Zambia Dairy - Making a Silage Pit

This video is about creating and managing a silage pit. For more information on this subject, see fact sheets F01D and F01C at www.zambiadair....
Silage is a type of animal feed made from fermented fodder crops. Making it requires planning because silage crops must be planted at the onset of rains. The crops are then harvested before the dry season, stockpiled and stored in an airtight pit until needed.
Maize is a good crop for silage because it is nutritious and high in protein, which cows need to produce milk. When digging a silage pit, choose a location away from your animals so they don’t injure themselves by falling into it. A smaller, narrower pit is easier to manage; for this reason, we recommend digging a pit 2m wide and 1m deep. The length depends on your desired volume. Please refer to fact sheet F01D for instructions on how to calculate this volume.
Your silage can also be piled up to half a metre above the ground.
After harvesting and chopping your maize and adding it to your pit, you’ll need to use something heavy to compact the material. Cover the pit with heavy-duty plastic or sacks and put old car tyres or another heavy material on top to keep the plastic in close contact with the silage. This avoids exposure to air which can spoil the silage.
Your pit can be opened after 6 weeks; however, only open it when you really need to - that is, when other feed options are exhausted. After opening your pit, check for grey spots of mould or rotting material; never feed bad silage to your animals.
If your silage is hot, that means it is changing into compost - dig it out and dispose of it immediately. Use any remaining cooler silage as quickly as possible.
Once a pit is opened, take care to prevent air, water, sunlight, soil or dirt from entering the opening. Only open the plastic when removing silage - do this right before feeding times so the material is fresh for your animals.
Make a straight edge when cutting and removing silage - from top to bottom; this is to minimise the amount of silage exposed to air each time. Make sure no soil goes into the pit as it will contaminate the silage. Replace the plastic as soon as you’ve removed your required amount of silage.
For measuring purposes, a 50kg bag contains about 20-25kg of green maize silage, which is how much a dairy cow should eat per day.
Cows may not like silage at first because it’s a new taste and texture.
If your cows are reluctant to eat silage, check it is of good quality Good silage smells slightly sweet, has a light brown colour and a slightly sour taste. It should be slightly moist, but not too wet. If your silage is OK, mix it with other feeds that you know our animals already like, such as maize bran or kapenta nsofu. If your cow still doesn’t like eating it, secure it in the kraal with maize silage and dairy meal only - don't let it graze on maize stovers. It will give up its protest and start eating soon enough.
Use a feeding trough to avoid feed wastage.
For a dairy farmer, silage is a crucial food reserve so you can receive milk from your animals year-round. Without appropriate nutrition, your dairy cows will produce little or no milk in the dry season.
Silage can also be made in drums or bags.