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How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - EcoFarm - 07-25-2025
How to Make Your Maize Stovers More Nutritious for Livestock
Hello farmer friend! Let's talk about turning those leftover maize stalks into quality feed for your animals. It's easier than you think!
First Things First - Make It Digestible
- Chop stalks into small pieces (about 2-5 cm) so animals can eat them easier
- Try the urea trick: Mix 4kg urea with 60L water per 100kg stover, store airtight for 2-3 weeks
- Add some molasses (2-5kg per 100kg) to make it tastier and more energizing
Boost the Nutrition
- Mix in protein-packed legumes like lucerne or desmodium (1 part legume to 3 parts stover)
- Always provide mineral licks or salt blocks
- Consider adding protein supplements like soybean meal (0.5-1kg per animal daily)
Smart Storage Tips
- Keep your stovers dry and off the ground
- Use airtight storage for treated stovers
- Watch out for contamination from chemicals or waste
Keep an Eye on Your Animals
- Monitor weight gain and milk production
- Check manure consistency - it tells you about digestion
- Compare animals eating treated vs untreated stovers
Quick Urea Treatment How-To
1. Chop and weigh your stover
2. Mix 1kg urea with 15L water per 25kg stover
3. Sprinkle evenly and mix well
4. Seal airtight (plastic or soil cover works)
5. Wait 4-5 weeks before feeding
Remember: Not for young calves or donkeys!
See? With these simple steps, you can turn waste into valuable feed. Your animals will thank you with better health and productivity!
Got any questions about improving your animal feed? Let's chat - drop your questions below!
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - The Farmer - 09-10-2025
Urea treatment works because ammonia from urea breaks down lignin bonds, making fiber more digestible
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - Kiwi - 09-10-2025
Thanks. But If person no get molasses nko?
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - Farm-sultan - 09-10-2025
Adding molasses will make them to eat more. Nice idea.
Also adding 25 - 30% legumes like lucerne, desmodium, and groundnut haulms improve crude protein.
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - Quack - 09-10-2025
So na to chop the fodder small-small before I treat. That one no go too stress?
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - Henlus - 09-10-2025
Quack Wrote:So na to chop the fodder small-small before I treat. That one no go too stress?
You can buy or construct a simple grass chopping machine. Chopping increases surface area for urea penetration, making the treatment more effective. It also reduce feed wastage by 20-30%.
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - Danny - 09-10-2025
If I no get airtight bag, fit I just cover am with soil?
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - FarmTech - 09-10-2025
(11-17-2014, 07:29 PM)Manihot Wrote: To help in planning feed storage, how much will a goat eat per day?
Danny Wrote:If I no get airtight bag, fit I just cover am with soil?Yes, sealing with soil is okay as long as air is excluded. Oxygen will spoil the treatment.
.
You need to dig a ditch that will contain it. Fill it TIGHT with chopped stover. Cover the top with tarpauline or waterproof before covering with soil. Protect from rain.
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - Trimex - 09-10-2025
This method can really help in the dry season when grass is scarce. Cool.
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - Sendrix - 09-11-2025
But wait oo. Won't urea harm cows? It's being used by crop farmers to poison stray goats and cows.
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - Henlus - 09-15-2025
(09-11-2025, 12:12 AM)Sendrix Wrote: But wait oo. Won't urea harm cows? It's being used by crop farmers to poison stray goats and cows.
As long as you mix well and wait the required time, urea-treated stover is safe. Just don’t add extra urea during feeding.
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - EcoFarm - 09-15-2025
(09-15-2025, 09:45 AM)Henlus Wrote: As long as you mix well and wait the required time, urea-treated stover is safe. Just don’t add extra urea during feeding.
Thanks admin. I've been off
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - EcoFarm - 09-15-2025
(09-10-2025, 10:12 PM)Kiwi Wrote: Thanks. But If person no get molasses nko?
Molasses is optional. It mainly adds taste and energy. Without it, treatment still works.
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - EcoFarm - 09-15-2025
1. Urea treatment is sometimes called "ammoniation" of crop residues. It’s not fermentation like silage, but similar airtight principle.
2. Treated stover has a brownish color and strong ammonia smell. If smell is sharp, leave a few more days. Air-dry for some hours before feeding to reduce strong smell.
3. Maize stover alone has 3–4% crude protein, but after urea treatment it can reach 8–10%.
4. Science studies show that animals gain 30–50% more weight on treated residues compared to untreated.
5. Bottom line: Urea treatment + legume or oil cakes + Mineral Lick + good storage = affordable high-quality feed for ruminants.
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - Kiwi - 09-15-2025
(09-15-2025, 09:48 AM)EcoFarm Wrote: Molasses is optional. It mainly adds taste and energy. Without it, treatment still works.
Ok tnks
RE: How to Turn Maize Stovers into Super Feed for Your Animals - Sendrix - 09-15-2025
(09-15-2025, 09:45 AM)Henlus Wrote: As long as you mix well and wait the required time, urea-treated stover is safe. Just don’t add extra urea during feeding.
Tnks