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Discussion on Quick Answer Needed About Hay Bales & Moisture
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 - 10:39 pm:
Hi Guys,
Been outa the loop here for a few days, lightening took out our DSL, fencer, melted my fence, and more! No fires, no one hurt, horses safe.
My situation is this: Been getting hay from the same guy now for a few years. Last 2 years have been DRY DRY DRY so hay definitely didn't have any moisture problems!
First load of 250 bales light and green, but the 2nd load concerns me. It is orchard grass so more of a flat grass than I am used to. It seems to feel "moist" to my hands when I open a bale. No heat though. Bales a bit heavier, but not bad. Haven't seen any mold. It's been in my barn a week.
I questioned the guy about it, he assures me it's fine, it was cut and down for 2 1/2 days before he baled it. We did have higher humidity I recall, but it didn't rain during that time period.
I don't know enough about hay to know if it feels "normal" or just different from what I've been getting? I did have some alfalfa that I got a few years back that felt very heavy, and it was moldy within days! Very obvious.
Would humidity in the 60's make for a too moist bale?
Anyone have any experience with orchard grass as hay?
If this isn't good hay, besides being out a ton of cash, I will be in a world of trouble all winter trying to get rid of it as we don't own a tractor or even a 4 wheel drive pickup! And then trying to find more hay...ugh.
He's bringing my last 100 bales tomorrow and I have to pay him so any quick responses very much appreciated!
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Member:
juliem
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 - 10:54 pm:
Grass hay needs to feel "dry". It should easily fall apart. When opened, the bale should break apart into loose flakes. Not like alfalfa. DrOp a bale from a few feet--it if's not damp, it will bounce a bit. It will be warm in the middle of a bale if it's not dry enough, but not after the bale is opened. Take a handful of hay and hold it in your two fists and twist (like you're pedaling a bike with your hands) and the hay should break apart after a few twists. Also, take a hay hook and dig inside a tightly closed bale and pull some hay from the middle--it should be dry--no moist feel at all or it will mold. The smell--should be fresh, no "off" or moldy smell. Around here, moldy hay is considered all right for feeder cattle, or some people will take it for their compost piles or mulch. Otherwise, it's a pain to get rid of!
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 - 11:03 pm:
Hi Angie I have the same problem with a couple of my loads of grass hay this year, I was skeptical, but the guy and hubby said it would "cure out" fine. It isn't! when I stick my hand in a bale most isn't heating YET and it feels cool, BUT I took one out and cut it open the other night and the next morning it was warm and was getting dusty (the white mold) We put ours in last weekend, a lot of my bales are heating a little (not normal curing sweat) when I opened some of them they are dusty and forming the white mold and stiff in the middle... I Am NOT happy!!! The cows got them, I am going to be VERY short of hay this winter and the cows well fed I am afraid.
If you stick your hand in the middle of the bale and feel any heat ( It may be a little early for heat) it actually takes a few weeks, but if it feels damp in the middle of the bale you MAY have a problem like me. Hay does sweat when it's curing but it doesn't get that "damp" my bales are not heavy either
PS sometimes sprinkling the bales down with salt helps draw the moisture out... I think I may try that tomorrow myself....500 bales.. sigh
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 - 11:31 pm:
Thanks Julie for a quick answer. Hmmm...it falls apart o.k. I think. Not sure on the bounce though I did know that one. I don't think there is heat, but after sticking my hands in a few bales, and smelling, well, pretty soon I haven't a clue if it's moist/warm/smells, ha ha. I don't own a hay bale hook so I was breaking some apart but don't trust my hands as far as feeling heat or not.
O.k., tomorrow I will do the "twist test" and see if it breaks apart.
My hay is on it's side, 9 across the barn, 4 high. I think it's kinda tight which adds to my worries. Moniter style barn so there is lots of air circulation at least.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 - 11:38 pm:
Diane,
I got interrupted so you got your post in while I was busy.
So...how much salt? Can you do that as it's being fed? Or how does that work? I have a HUGE garbage can full of salt! Got it almost free from TSC as the bags were leaking; geez, was that a sign of things to come I wonder...I was going to need the darn salt??
