weeds, twigs, dust in hay

[MeganH]

It is 'normal' to find twigs or weeds in hay?

We bought coastal hay from 2 different sellers last year. We didn't have to really start feeding it until late December/early January because our grass lived through the mild winter- but now that we are feeding it I have found twigs and a weed in a bale from one of the sellers, and the other sellers hay has no weeds or twigs but is a little dusty.

The weed in the one bale is 'woolly' with a white fuzz on it that does not appear to be on any of the hay around it.







I haven't found anything online on any toxic weed identification site that looks like this weed- but the white fuzz looks like something I don't want my horses to touch. Does anyone happen to know what this is?

I have a 9 month old colt and a mare in foal due in April and I don't want to take any chances with either of them.

I have been told to spray down my better hay that is a little dusty with water before I feed it.

As for the hay with the weeds and twigs- what would you do with it?

 

[Riverrose28]

I feel your pain! Last year was a horrable hay growing year. Our first cutting couldn't be cut because of all the rain, it got stalky, and didn't cure properly before the farmer baled it, so now some of it, not all, (probably about one in 20 bales) is dusty, so yes I water it down after shaking it out. The second cutting was full of weeds, so I try to pick them out, my fingers are full of stickers. I can only hope that this years crop is better, but they two hay fields near me are for sale, so if they get sold I'll be in a pickle.

If I were you, I would water down the dusty hay after shaking it out, and try to pick out some of the weeds. I don't have a clue as to what your pictures are, but usually horses won't eat something that is poisonious, usually, but don't chance it, try to get as much out at possable. I had a mare last year eat some berries that were in the hay and she got really loose stools.

 

[Lindi-loo]

wouldnt like to guess what that is

I think you wise waiting until you have found out what it is before feeding it to Ricky n Laney

Im sure the dusty hay wont do them any harm but isnt really very good when you have paid good money for it

Iv had a look at some dried weeds that we have here and it looks a little like willow herb..do you have that there though.. I dont know

.. if it is willow herb its harmless to ponies in fact mine love it..Iv added a picture I found on Google..It does go fluffy if the seeds dont fly before it dies back

 

[CZP1]

I feed bagged hay as the consistency is better IMO. I also found lots of weeds in the baled hay that was purchased from a local guy. He always had nice hay but the last stuff I got went in the manure pile

It was bad! I couldn't return it either. It is normal to find weeds, just pick out the stuff that looks bad.

 

[Jean_B]

Have to disagree - GOOD hay does NOT have weeds. I bought my hay from someone who raised prize show Angus cattle. CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN bermuda, fertilized every year, and he used a weed killer on it in early spring and again mid-summer. Dust WILL hurt a horse if it is dusty enough that when you shake it, there is a dust cloud. Would you want that crap in YOUR lungs? A horse eats by putting its nose into the hay and rooting to find the most delectable pieces....and can inhale the dust. There are some old-timers that think a "wheezy" horse is normal but that's because they never fed good hay so everything was wheezy. Watering down the dusty hay is a good alternative if you have no other hay options.

You get what you pay for. I would much rather pay $8-$10 a bale for good hay, than $3 or $4 for stuff that will make my horse lose it's bloom. And if I can't find good hay, I buy the hay pellets.

 

[rubyviewminis]

We were very lucky this last year and finally found a good source of grass hay that is beautiful. I still have 2 bales of chopped alfalfa that I bought a year ago after a horrible hay year here. My husband built me a framed screen with 2 X 4's, then he bought me another big two wheeled wheel barrow to put it in. I wash flakes of the alfalfa that is full of clay dust, and it is so easy, and then I dump the water on the trees and the chopped alfalfa ends up bright green and is mixed in their beet pulp and balancers. I must say at first I was doubtful since I have weak wrists from a bad horse accident a long time ago. But I don't waste any hay or water, (a premium here), and the screen is easy for me to handle and I have found many other uses for it.

 

[wildoak]

You get what you pay for. I would much rather pay $8-$10 a bale for good hay, than $3 or $4 for stuff that will make my horse lose it's bloom

Boy those days are gone here! Decent coastal at the feed store here is now about $15 for a regular 2 string bale. Alfalfa is closer to $20, and the last load I got - same source for 20 years - is full of grass burrs. It's been a horrible year for hay. We've managed to find pretty good square bales but some of the round bales coming down here must be trash baled from the side of the road somewhere! I've sent one load back, and the last we got sure isn't pretty.

Jan

 

[JMS Miniatures]

You get what you pay for. I would much rather pay $8-$10 a bale for good hay, than $3 or $4 for stuff that will make my horse lose it's bloom. And if I can't find good hay, I buy the hay pellets.

I agree I've gotten too many loads of bad hay this year so now I'm paying $12 a bale for good Standlee orchard grass hay. No weeds, no mold, no dust. Is it a lot heck yeah. But I was already paying $6-$8 for good for nothin bales might as well pay an arm and a leg for some good stuff. So now I'm watching how much I'm giving out to my horses so I'm weighing my hay and saving myself a flake a day, which really ads up.

I paid $6.50 for alfalfa/orchard that I did notice that was dusty but thought no big deal, but the more bales I opened up I found weeds, twigs, and mold and my horses won't eat it and I stopped feeding it to them and I sold it for $5 to someone who is going to feed it to their goats.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

You get what you pay for. I would much rather pay $8-$10 a bale for good hay, than $3 or $4 for stuff that will make my horse lose it's bloom. And if I can't find good hay, I buy the hay pellets.

I agree I've gotten too many loads of bad hay this year so now I'm paying $12 a bale for good Standlee orchard grass hay. No weeds, no mold, no dust. Is it a lot heck yeah. But I was already paying $6-$8 for good for nothin bales might as well pay an arm and a leg for some good stuff. So now I'm watching how much I'm giving out to my horses so I'm weighing my hay and saving myself a flake a day, which really ads up.

I paid $6.50 for alfalfa/orchard that I did notice that was dusty but thought no big deal, but the more bales I opened up I found weeds, twigs, and mold and my horses won't eat it and I stopped feeding it to them and I sold it for $5 to someone who is going to feed it to their goats.

 

[Jean_B]

I mis-spoke or should clarify. $8-$10 a bale was a couple years ago for the good stuff before the drought. Since there isn't any good stuff around here at all these days, I'm buying nothing but hay pellets at around $15 a 50 pound bag.