Techniques for making oat grass smell delicious

“Techniques to make oat grass smell delicious”

By Assoc. Prof. Dr. Somporn Wirakun (Ajarn Kaew)

The right stage of oat grass is the first cutting when it is flowering and starting to turn into milky rice grains. Harvesting in the right season and with the right method will result in high-quality grass, which will be softer and greener than the oat grass we usually see. Thais may not be familiar with it. When it arrives in our country, it will mostly turn yellow easily, similar to general rice straw and slightly coarser. Or grass that is dried in the sun to be hay or dry grass will turn yellow quickly, but the quality is no different. Except for groups that cut slowly until the seeds are mature or the rice panicles are collected, in which case it will not have much value and will have alkalinity in the digestive tract when fed. Grass at a good stage and well-collected will be green, but it has the disadvantage that grass harvested at this stage is fragile. The stems can be shortened because they are not coarse (but it depends on the farm and harvesting, which does not affect the quality of the grass). Because it is soft, it may break more easily when dry. In the first stage, it will have moisture, but only about 8.5%. However, the moisture content of dry grass that has been dried in the sun for a long time or stored in a barn for a long time will have almost no moisture left, which is not good because it is too dry. While grass that has been well-preserved When stored in a bag, vapor may still be released, which is about 8.5% within the allowed humidity range and is good for the grass properties. One thing that may be found in some rabbits is that some do not like the fresh smell, which may not be as fragrant as the dried smell, which makes oat grass different from other types of grass.

Oat grass has grass flowers in the stage of producing milk grain, which is not very fragrant when green. It will smell fragrant when heated or dried, while fresher oat grass may lack this scent charm. But it is a pity that this fresh green grass retains higher nutritional value. Although most rabbits like fresh grass more, but if you find that your rabbit does not like or is not familiar with the smell of fresh green grass, sometimes think that it smells bad. If you do not understand this, try taking fresh green grass in the field, crush it and try to smell it yourself. You will smell a green smell, which will not smell as good as dry grass or rice plants that are starting to grow. But in herbivores, the smell that we feel is a green smell is a natural smell. But it is possible that some pet rabbits do not like it because they have always eaten dry grass, which is mostly no problem and is the nature of these animals.

Making grass smell good!
Heat helps make food, plants, flowers, tea leaves, coffee leaves smell better, and we can use heat with grass. If you want to add more fragrance, you need to stimulate the stems and flowers of the grass by baking the grass or giving it heat. It's like stimulating the grass to grow older. The flowers and seeds will start to give off a scent, like the flowers are about to bloom. If you do it meticulously, you have to bake it seriously. The same method as baking tea leaves is used. Set the baking temperature. It is recommended to be around 80 degrees Celsius for 1 hour or longer, depending on the desired fragrance. Baking will help maintain the green color, increase moisture, and create a fragrant smell. This method is time-consuming and inconvenient. Another method is to dry it or bake it in the sun by wrapping the grass in paper to protect it from direct sunlight. But be careful that the smell of the paper or the smell of paint, ink, and chemicals on the paper will contaminate it, making it less attractive and unappetizing. Consider choosing a basket or a closed container. This will help the grass stay green but the smell will be more fragrant. But it takes longer to bake than the first method. But if you choose to dry it in direct sunlight, be careful that many vitamins will be lost from heat. And if you expose it to too much sunlight, the smell will also disappear. Therefore, you should dry it only a little to create heat and smell it yourself. Or let the same rabbit test the deliciousness as you like. Each person will be different.

However, it is better if the one who can eat green grass or eats a variety of forms and types of grass, because the characteristics and properties of grass will be different in each harvest season. And the harvesting method, so some stalks are short, some are long, some are soft, some are hard, some are green, some are yellow. This is considered normal.

Although there are many types of grass that have better nutritional value than oat grass, such as super premium and premium grade timothy grass, which is found to have a protein level 2-3 times higher than oat grass, a higher proportion of dietary fiber, and is the most popular abroad, oat grass is famous for being more delicious because it smells better. And because the coarseness of the stalks is longer than timothy grass, it is often used with rabbits that have improper and insufficient tooth wear to help polish their teeth. But in cases where they eat grass well and have never had a problem, any type of grass can be used, including timothy, alfalfa, meadow, and oat. And in cases where they are good at eating grass and eat only oats, some cases may also have excessive tooth wear. Therefore, you must be careful and know how to use grass with understanding. Therefore, eating grass should be varied, supplemented with nutrition from other sources in the correct proportions, reducing the risk of malnutrition. And take them for regular health check-ups.