Between this worry, the lightening strike, a minor family crisis I just found out about...I think I will tell my hay guy to hold off on the rest of the hay, and keep doing some checking. I have 600 bales right now counting 100 from last year, so actually don't need more. I can move hay around if I don't get the last 100.
Isn't having horses fun?!
(Hoofs are good anyhow!!)
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 - 11:56 pm:
Angie the salt draws moisture from the bales, you do it soon as you feel the bales are too damp, actually soon as you put them in if you suspect they are a little to damp is best...I'm a little late maybe, maybe not for some. You just take and sprinkle salt all over the bales in the hay mow, I have seen this work more than once, most horses don't mind the extra salt. I had forgotten all about this... salt is getting sprinkled on mine tomorrow I hope it helps!!! Thanks for reminding me of this!!!!
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Member:
paul303
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 - 12:22 am:
Julie's right on, Angie. We've been bailing grass hay for 7 years. One field is fine grass, and two others are mainly Orchard grass. The fine grass hay is a bit lighter than the Orchard grass. Before the next load comes, why don't you break open a bunch of the heavy bales and inspect them carefully in the middle?
If you do decide to keep them, try to stack them with optimum air circulation in mind. More so, than you normally would. And check them constantly. There is a certain amount of moisture that the bales can still give up even after baling. Do you have a good, dry storage area?
Hey, we had some horrendous storms pass through about 2 weeks ago. A few erratic tornadoes touched down and created havoc. I lost about 25 huge trees, but others lost things like homes and cars. No electric, of course....the lines were destroyed by falling trees.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 - 10:25 am:
It's raining so no more hay coming today. I am going ask my son to help me move some around and do some more checking. The one I threw down didn't bounce in my opinion, but it fell apart and didn't feel moist...geez, enough to drive me crazy!
I don't think it passed the "peddling" test.
Putting hay in 12 x 12 x 60 area isn't really a good spot to move hay for sprinking salt or checking bales.
Lee,
The area is dry, and being above the barn aisle, and open on the sides, lots of circulation. We did just tack up a temp wall on the one side so hay quit falling on my son's truck he's rebuilding, but even that is not tight...and he'll strangle me if I ask him to take it down!
Seems to be horrible storms everywhere this summer! I am going to post some pictures of lightening strike damage in another discussion.
Diane if we are short on hay this winter, maybe Hank and Tango will get ribby, lol! I have sooo much grass, and the dreaded clover, that I swear letting the horses even graze for 2 hours has them balloon right up! So I am giving a couple flakes of this questionable hay in the morning, and a bale at night for the 4 of them.
At times like this, I seriously think I need a new hobby!
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 - 12:18 pm:
LOL I don't think Hank is capable of ribby, he is just such a big horse all around..think bull doggy QH. He may see ribs tho if as much of this hay is as bad as I think..I'm talking about 300 bales out of 500 sigh... I think they may spend the winter in the back 40 pawing (except the old girl of course) probably would do them a world of good. That's my plan as long as we don't get a bunch of ice
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 - 12:35 pm:
Angie,
My hay experience is with bermuda grass hay but will tell you that whenever bales felt moist upon sticking in one's hand, the stuff molded very badly.
Unusual climactic conditions can wreck havoc for usually very competent hay farmers.
But to bail it when damp is a probably a mistake, no matter how long it laid there. Perhaps it was not turned and aerated enough.
As I said, I don't have much experience with orchard grass but I would be very concerned that this hay will not cure out properly.
And I would be quite concerned about the possibility of it building up heat as it goes through the curing process and potentially burning down my barn.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 - 1:07 pm:
Vicki,
A fire is my biggest concern but moldy hay is bad no matter what. That lightening strike could have burnt the barn down, so I am feeling just a bit sensitive to the whole issue!
I am feeling pressured right now from my hay guy to accept the next load because he "needs his trailer" and has it loaded to deliver 150 to someone close to me, and my last 100 bales. I told him until I move it around and check some more hay, I don't want the last 100. It's a fine line to not tee this guy off, and loose his supply, and he's been good to work with so far. Even helped put this years in the barn as my hubby and son were at work both times.
