Quick hay question

[candycar]

We just got a new load of wonderful hay right out of the field. I remember reading somewhere that you shouldn't feed fresh hay to horses, that it should be allowed to cure for at least 2 weeks. Anybody know if this is true? What are the risks if fed before cured? Of course I plan on easing them into it over at least 12 days. Thanks!

 

[Debby - LB]

It depends on the amount of moisture in the hay when it was baled. If this is good quality "horse" hay baled correctly.. then you don't have to wait to feed it.

 

[candycar]

Cool! Thanks Debby!

It's very good quality, bailed by a guy that wins ribbons at the county fair for his hay. After searching for at least 8 years for a consistent source of quality hay, I finally found him about a year ago. Turns out he went to school with my hubby and they were in FFA together.

 

[AnnaC]

The danger with new hay is that it can get hot in the bale as it 'makes', particularly if you have it stacked up in an enclosed space with little circulating air. Here we usually have to feed new hay as it come in, so I always 'open' two bales and spread them a little to let them properly dry out before feeding them - as I feed one of these bales I open another so I always have one 'airing' out. After a few weeks I can usually stop doing this as the rest of the hay seems to have dried out properly, but then we do keep it in a well ventilated place.

 

[Minimor]

Anna--if your freshly baled hay is getting hot then it means that it was baled too 'tough'...meaning with too much moisture. As Debby said--properly cured hay (as in properly cured in the swath) will not be any problem once it is baled--it will not be a problem to feed right away, and it will not heat in the bale. If it heats in the bale then it was not properly cured prior to baling and will be a problem--if it is quite wet yet it will really heat and may cause a fire. A little damp and it will heat but not enough to ignite--though it will end up moldy. Just a little tough--it may not end up moldy but will be dusty/musty. Properly cured hay does NOT heat at all--I have had plenty of that kind. Unfortunately I've also had the kind that did heat--and ended up opening all the bales to let them dry enough to keep them from going musty.

If your bales heat noticeably and you say they don't end up spoiled from it--then you are not checking them very closely. I have never known a bale to heat and not end up spoiled to some extent.

I have always fed fresh hay right off the field--it doesn't cause any problem for the horses. It is not necessary to let the hay sit for a couple weeks between baling and feeding.

 

[Windhaven]

I was always told to wait 30 to 60 days to let hay finish curing before feeding it. By vets and experts.

If straight grass I would at least wait 2 weeks. For alfalfa, I would wait at least 30 days.

 

[chandab]

I've been told to wait 2-4 weeks before feeding new hay, but desperate times call for desperate measures and when you are out of hay, sometimes you go against all you've been told. We have a small patch of grass here that we can't get the baler in, but we can swathe it; so Shayne's swathes it, I let it dry in the windrow, then pick it up with a pitchfork and toss it into the pick-up and then make a pile of fresh hay by the mini pen. I've done this for several years with no problems feeding it right out of the field. They love it. It only makes a couple weeks worth of hay, but it gets me from one hay season to the next (or from the end of round bale availability to the new squares being available).