Is hairy vetch good for hay?

Hairy vetch is also used as fodder and can be grazed, or cut for hay and silage. It is commonly grown with a small grain crop (rye, wheat or oats) or with annual ryegrass to provide good quality forage (Hannaway et al., 2004).

Is vetch good for hay?

Forage Quality: Common vetch makes high quality hay, either grown alone or mixed with small grain.

Is hairy vetch good for cattle?

Hairy Vetch is a nitrogen-fixing plant that works well as a cover crop. However, it is not recommended for livestock because of its toxicity to cattle and horses. The mortality rate for affected animals ranges from 50-100%, typically as a result of kidney failure. Any stage of hairy vetch growth is risky for grazing.

What is hairy vetch good for?

Hairy vetch fixes large amounts of nitrogen (N) that help meet N needs of the following crop, protects soil from erosion, helps improve soil tilth, and provides weed control during its vigorous growth in the spring and when left as a dead mulch at the soil surface. Hairy vetch can also be grazed or harvested as forage.

Can cattle graze vetch?

For livestock, especially cattle, this legume initially has a low palatability, and it may take a few days before vetch is readily eaten. For this reason it is only suitable for grazing by dairy cows when it is part of a mixed pasture. The cows will eat other species at first but gradually come to accept the vetch.

Is hairy vetch poisonous?

Hairy vetch is a legume used throughout regions with extensive farming and can be fed as pasture, hay, or silage. Hairy vetch toxicosis is uncommon and is a unique manifestation of toxic plant ingestion that can result in lesions of eosinophilic and granulomatous inflammation within the kidney, skin, and other viscera.

Is vetch hay suitable for horses?

In drought conditions, it is easy to provide the horse with sufficient energy, protein and other nutrients without satisfying the dry matter component. It is often easier to source good quality hay such as legume hay (lucerne, clover or vetch) which is relatively nutrient dense.

Can cattle bloat on vetch?

However, such reports are rare and the poisoning has always been associated with cattle grazing on vetch-dominant pastures. Ill-thrift syndrome in cattle, with dermatitis and diarrhoea, has been known to occur. Bloat is of low incidence.

Is vetch hay good for sheep?

In lower rainfall regions vetch is commonly grown for sheep grazing and green manuring. non-shattering pods.

What animals eat vetch?

The foliage of Common Vetch is edible to mammalian herbivores: It is readily eaten by cattle, horses, sheep, deer, rabbits, and groundhogs.

Is vetch OK for horses?

Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth L.) is an annual or winter annual legume. It is most often grown for soil improvement, roadside, or bank stabilization. It can also be grown as a pasture or hay crop but it can be toxic to horses, especially on high selenium soil.

Is hairy vetch toxic to horses?