He's a business man first though, and not a "friend" so his assurance he'll take care of any problems isn't reassuring at the moment!
And thinking of digging through 500 bales right now is not my idea of fun!
Would it be wrong of me to hold off with total payment for say 30 days? I would think if it's going to mold, by then I would know?
Maybe he correct and the hay is fine. Previously he would bale all of July and put it in his barn, then deliver in August. Maybe it finished curing in his barn and this is normal.
I just don't know...new type of hay for me, lots of money to pay out...nothing worse than looking for hay in January when there's snow & ice everywhere to boot.
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 - 2:02 pm:
How well I remember when I accepted a whole hay room full of hay that felt damp.
We hadn't been on our farm that long then and
my relatively new friend who had a whole lot more experience than I did told me not to worry, it would be fine, and she had never gotten hay that went bad from this neighboring farmer. She had taken delivery the same day that I did and wasn't worried about the moisture.
It wasn't long at all, however, until she called him and asked him to remove it all from her barn.
I was stupid and kept mine, but at a greatly reduced rate to use it for cattle.
Truth is, the cattle really didn't even want it and I am lucky that my barn didn't burn down.
Plus I personally had to remove and stack every one of those 250 bales into the back of my truck and haul them to where I could give them to the cattle because my husband had just had shoulder surgery.
The farmer got mad at my friend and neighbor and told her that he wouldn't sell her any more hay in the future. But she did get her money back.
He let me go into one of his barns unattended on the honor system and take those bales (from a different cutting) that I wanted with each having to pass a thorough sniff test to pay me back for the amount of money we agreed that I was due.
What I should have done was also to have had the hay removed from the barn immediately when it was observed to be heating up, and gotten all of my money back. None of that hay was salvageable.
It wasn't worth the health risk to me experienced when selecting the replacement bales or handling the bad ones, all of the additional labor and time, the fire hazard, and I am not exaggerating about the cattle not wanting it.
I don't think that you are out of line at all to refrain from paying for this hay until you are certain that it is acceptable.
It won't take as long as 30 days for you to know, in my experience. Within a couple of weeks or less we knew what we were faced with, though perhaps it takes longer for orchard grass to cure than bermuda grass?
Being stuck with a lot of hay that has to potentially be picked through carefully is a giant nightmare plus it takes up all of that space until you can get it out of there.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 - 2:04 pm:
Angie, I feel if I accepted it to begin with...shame on me. Vicki is right if there is moisture in the middle you are going to have at the very least dusty hay (white mold) It takes hay 2-6 weeks after baling to really start heating and molding. I stick my hand in bales every day when I am in the shed... I'm not liking what I'm feeling. Fire is a possibility if it is quite damp, usually a little damp won't heat up as much. Hubby took some to the cows that I deemed completely unacceptable... I couldn't even lift them they were so heavy!!! He said they were heating quite a bit already. My slightly damp ones are already getting dusty and I think I'll have a moldy mess and no hay!!! I know 2 loads are very nice and dry.. the rest is probably not going to be useable.
I really didn't want the stuff... but let them talk me into it will cure BS. I KNEW better. I wrote the check today for hay I know I won't be able to use, because as I said shame on me for accepting it!
If you stick your hand in a bale and it feels damp in the middle I am afraid you will probably have the same problem as me... I HOPE not!
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 - 2:31 pm:
It's easy to be overly optimistic, hopeful and trusting.
Unfortunately that approach has never yielded very good results for me with hay buying.
Whenever I have been in doubt about a load, the hay was not good, or a complete loss in the worst case.
If hay turns out to be put up badly and goes moldy or dusty I believe that the vendor should stand behind it if it was sold as "horse hay."
And the truth is, hay can look beautiful when it first arrives but if improperly dried it can turn bad fairly quickly and sometimes it is just hard to tell what you've got without opening every bale.
It really shouldn't be a "buyer beware" thing buying hay but I guess it comes down to that sometimes.
