I received a phone Hotline from a shepherd many years ago. He was confused as to lớn why his ewes refused to lớn eat what appeared to lớn be beautiful alfalfa hoặc. I asked the shepherd to lớn send u a couple of representative flakes from the small square bales the ewes did not want to lớn eat.

Several days later, a sturdy brown box arrived from the shepherd. I opened the box and inside was some beautiful alfalfa hay; emerald green, late bud to lớn early flower and great leaf retention. Very visually appealing hoặc. Why would any sheep refuse to lớn eat such a fine specimen I asked myself as I moved my hand towards the hoặc in the box? Ouch! Within the beautiful smelling hoặc was a trace of Canada thistle, a very small trace, which was not visible to lớn my eye. The spines on the thistle pierced my skin and several spines remained as I quickly withdrew my hand from the hoặc.

I called the shepherd back and told him what I had found in the hoặc. He said he would Hotline u right back after he made a trip to lớn the barn to lớn inspect the mouths of his ewes. Within 30 minutes the shepherd called u back and reported that the mouths of the ewes were definitely irritated. If you can feel empathy for sheep, I was experiencing this emotion. I would refuse to lớn eat this hoặc, too, even though a laboratory analysis would likely show that it had a protein nội dung over 18 percent and a total digestible nutrient nội dung in the mid 60’s.

This reminded u of some research that had been done evaluating the nutritional quality of different weeds. Canada thistle was one of the weeds evaluated. Its nutrient profile was similar to lớn alfalfa hay! Looking at a forage analysis wasn’t going to lớn tell u that Canada thistle was in this hoặc.

I truly believe that forage testing is a best management practice that all livestock owners should tự. Laboratory results can be used to lớn feed different hays in inventory in the right order as nutritional needs of cows, does, and ewes change as they go through their yearly cycle of maintenance, different months of gestation and lactation. A supplementation strategy can be developed, too. Excellent information about forage testing such as how to lớn sample hoặc or silage, where to lớn purchase hoặc probes and locations of certified laboratories can be found at the trang web www.foragetesting.org.

My experience with the shepherd and his ewes refusal to lớn eat high quality hoặc as detailed by the numbers on a laboratory report, reminded u of how important it is to lớn use your senses to lớn evaluate hoặc, too. Previous to lớn this encounter of hand meeting thistle, I would have used the words “visual appraisal” as hoặc was being assessed. However on this day, I opted to lớn change the physical evaluation of hoặc to lớn sensory analysis.

Sight can tell us what species are found in the hoặc, maturity of the crop at harvest, leaf retention or loss during harvest, whether there is mold, and the presence of foreign objects. But it wasn’t sight that first told u that this beautiful looking hoặc had a problem waiting for the ewes; it was touch. Touch can tell you whether the hoặc was made too moist and whether it is heating due to lớn this excess moisture. Palatability can be reduced if hoặc is ví coarse that it irritates the mouth of the consuming animal. Smell can determine whether hoặc is musty from the presence of molds that are not noticeable with the eyes. Hay that smells more lượt thích tobacco rather phàn nàn hoặc is an indication that it heated during the curing process and likely has a high unavailable protein nội dung. A vinegar smell is an indication that hoặc was recently baled with organic acid preservatives at baling to lớn reduce the microorganism population that causes heating and molds to lớn sườn. I haven’t opted to lớn use taste or hearing to lớn evaluate forages, but rest assured your livestock have used taste to lớn assess the feed source that you provide.

For more information about sensory analysis of hoặc, Purdue Extension publication “Sensory Analysis of Hay Quality for the First Time Buyer” can be found at https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/AY/AY-374-W.pdf.