Feeding fresh hay?

[yoki]

I can remember when I was selling a lot of horse hay that letting it age a minimum of 3 to 4 mths was a big thing for people, and reading up on it, there did indeed seem to be some reasoning behind it.

Weaning ewes and lambs at the minute, and I always keep the ewes in for about a week to dry them off. Other years I've had plenty of previous year or older hay, but this year I only have stuff baled just less than a fortnight ago.

Should I tear away as usual and feed it or make the effort to get a bit of last years stuff somewhere?

 

[Macsky]

I can remember when I was selling a lot of horse hay that letting it age a minimum of 3 to 4 mths was a big thing for people, and reading up on it, there did indeed seem to be some reasoning behind it.

Weaning ewes and lambs at the minute, and I always keep the ewes in for about a week to dry them off. Other years I've had plenty of previous year or older hay, but this year I only have stuff baled just less than a fortnight ago.

Should I tear away as usual and feed it or make the effort to get a bit of last years stuff somewhere?

Would hay not be a bit too powerful for sheep that you’re trying to dry off? Straw maybe a better option?

 

[yoki]

Would hay not be a bit too powerful for sheep that you’re trying to dry off? Straw maybe a better option?

Start them off on straw, but then gradually introduce a bit of hay.

Wouldn't like them too long on straw only.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Meadow hay is fine next day if its well made
Dont you ever graze hay fields after bales have been cleared

 

[yoki]

Meadow hay is fine next day if its well made
Dont you ever graze hay fields after bales have been cleared

Yep, and never gave feeding it to them a second thought until I was chatting to someone who said, "is that wise, you know what sheep are like?", and rolled his eyes.

And he's not wrong!

 

[Dry Rot]

There must be some science behind this. Provided the hay is well made, I've never had a problem feeding new hay to horses or letting them graze fresh aftermath. I can imagine feeding fresh badly made hay could be a problem with hungry stock stuffing themselves, then it fermenting/decomposing in the gut. For the same reason, fresh lawn mowing clippings are dangerous. Moral: Don't let stock get too hungry or they will eat anything to fill their bellies.

 

[ffukedfarmer]

On a similar vein, I have always been led to believe that haylage should be kept for 6-8 weeks before feeding. Is there anyway of knowing for certain whether it is ready?

I assume that drier stuff needs longer than wetter?

 

[Hesstondriver]

On a similar vein, I have always been led to believe that haylage should be kept for 6-8 weeks before feeding. Is there anyway of knowing for certain whether it is ready?

I assume that drier stuff needs longer than wetter?

in theory you could take a sample from a bale every week , send it for analysis and when fermentation stabilises its good to go

also in theory it is just as feedable at any point , just in different stages of fermentation

also you could open a bale , feed it and then go to the pub

 

[bobk]

Cattle and sheep should be fine , we all know what horse folk are like

 

[Dry Rot]

in theory you could take a sample from a bale every week , send it for analysis and when fermentation stabilises its good to go

also in theory it is just as feedable at any point , just in different stages of fermentation

also you could open a bale , feed it and then go to the pub

I read a study by one of the American universities that grass can be preserved at any % of moisture provided the air is excluded. So we have hay, haylage, silage, in varying degrees. The problem being to totally exclude air. But I can't remember anything being said about ages/degrees of maturity which is obviously important.

 

[Dry Rot]

Cattle and sheep should be fine , we all know what horse folk are like

....and horses! I put out a bale of hay that had been left outside for mine. Once the black outside rotten hay had been peeled back, it was good hay, so I did that. One old mare ignored the good hay and ate the black stuff. But then she was a mare!

 

[Welderloon]

It'll be fine, if a sheep takes it in its head to die the age of the hay won't make a blind bit of difference.

 

[puppet]

in theory you could take a sample from a bale every week , send it for analysis and when fermentation stabilises its good to go

also in theory it is just as feedable at any point , just in different stages of fermentation

also you could open a bale , feed it and then go to the pub

Or you could just leave them outside on a bare field or just leave them outside on any field.
If inside unless your hay is heating they will be fine

 

[Derrick Hughes]

There must be some science behind this. Provided the hay is well made, I've never had a problem feeding new hay to horses or letting them graze fresh aftermath. I can imagine feeding fresh badly made hay could be a problem with hungry stock stuffing themselves, then it fermenting/decomposing in the gut. For the same reason, fresh lawn mowing clippings are dangerous. Moral: Don't let stock get too hungry or they will eat anything to fill their bellies.

You want the siancë
Ryegrass hay or Hay hi in Sugar
Needs to be left innthe stack untouched for a few months, unless you dry the crap out of it you will aways get some mild heating , burning of the remaining suggars , not good for horses
Meadow grass is lowvin sugars before its cut and as long as its made well there is absolutely no problem feeding it the next day, it would not hert feeding ryegrass hay to livestock other than horses either ,
Lets not mix up what a horse woman has been told , thinks with every day farming

 

[andybk]

its just waiting for yeasts / bacteria to die down in fresh bales as they use available sugars/ moisture/ heat up , from what ive been told ,not a problem in grazing whats left in field as concentration isnt there

 

[Dry Rot]

You want the siancë
Ryegrass hay or Hay hi in Sugar
Needs to be left innthe stack untouched for a few months, unless you dry the crap out of it you will aways get some mild heating , burning of the remaining suggars , not good for horses
Meadow grass is lowvin sugars before its cut and as long as its made well there is absolutely no problem feeding it the next day, it would not hert feeding ryegrass hay to livestock other than horses either ,
Lets not mix up what a horse woman has been told , thinks with every day farming

That explains it! I don't make rye grass hay. And there's horses and horses. I wouldn't put my natives on rye grass, it would probably kill them. But, if I had them, I might graze Thorooughbred mares nursing foals on it. Which is why I don't have 'em.

 

[Whitepeak]

On a similar vein, I have always been led to believe that haylage should be kept for 6-8 weeks before feeding. Is there anyway of knowing for certain whether it is ready?

I assume that drier stuff needs longer than wetter?

Haylage just needs time for the fermentation to settle down. If a bale is opened too soon, it will start secondary fermentation and heat up and go off very quickly. We've fed burst bales the day after baling before but you end up chucking most of it on the muck heap as it heats up and spoils very quickly.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Ok Silage Haylage
Same with Crimp Grain
Can feed next day
Only isue is if opened before its settled it will encourage second fermentation and spoil
The thing about waiting for bugs to die in hay is bull sorry