I will settle for a few bales being bad, or part of a bale here and there but sometimes every flake is good on one side while bad on the other, or even worse.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 - 4:44 pm:
I suppose my situation may be different, we buy from farmers, not really vendors. I always go and check the wagons first before we pull them home, they don't deliver. When I checked the "bad wagons" I knew for a fact they would be a problem.. HUBBY said they would be fine, hooked up and pulled them home... so it is our (his) fault for taking them. We always need square bales for the cows so at least it won't go to waste and even for cow hay it was fairly cheap $1.75 a bale. I just don't like the thought of running short, I did this year and I had a horrible time even finding hay, when I finally did I paid dearly for it. This farmer usually puts up incredible hay...my first 2 loads were excellent. Then the stupid rain threatened and I believe he put it up "tough" well I know he did!
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 18, 2010 - 8:14 pm:
I too have bought from local farmers whenever possible but have also learned that all farmers are not created equal when it comes to putting up hay.
Some are smart and do a good job while others really don't care that much.
It behooves them as much as it does a feed store to sell a decent product.
Sometimes the climactic conditions really are a stumbling block but it is not the buyers fault when the hay makers don't know enough to realize that the hay needs to be turned some more before baling.
If what they sell turns out badly, they need to stand behind it and do the right thing, in my opinion. That is what I would do.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Monday, Jul 19, 2010 - 7:05 am:
I probably would too Vicki, but nobody is going to talk hubby OR me into throwing that hay back into wagons take it back and stack another 300 bales. It about killed us the first time. I still feel it is our fault for bringing it home...we accepted it knowing it was damp...( I didn't want it) We don't have a lot of farmers that put up square bales around here or for that fact DRY hay. This guy almost always has excellent hay, he always gives me a good price and calls me to give me first choice. He was the one that some hay this spring when I ran out... BUT not enough, he didn't over charge me even though people were knocking down his door for hay and could have charged me much more. I don't want to burn this bridge because we had an incredibly rainy spring and so far summer... I probably couldn't find anything better than what I have at this point anyway. Some farmers JUST got 1st crop up because of the rain. All I can hope for is a very mild winter and not as much hay is as moldy as I think will be
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Monday, Jul 19, 2010 - 7:49 am:
So I look out my window last night and see a trailer with hay parked in front of my elevator! Hay man & his sons are busy taking the straps off and getting ready to unload it. I am so tired I can hardly string more than 3 words together, my husband has just gotten home from driving 6 hours, and I swear I told this man not to bring the other 100 bales YET because my barn would be so full then I wouldn't have room to move any hay around!
Hubby and son go out, and said o.k., we'll take it, and hubby insists we pay him, he's a good guy, blah blah blah.
Ya, he is a good guy, and I do believe HE believes the hay is dry and it probably is. I came to no conclusions checking bales. It felt different than the first load but I can't say for sure it's moist. So short of buying a hay moisture sensor probe, and checking every bale, (something to consider, just need a $200+...ya right)
Methinks my hay guy thinks I am paranoid, and I am worried he is feeling a bit insulted from all my questions and concerns!
Guess I will know more in the upcoming weeks and months. A few bales here and there bad I can handle. Baling at the right time is tough with the weather changing every couple of hours.
Thanks everyone for your experiences and ideas on checking the hay. I learned some new tricks.
And if I buy this hay guy a 6 pack of beer, all will probably be well, lol!
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Monday, Jul 19, 2010 - 12:49 pm:
I do understand about not wanting to "burn bridges" and it is kind of discouraging that we seem to need them more than they need us sometimes.
Being a "nice guy" really doesn't cut it though, if the product or service is insufficient.
It was really hard for me to switch farriers a time or two because they were such "nice guys."
But our horses' welfare rests with us finding good service, skills and products.
Otherwise we and they end up paying the price.
Easy for me to preach this, but believe me I too have been on the losing end of this while paying for bad hay over the years.
And my husband has ridiculed me for being so fussy about my hay. It took me a long time to convince him that moldy hay is truly a problem and dangerous to the health of horses.
Some years it is such a struggle with the hay.
