish to take the chance to supply some schooling about hay cuttings and show you how to perceive the implications to what it means when it comes to the hay high quality traits, in addition to the dietary components. Most significantly, I wish to take a while that can assist you separate truth from fiction.

What Are Hay Cuttings?

So, what are hay cuttings? To be able to perceive myths versus actuality, let’s spend a bit of little bit of time serving to you perceive the science of how hay grows and the way that pertains to cuttings. 

Hay is a crop that may be harvested a number of occasions a 12 months, and it doesn’t matter what sort of hay we’re speaking about (whether or not that be cool season grasses like Timothy and Orchard, heat season grasses like Bermuda, and even legumes like Alfalfa), all hay is of course harvested at totally different factors throughout their maturation cycle. 

After we discuss cuttings, that’s merely assigning a quantity to signify when the hay was harvested. First slicing can be the primary time the hay is harvested annually, whereas second slicing can be the second harvest. It’s most typical to get one to 2 cuttings, and infrequently with some grasses, we’ll get a 3rd slicing.

Which Hay Chopping Is Most Nutritious For Small Pets?

So some of the widespread questions that I get as a veterinarian is, “what slicing is most nutritious or most acceptable for my animal?” Whether or not that be a younger rabbit or older guinea pig, is there a distinction between first, second, and even third slicing that aligns to a particular dietary want? The fact is that there isn’t any scientific analysis that validates that sure cuttings of hay are extra acceptable for sure age associated points or sure illness circumstances reminiscent of GI illness or dental illness.

Is 2^nd Chopping Hay Extra Premium And Larger High quality Than 1^st Chopping?

One other declare I sometimes hear from pet dad and mom is that second slicing hay is a better high quality than first slicing. Properly, the reality is that’s actually a fable, a bit of bit primarily based on shopper notion, and sadly there may be some advertising on the market that actually aligns that second slicing is healthier. 

There can definitely be variations between first and second slicing, and typically second slicing is usually a little bit softer and greener. However once we actually get all the way down to the basis of it, what we wish to deal with is the maturity of the hay.

When evaluating hay, there are totally different bodily buildings that we search for, whether or not it’s leaf-to-stem ratio, the aspect of the seed head, or maturity. If we consider these bodily traits, and, most significantly, align these to the dietary components that we’re after, slicing actually isn’t a major differentiator and never one thing it is best to make your buy determination primarily based on.

Is It True That Grownup Pets Desire 2^nd Chopping Hay?

One other widespread query or declare is that grownup animals desire second slicing hay. No matter slicing, what it actually comes all the way down to is your particular person animal’s preferences. Some animals desire hay that’s barely coarser, a bit of bit extra mature, a bit of bit crunchier, whereas different people desire a bit of bit softer hay. It isn’t really about slicing, it’s about these bodily traits that your animal would like. 

What we actually wish to deal with is guaranteeing that (impartial of slicing) we’re getting that smooth leaf, that tender construction, that stunning aroma, and ensuring that that aligns to the suitable dietary traits to feed the microbiome of their hindgut.

Why Is Hay Maturity Essential?

As you possibly can think about, we’ve invested a substantial amount of time and power at Oxbow to know what are the dietary and bodily traits of hay that’s most acceptable and preferrable for small herbivores.  What we’ve discovered over many years of expertise is the significance of harvesting hay at an early stage of maturity.  Harvesting hay early within the development cycle permits us to make sure the precise bodily and dietary traits we require, in each single bag, impartial of slicing. 

What Is Particular About Oxbow’s Hay High quality Course of?

So we’ve spent numerous time speaking in regards to the dietary traits and the bodily traits that we all know align to what’s finest for the small herbivore. At Oxbow, what we realized actually early on is that after that hay leaves the sphere, there are nonetheless a bunch of things that we are able to management with a view to enhance and add worth to the hay. 

With our many years of data and expertise, we’ve developed what we name our Further Acre Hay High quality Course of. This once more begins within the area with the standard evaluations that we do there, nevertheless it follows the hay right through the packaging and into that remaining bundle. It’s about not merely shopping for hay, it’s not merely hay within the area, however actually understanding what we are able to management as we transfer that by our high quality system. There are 4 central pillars to Oxbow’s Further Acre High quality Course of.

Ongoing Analysis And Consulting

So pillar primary for us is our ongoing analysis and session with hay growers. We’re regularly what analysis is being printed and what data is on the market to enhance our capacity to domesticate more healthy fields and extra nutritious hay for small animals. We dedicate important time, effort, and cash to researching high quality components that affect the pet’s complete well-being. Our forage consultants work hand in hand with researchers and growers, and proceed to study and evolve the best way that we develop and bundle hay.

Dedicated Presence Out In The Fields Yr-Spherical

Pillar quantity two is our dedicated presence within the hay fields 12 months round. By continually having boots on the bottom, we’re in a position to consider the rising traits of hay, the environmental circumstances, in addition to what the soil circumstances are – all of which affect the standard traits of the hay. This enables us to know what’s happening in mom nature and the way we are able to make the most of science to enhance the standard of that hay. We make use of farmers as a part of our forage sourcing workforce to make sure that we’re sourcing solely the most effective hay, from the most effective farmers, in each given 12 months.

Hay Evaluation & Scoring

Pillar quantity three is targeted on our evaluation and our scoring of hay. Earlier than we ever purchase hay, we perceive what’s been happening as a part of that rising course of. Our sourcing workforce evaluates that hay within the area and within the bale to gather samples, scoring it on quite a lot of components: shade, aroma, leaf-to-stem ratio, and different high quality traits. As well as, we’re sampling that hay and submitting it for third-party testing to guage a variety of dietary components, together with fiber, protein, and different dietary traits that we all know are paramount for the well being and wellbeing of small animals.

As soon as again at Oxbow, the hay undergoes one other spherical of sampling to additional validate that scoring and evaluation that was performed within the area, in addition to to validate the third get together dietary testing. All that evaluation in totality permits us to know that we’re placing probably the most constant, most nutritionally acceptable hay within the bundle, each single day.

Hay Sorting & Packaging

And, lastly, pillar quantity 4 – sorting and packaging of hay. We use quite a lot of custom-built applied sciences that we’ve developed over many years of packaging hay to softly separate the bale and gravity kind and de-dust the hay by a number of processes earlier than it’s hand-sorted and hand-packaged by an actual one that has a dedication and a ardour for what they do.

Species, Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Well being & Vitamin, Chinchillas