Today I went and bought 6 bales of Orchard/Alfalfa (~25/75%) shipped here from NM, to replace the old hay that was still left. It was twice the cost of local hay, but figured I'd give it a try. Man does the new stuff smell sweet! Love that smell. 
That and fresh cut grass smell. The smell of fresh turned good quality dirt is pretty decent as well. The ground under the compost pile and under the pallets where the old hay had been stacked smells (& looks) really rich. Might just force me into planting a garden next spring... We'll see how ambitious I become. 
I cut the bale wires on one and placed several flakes in their feeder and they proceed to stand on the fence and eat directly from the bales in the stack... So they're stretched out through the fence and over the top of the pallets (placed vertically to block them from doing exactly this) to munch directly from the bales... 
They've been getting a lot of branches lately as well since I've been clearing property lines and mowing tracks of overhanging brush.
Because of that, I must put only what I think they will eat at a meal. I use alfalfa pellets &/or cubes (if I can get the brands that have less of the stuff that makes the m hard). on the milk stand or fed in feed bunkers.
