Hay is a generic term for grass or legumes that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal feed, particularly for grazing animals like cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs. Pigs may be fed hay, but they do not digest it as efficiently since they are omnivores not herbivores.
Hay is fed when or where there is not enough pasture or rangeland on which to graze an animal, when grazing is un...
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Hay is a generic term for grass or legumes that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal feed, particularly for grazing animals like cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs. Pigs may be fed hay, but they do not digest it as efficiently since they are omnivores not herbivores.
Hay is fed when or where there is not enough pasture or rangeland on which to graze an animal, when grazing is unavailable due to weather - such as during the winter, or when lush pasture by itself is too rich for the health of the animal. It is also fed during times when an animal is unable to access pasture, such as when animals are kept in a stable or barn.
Commonly used plants for hay include mixtures of grasses such as ryegrass (Italian rye grass, Lolium multiflorum), timothy, brome, fescue, coastal bermuda, orchard grass, and other native species, depending on region. Many types of hay may also include legumes, such as alfalfa (lucerne) and clovers...
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