A Grass is a Grass...or Not!

So lately I've been trying very hard to learn all about hay.  From protein content to the different species.  When I first moved to the country I really thought grass was grass and that was that.  As a matter of fact I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't even realize that hay was grass.  Yes it's true.  Then when I finally figured that out, I had no idea there were any differences between 1st, 2nd and 3rd cuts of hay.  I had no clue as to what that meant.  Now that some of it is beginning to sink into my head and realizing that the quality and cut of my bales of hay affected the health of my livestock, I've really started to take an interest and have been on a crusade to self-teach myself all the kinds of grasses there are out there (and to be able to identify them), as well as the differences between grass and legume.

Yesterday I went out to a farm that advertised some bales of hay for sale at a price that was more representative of last year rather than the ridiculous prices being asked this year, so me and Farm Girl went and picked up some bales.  The ad said the hay was 1st cut with timothy and alfalfa.  Perfect, I really wanted to add alfalfa to my hay since it is a vital supplement in both sheep and goats diet.  And the horses love it too.  The problem is, I really have no idea what alfalfa looks like.  I've finally figured out timothy and was able to identify it in the bales.

But there were other grasses in the bale that I thought were alfalfa but turns out they are not.  Since I had no idea what they were, I went on the internet to identify them.

I believe the above is Kentucky Bluegrass but I'm not sure of the one below.

I'm thinking it's some kind of orchard grass only because someone bought the majority of the hay from this farmer and resold it at a higher price on Kijiji (nice eh?) but correctly (or incorrectly) identified the bales as being 70% timothy, 20% alfalfa, and 10% orchard grass.

I'm studying and examining each stem of grass (yes, a little neurotic I know) determined to recognize what is in my fields and in my bales.  I did find a great website to help me but still some of the strands are so similar it is hard to correctly name each one.

Here's the link for anyone who is interested in identifying pasture grass:
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/beef/facts/06-095.htm#kentucky