Hay and Straw: What’s the Difference?

by | Apr 30, 2009 | Barnyard, Mini Goats | 3 comments

On the left you have straw. On the right you have hay. Can you see it? Hay is greenish, dried grass. Straw is what’s left over once grain is harvested. One has plenty of nutrients, one doesn’t. There in lies the lesson. If you are FEEDING an animal, get hay. If you are mulching, making bedding, stuffing a scarecrow, get straw.

You can mulch with hay. It’s not very cost effective unless you have a connection with someone with loads of spoiled hay. But, since hay still has seeds in it, you will want to pile it DEEP so any weeds that find the ground, never find the sun. (See the The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book for instructions.)

Ivory

3 Comments

  1. Beth on 06/06/2011 at 9:44 am

    Thanks for this – I have asked, and been asked, the difference and have never known. I am allergic to hay (mildly) but can walk through straw with no problem. I was beginning to wonder if they were one in the same or if I was imagining allergens… now I know.

  2. Rebecca Crouch on 10/31/2012 at 1:07 pm

    I have had a on going argument with my husband about this very thing…..he won! I said they were the same thing and he said it wasn’t!

  3. Renate Hernandez on 12/20/2013 at 2:51 pm

    Where can I buy straw in different size bales?

    Thank you.