It is thrilling to have a hay room full of good quality hay in the years that this works out!
I was just reading on a site about the hay moisture sensors and the people who need them are those putting up the hay.
A farmer who has begun using one was quoted on there as having discovered how much the moisture can vary between even one row of cut grass and the next. I guess this explains how one can come upon a bad section of bales within a shipment.
Perhaps you will get lucky, Diane and Angie, and have mostly good hay amongst what you received. I hope so.
I dread going through this ordeal again this fall and won't buy new hay for a while yet until the extreme heat and humidity passes as it would go bad just from sitting in my barn during the worst part of the hot season.
Last year the feed store that I use delivered loads of hay to me and I picked through and did the best that I could with each load. They were very good about allowing me to pick out bales that I thought were going to be "off" and take them back at the time that they would bring the next load. In one instance, they came back and replaced an entire load -- removing the bad stuff and putting in good bales.
Believe me, I tip these guys and they and the feed store have taken really good care of me, which I greatly appreciate.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Jul 19, 2010 - 7:47 pm:
Hay that does not feel dry will not store well for very long. If treated with mold suppressors (low molecular weight organic acids) they may feel slightly moist and be OK for a few months.
If you do not trust your hands get a accurate digital scale. Nowadays you can find them for less than 20 bucks. Weigh out about 5 lbs of hay. Place it in the oven and bake it at 150 degrees for about four hours. Reweigh the hay. If it has lost more than about 15% of its weigh, mold is likely to be a problem.
DrO
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 20, 2010 - 11:11 am:
DrO
I read something about the oven method of testing hay for moisture and thought hay + gas oven = fire! All it would take is one little bit of hay...POOF!! So I appreciate you putting that method on here but the way our year has been going I think I'll pass. Having the DNR spend an afternoon fighting a fire in our woods wasn't cheap! (back in April) If bad luck comes in 3's, we have one more episode of bad luck due yet.
Vicki,
I hear ya! The way our weather is going it may very well turn out I got some of the best hay of the season. Rain, fog, cool days, then heat, humidity, we are not getting much in the way of good drying days. My electric bill is showing that big time for this time of year. Dehumidifier, AC, and clothes dryer being used.
I am just going to try and keep a positive attitude as I know others are also struggling through out the country.
My husband thinks I am overthinking this too, and if I am picking through bad bales during this upcoming winter I will remind him of that.
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Member:
canter
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 20, 2010 - 12:48 pm:
Hmmm, my husband rolled his eyes a few years back when I told him I was thinking of making home made horse treats...can't imagine what he'd think if he came home and found hay in the oven!
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 20, 2010 - 3:05 pm:
Thanks for this information, Dr. O -- Very helpful and interesting.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 20, 2010 - 9:12 pm:
I guess this is kind of on subject. My hay has the white dust, which I am aware is mold. First I was throwing it out, but cripes I was throwing 50% of the hay away. So now I am shaking it good and feeding it outside, it really doesn't seem too bad at all when I do this. Is it ok to do this, I know it isn't optimal, but is it a do know harm??? The horses aren't coughing, and seem to like it?
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 21, 2010 - 7:48 am:
Angie I don't know why oven gas plus hay would make fire? No more than bread plus oven oven gas would make fire.
Certainly the hay must not be allowed to contact flame or heating element, but this would be true of any food item you put in the oven maybe just harder to achieve with hay. Perhaps laying down a layer of aluminum foil under the pan holding the hay will help you.
DrO
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 21, 2010 - 8:31 am:
DrO,
It's hard sometimes on here to separate humor from serious comments isn't it? I know putting hay in the oven can be done safely; can't be much more dangerous than leaving the cardboard under pizza, or leaving meatloaf in the oven ALL DAY while busy working outside. Just to my weird thinking brain, I don't think I'll try it!
I appreciate your suggestions and know it's a serious one. I was kinda being funny, and kinda serious that our luck has not been the best this year and I am not going to at this time put hay in my oven. I can just see my hubby or always hungry son asking what's cooking, and even stirring the "pot" and then slopping hay into a flame! Of course I am not sure what baking hay smells like so maybe they will run thinking I am making some new health food, lol!
