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We have a small number of sheep, and I am going to give making silage a go. I have looked at a few websites, and whilst they all go on about pH values and the like, it seems pretty simple. Or is it?

Does anyone here have experience of making small bales of silage? Any tips?

We will be using strong bin bags as we only have 3 sheep I want to keep the bales small. It seems that all I do is compact the grass down as tight as I can, expelling as much air as possible. Then with the ever handy roll of duct tape, seal it shut and store safely for the winter.

Am I over simplifying it?

Hopefully this will lead to a great reduction in our feed bill and allow us to be a little less reliant on the supply chain.

I'm probably as far as you can get from knowledgeable on this particular subject, but my first thought whether standard bin bags would be "food safe" enough not to leach any nasties into your sheets feed?

I've done a bit of small scale silaging in bin bags and it does work, I didn't really have much to go on and had mixed results, however I read this little mag from time to time and found this article, there are a couple of useful titles at the bottom of the story that may help.

http://smallfarmcanada.ca/2014/making-f ... all-scale/

peejay wrote:I'm probably as far as you can get from knowledgeable on this particular subject, but my first thought whether standard bin bags would be "food safe" enough not to leach any nasties into your sheets feed?

That is a fair point you raise peejay, but one thing that a few sources seem to agree on is bin bags are okay.

Brambles wrote:I've done a bit of small scale silaging in bin bags and it does work, I didn't really have much to go on and had mixed results, however I read this little mag from time to time and found this article, there are a couple of useful titles at the bottom of the story that may help.

http://smallfarmcanada.ca/2014/making-f ... all-scale/

Thank you for that link Brambles. It seems to confirm what I had read, but does go into more detail.

I have now spent a productive afternoon 'vac-packing' bags of grass. Mrs Brit was a little horrified at the idea I may have overworked Henry the Hoover, but in the end she saw the logic. If we can ensilage grass for the sheepies we can spend less over the winter.

This year will be an experiment to see if I can do it okay. If so, next year I will try a few different ways. I hope to find a way that wouldn't rely on bin bags and a hoover. Just in case of teotwawki, will be a handy thing to know.

Will update during the winter with the results in case anyone else is interested.

Yes please! even though I don't have beasts anymore I'm always interested in other people's efforts.

I don't know much about making silage, the closest I've ever come was buying haylage when we had horses so I might be barking up the wrong tree.
Doesn't it need to ferment? If so then smaller bales will be harder to keep warm than large bales, so it would be worth stacking them tight and having some old blankets or other insulation to hand to keep the heat in, it's getting colder overnight and if it needs to ferment then keeping it warm would help the process along.

Jamesey1981 wrote:I don't know much about making silage, the closest I've ever come was buying haylage when we had horses so I might be barking up the wrong tree.
Doesn't it need to ferment? If so then smaller bales will be harder to keep warm than large bales, so it would be worth stacking them tight and having some old blankets or other insulation to hand to keep the heat in, it's getting colder overnight and if it needs to ferment then keeping it warm would help the process along.

Good point. The bales the crofters are doing round here are huge, so big enough to generate their own heat. I have the grass packed tight and stacked in the garage. I'll insulate further with blankets and the like. Cheers.

Yay, I successfully contributed something to a thread I know nothing about!
Go me!

Just remember that most barn fires are either caused by wet hay/straw


or little arsonists

Jamesey1981 wrote:Yay, I successfully contributed something to a thread I know nothing about!
Go me!

Shouldn't the mods give out a gold star for this

gamekeeper752 wrote:Just remember that most barn fires are either caused by wet hay/straw


or little arsonists

Another good point. I could insulate (blankets), cover (tarps), and stack in the corner of the garden. Much safer than in the garage.... near the petrol...and the wood pile