<h3>Why Conserve Animal Feed?</h3><p>In Kenya, rainfall comes in seasons. During the wet months pastures are green and plentiful, but in the dry season feed becomes scarce and animals lose weight, give less milk, or even die. <strong>Feed conservation</strong> stores the surplus from the wet season so animals are fed well all year round.</p><h3>Making Hay</h3><p><strong>Hay</strong> is fodder (often Napier grass, Rhodes grass or legumes like lucerne) cut while still green and leafy, then dried in the sun until the moisture content is low. It is turned regularly so it dries evenly and is then stored in a dry, ventilated store to prevent mould.</p><h3>Making Silage</h3><p><strong>Silage</strong> is green, chopped fodder packed tightly into an airtight pit, bag or drum. With air removed, helpful bacteria ferment the material, preserving it as a sweet-smelling, nutritious feed that can last for months. Molasses is often added to speed fermentation.</p><h3>Reducing Food Loss at Home</h3><p>Conservation also means reducing <strong>food loss and waste</strong>. Leftover cooked food should be cooled quickly, covered, and refrigerated where possible; safe scraps can feed poultry or be composted; and overripe fruit can be dried or made into juice.</p><div class="callout"><strong>Kenyan context:</strong> Many smallholder dairy farmers in Nyandarua and Nakuru make silage in plastic drums or tube bags from chopped Napier grass and maize stover. A cow fed conserved silage keeps producing milk during the dry months, so the farmer keeps earning from milk sold through cooperatives.</div>