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  Discussion on Feeding hay "fines"
Author Message
Member:
Wolfydoc

Posted on Friday, Feb 4, 2005 - 11:59 am:

Hi everyone,

Does anyone besides myself worry about what to do with the piles of teeny tiny "fines" that accumulate as you pull apart your grass hay flakes? We feed primarily orchard grass hay and the hay barn floor and wheelbarrow I use to carry it fill up rapidly with piles of very tiny pieces of the hay.

My horses don't have respiratory problems, but it bothers me to give this stuff to them to eat. However, they actually LOVE it, and will nose down to the bottom of their feed troughs to get to it before eating the rest of the hay.

I don't want to waste it, since we accumulate quite a bit routinely. Soaking it would be a hassle, and from what I read in the COPD article here, soaking hay doesn't do much to help most horses with COPD. Again, my horses are healthy but it seems these piles of hay fines must contain a lot of dust and probably some amount of mold spores, although there is no detectable evidence of mold in the hay itself.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cindy
Member:
Canyon28

Posted on Friday, Feb 4, 2005 - 6:47 pm:

I dont think you need to worry at all about your horses getting heaves unless they are stalled all the time, mainly horses that are stalled in old dusty barns with dirt floors and hay mows, etc are the ones that will get heaves. I feed my 30 yo stallion the fines from the grass and alfalfa, in fact that is all that he can eat except for the soaked in warm water old horse feed/senior I feed him twice a day. I actually screen his hay through a 1/2 screen which takes out 99% of all the stems. he cannot eat stems or even graze anymore, yet he is fat and in great physical shape. he doesnt have any molars, only one or two left. I feed him outside in an old plastic tub that had a protein lick for cattle in it at one time. It isnt nearly as tall as a half barrel. If what I have sifted for him seems dusty, I pour it from one to another letting the wind blow most of the hay dust away. I am very careful to buy only the best hay with no weeds and no mold. I give the stems I screen out to my other horses, making sure that I dont give the stems to the same horse all the time.Ihave 25 horses so this isnt a problem. chris, canyonrimranch.net
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Feb 5, 2005 - 8:30 am:

If the hay shows no signs of mold spores Cynthia I don't think you need to worry about the fines: it is not the dust in the hay but the mold spores that are dangerous. It is important to know you don't have to have overt mold to have problems with the spores. To tell the difference see the article on Heaves which provides a description to differentiate the two.
DrO
Member:
Brandi

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 8, 2005 - 10:42 pm:

I feed the fines of my timothy hay (who could afford not to with the price of timothy in California!), to my 3 horses...two in their 20's. Never a problem, I just make sure to pick it up off the feed-room floor regularly, and I feed it in low feeders so their heads are down in a close-to grazing position which would seem to keep most dust out of their airway.

Good luck, Brandi
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