Diane,
If all you have is poor hay, all you can feed is poor hay, right? For many years our hay was stored in a leaking shed. We covered the hay with plastic, and had pallets above the dirt ground. My husband would get whatever hay was cheapest, and what he got lined up, that's what we got.
I shook the hay out, threw away any black mold, and in all honesty was very lucky that our horses stayed healthy. Never noticed any coughing, or signs of heaves. Of course maybe some horses are more susceptible to heaves just as people are to allergies?
I suspect my hay will at least be a bit "sour" so I have a question for DrO to go along with yours.
DrO,
IF hay is a bit moldy, how likely is it to cause colic? I always think heaves from moldy dust, but what about the horses digestion system being affected?
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 21, 2010 - 10:13 am:
There is a good article about moldy hay at the following site:
https://www.extension.umn.edu/issues/lateharvest/MoldyHayForHorses.pdf
Moldy hay may cause a large number of health problems, including death.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Friday, Jul 23, 2010 - 9:43 am:
Vicki,
Thanks for the link. FW'd it to my hubby's work email. Found a smokey white warm bale last night, asked him where he wanted me to start stacking the bad hay in the woods?
It's going to be a loooong winter, me pulling my hair out and cussing, bad hay piling up. I only hope it's just a few bales that were from a lower spot in the field but my gut don't think so.
Diane,
How is your hay? Still finding bad stuff?
It is SOOOO WET here, I am soooo sick of humidity, mosquitoes, and cloud cover! We have such short summers to begin with up here, and when it's a soggy muggy buggy summer...grrrrrr.
Can't even ride a horse to de-STRESS!
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Friday, Jul 23, 2010 - 10:09 am:
Oh, Angie,
I feel your pain and frustration!
"Smokey, white, warm" sounds unsafe and bales like that are usually a complete loss.
It is always a huge relief to get the bad stuff out of the barn and to find some that is decent to meet at least the short term needs.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Friday, Jul 23, 2010 - 6:23 pm:
Yup Angie finding more bad then good, I am using the stuff that has just a little white dust to it, shaking it well and feeding it outside, so far so good, against my better judgement, but sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do.
The heat and humidity is unbearable, we had over 7 in. of rain last night and some pretty severe flooding. The lightning was ferocious. There really isn't much good hay to be found Hope I have enough OK stuff to get me through, and I am serious about putting them out in the back 40 to paw for morsels, probably would be great for them... we just get so much ice in the winter anymore it probably won't be possible.
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Friday, Jul 23, 2010 - 7:11 pm:
Diane,
My Vet said that if you are feeding hay with dust, at least hose it down good or soak it good first.
This is for dust, not mold. Moldy hay should not be fed.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Friday, Jul 23, 2010 - 11:35 pm:
I wish I lived closer to you all struggling with the hay this year. Our first cutting was great and I'd be happy to sell you some reasonably and on the easy pay plan. Sorry you're not nearby! There is nothing worse, imo, than worrying about hay. I feel for you all.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 24, 2010 - 12:57 am:
If we can stand being outside tomorrow, meaning no rain, and bearable humidity levels, our plan is to clean out the old garage (full of my son's various truck parts)and I am going to start picking through my hay and moving the bad stuff there. My husband is convinced our hay guy will "do right by us" so I figure if I got a very moldy bale within the first WEEK (day after the check cleared!!) there will be more really soon. What I fed today felt moist as did all of them so far; granted this guy said the last load of 100 might be a bit less dry. I am angry at myself right now for accepting this last load after wondering about the others. But of course less than perfect hay is better than NO hay...sigh.
Diane,
Have you ever heard of wetting the hay down with molasses water if it's not the best? Today the gal & guy who came to finish putting the phone line in the ground (after the lightening last week)started talking horses. She has Morgans and liked Tango, he has quarter horses. We of course talked horses, more horses, and slow feeders and hay. He said spray the hay with molasses water to hold the dust down and encourage them to eat it.
I guess warm water as we all know how molasses and cold work out!
