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Discussion on Feeding last year's hay
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Member:
Horse
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 - 5:16 pm:
About feeding new hay, I read where you should let newly baled hay cure for 30 days before feeding becuse it's too gasey while fermenting. Is this true or false?
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Member:
Janieb
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 - 7:18 pm:
Dear Friends,
Because of our DrOught, we are lucky to get any hay at all. My hay may very well be two years old now, and although stored in a pole barn, I am sure it has lost significant nutrition. Also, about 6 bales got slightly damp on the bottom. About 1 and 1/2 inches were affected; they are a little dark and smell a little musty. Is it safe to feed this hay? At $7 a bale, I am loathe to throw it out. Can I cut off the affected area? Please help. I am feeding mules and donkeys who are supposedly easier to please and feed than horses...
Janie}
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Member:
Swarnick
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 - 7:53 pm:
Janie,
If faced with the same dilema, I think I'd rather lose $42 by throwing the out the 6 moldy bales than possibly spending hundreds on vet bills.
Shirley
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Member:
Goolsby
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 - 8:49 pm:
Just wanted to say I find this post interesting. I have never heard of letting hay cure. What is the reason? I have fed mine hay the same day it was cut and last years hay. I only feed hay in the winter when there is little or no pasture.
Jane, Im with Shirley, If the hay is moldy trow it out. Im sure thats hard at $7 a bale. Is it ususally that high? Im in Tennessee and hate to pay $2 a bale. I try to pick it up in the field for $1.50. I have gotten it for $.90 a bale in the field.
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Member:
Cassey
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 - 9:47 pm:
Hi Jane,
Rather than just throw it out, are there any cattle around who would benefit from getting this hay? I hope I'm not leading you astray; Dr. O, can cows safely pick through the mold?
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Member:
Jerre
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Posted on Monday, Jun 23, 2003 - 12:15 am:
Boy, you guys have a bargain. Local (western Washington hay) is often available at $3-$5 a (60#?) bale, but haying is tricky in the rain belt and quality can vary immensely year to year and farmer to farmer.
It's very standard here to feed orchard grass (from eastern Washington -- more arid and grown under irrigation) at $10-$11 a 90# bale. Alfalfa is about $9 a 100# bale, but is fed less frequently to horses here. Timothy is about the same as orchard grass.
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Member:
Paul303
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Posted on Monday, Jun 23, 2003 - 12:26 am:
$3.50 to $5.00 (about 40 to 50# bale) plus delivery sometimes in Jersey. We DO give lesser quality hay to the cows.....no complaints so far...isn't it not such an issue with ruminents? Boy, I hope not.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Jun 23, 2003 - 6:40 am:
Donkeys, and mules should not be fed hay with any moldyness and cows should not be fed overtly moldy hay. The question about curing new hay is answered in the April 2000 post above though Coleen restates this.
DrO
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Member:
Dres
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Posted on Monday, Jun 23, 2003 - 10:19 am:
California hay is so expensive... we pay up to $14.00 for all grass hay ( bale) at the feed stores, can get it straight from the grower for $7-9 , if you can find it... grassy/alfalfa goes for $12. at the feed stores.. again $7-8 at the growers... for alfalfa $9. at the feed stores, sometimes you can find it at the growers for $5-6..
the land of fruit and nuts costs!!
Ann
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Member:
Goolsby
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Posted on Monday, Jun 23, 2003 - 11:28 am:
Has anyone used the alfalfa cubes or crumbles? I dont know if it would be any cheaper. I paid about 8$ /50lb bag to take on a trip. I thought it would be easier than taking hay bales but my mare wouldnt eat it so I ended up buying 2 bales of hay at the stables.
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Member:
Jlmule
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 26, 2003 - 3:39 pm:
I am not for certain about this but it was always my understanding that newly baled hay goes through a "heat" and a fermentation process. This is especially true if the hay has a high moisture content. It is the same kind of thing that happens in a compost bin and the compaction (baling) of the forage encourages it (loose hay apparently does not got through this as much). Every year farmers lose barns from spontaneous combustion occurring in their newly baled hay. Last year we had a load of hay baled "too green" already stacked in the barn when we saw it steaming. We had to load it back on wagons and pull it out into the field for fear of fire.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 26, 2003 - 6:12 pm:
Newly bailed hay at a proper moisture content does not go through a heat. If it does, and therefore bailed too moist, it should be suspect of developing mold spores (dust) and not suitable for horses.
DrO
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Member:
Goolsby
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Posted on Friday, Jun 27, 2003 - 8:44 am:
Thanks Dr. O,
I have bought baled hay picked up in the field for about 8 years and had never heard of curing it or any of the things leslie mentioned. I was beginning to wonder how I could have remained ignorant of this all this time.
I dont know how hay is baled in other areas, but here the farmers let it sit a day or two then rake it, maybe let it sit another day before baling. I have grabed bales to put on the truck that were too heavy and green. I leave those in the field.
I have heard stories of barns burning, but all those were blamed on prankster around halloween or fueds.
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Member:
Jlmule
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Posted on Monday, Jun 30, 2003 - 9:46 am:
I took this off the Purdue University School of Agriculture site. Of course we all would love to be able to bale the perfect hay but, as the article states, it is not always possible.
Leslie
"Periods of rainy weather during the past few months has, at times, pressured farmers to store wet hay and put their barns at a risk of hay-generated fires, say Purdue University specialists.
Fires blamed on spontaneous combustion of stored wet hay have occurred this summer in west-central Ohio causing losses of property and livestock. The storage of wet hay is the most common cause of hay fires. When the crop is stored wet, microbial action can generate internal bale temperatures well above 150 degrees. After a certain point of heating from the mold growth, other chemical reactions begin to take place, and it raises the heat to a point where the hay can burn.
In general, hay is considered too wet for storage if moisture levels are higher than 20 percent in small rectangular bales, higher than 18 percent in large round bales, and higher than 16 percent in large square bales.
However, persistent rainy weather can give farmers limited choices. In some places great hay is being made, while other places are getting rained on a lot.
Farmers should not be lulled into a false sense of security because they have modern farm buildings made of metal roofing and siding. Once a barn fire gets started, it's very hard to contain. Farmers also can take precautions that will limit damage should a fire occur. For example, they should not attach buildings to each other, unless absolutely necessary. Separating structures helps confine fires to the buildings where they start."
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Member:
jeans
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 2, 2009 - 7:41 pm:
Hi, all,
Does anyone know how to tell last year's hay from this year's? It seems like a lot of hay sellers are trying to get rid of last year's hay, and I had a guy tell me that he recently , within the last few days, received a new batch, just put up this year from Kansas, and is selling at a good price. How do I know if what he's got is from last year or this year?
Thanks,
Jeans.
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Member:
shirl
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 2, 2009 - 7:52 pm:
Jeans,
Around here (Tucson, AZ) last year's hay is very dull/faded green, dry looking. This description is for Bermuda, which is all I use.
Shirl
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 3, 2009 - 9:31 am:
New hay that has laid in the sun or been rained on will also be dull and dry. The greatest difference between old or rained on hay and new mown hay that has not been rained on is odor: the new hay will smell like new mown hay but it will lose much of this characteristic over the winter. The article on Forages discusses assessing hay quality by its physical characteristics.
If you know the variety you can also check to see if the hay is at the right stage of maturity for your areas first cutting.
DrO
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Member:
jeans
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Posted on Friday, Jun 5, 2009 - 10:27 pm:
Thanks, Dr Osome, I will be sure to inspect it closely.
Jeans.
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