I am wondering now if he's fed really REALLY moldy hay and camouflaged the mold with molasses? I can imagine having some desperate years of bad hay every wheres, huh? But YUCK!
7 INCHES of rain? Wow, that is awful! You do sound like you are in a worse situation than I am. I may be out money if the hay is bad, but I would think/hope I can find some hay here and there if I need to. Might be 20 bales or 50 bales at a time, a real pain, but it'll work out I hope.
Sara,
Don't you want to come spend some fall riding time with me here?? Just pull your horse trailer full of hay, then we'll load up horses...ha ha! Just time it after the frost, and before rifle season!
DrO,
Any thoughts on spraying hay with molasses?
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 24, 2010 - 8:20 am:
12.5 inches of rain is our 24hr rain total, wish I would have taken my camera yesterday, the flooding is devastating.
Angie I wouldn't spray my hay with anything tasty to encourage the horses to eat bad hay, Hogs that mine are they have a good nose for bad hay and won't touch it and I'm glad!
Vicki Z. soaking seems like it would make mold spores stick to the hay... the shaking seems to be working well. I'm not feeding anything awful. But I tell ya I do have a bunch of awful hay, it's going to be a rough winter I'm afraid and I'm sure since my hay sux... a very early snowy one!
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 24, 2010 - 9:53 am:
Oh wow Diane, so much rain! That's just not fair after all your diligent work to get rid of clover, experiments with balancers, and all your hoof work! It will be a real challenge for you and everyone in the areas with too much rain and humidity to keep their horses healthy.
Ya, you are right, I bet it will be an early snowy one for us too!
I think soaking only keep the dust/mold spores from being inhaled;, they are still EATING mold and that isn't good.
I have been wondering what can be fed to offset that?? Hmmm...new discussion coming up.
Keep your life jacket on.
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 24, 2010 - 10:18 am:
I was talking about just the loose dust that can be washed off.
If it is moldy my Vet said not to feed it.
I agree with Diane that putting molasses water on hay to make it more palatable is a bad idea.
To me really moldy hay is not better than no hay. I would have go to alternative forage sources faced with just moldly hay.
Angie, that is a good idea to sort through the hay and put it in a separate area to give your vendor a chance to make good on replacing it.
If he can't replace it with hay that is safe, he should give you your money back.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 24, 2010 - 11:00 am:
I agree with Vicki. Feed the crummy stuff to cows. You do have a cow by now, don't you Angie?
Diane, I see where you've been getting terrible weather in your part of the country! Hail, major t-storms, flooding and even tornados. Don't blow away or DrOwn!
Angie, I'd love to ride anywhere; but am still in this @#*&%&^$__Q& walking boot!! Why don't you come down here for the "get-together" and take a load of hay back with you?
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 24, 2010 - 12:48 pm:
No cow!! But friends with cows who will take the bad stuff up to a point.
Don't think much hay will fit in my carry on bag; sure wish we had a truck that I would trust for that distance! I bet we could borrow or rent a trailer to a haul a load back.
Raining here so no use trying to clean out that back garage. Was hoping we could do that today when everyone is home.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Monday, Jul 26, 2010 - 12:34 am:
O.K. now Angie, if you work this right I'm betting you can somehow work this into a trip out here for hay in September! 
I bet Diane could get you a cow!
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Monday, Jul 26, 2010 - 7:03 am:
Hubby is still trying to get rid of Pukey Angie.
Cow pick up in Il., Hay pick up in Utah
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Monday, Jul 26, 2010 - 9:08 am:
Hmmm...hubby does love a good adventure, I'll run it by him! He always did say he wanted a couple of cows.
So far no more mold, but still the weirdest feeling hay, I swear it's moist! It smells "moist" if moist has a smell!
HOT this week so if the hay is going bake, it will bake the next few days.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Monday, Jul 26, 2010 - 11:05 am:
We've been humid here for Utah. Is there a place you can spread some of the hay out? Also, make sure there's room between the bales so air can get at it. Maybe you can keep the good hay from molding. Mold will spread, you know, if there's moisture.
I'm rooting for the road trip!
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