Wet hay

[Sellmealamb]

Yesterday my hay was baled bone dry. However there was a 30 minute shower before I managed to get the hay in the barn. It's dry underneath, dry on the side, I can poke a finger in and it's dry inside, but it is wet on top.

It's been stacked with lots of space. Is that sufficient? Or should I pull it out on the next sunny day (Thursday) and restack it again after a day of heat.

 

[davidroberts30]

what bales?

 

[Sellmealamb]

Small standard ones

 

[Hfd Cattle]

They will be ok . If it's well made then they will absorb a bit .

 

[Sellmealamb]

Amazing. Thank you. Panic over.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Yesterday my hay was baled bone dry. However there was a 30 minute shower before I managed to get the hay in the barn. It's dry underneath, dry on the side, I can poke a finger in and it's dry inside, but it is wet on top.

It's been stacked with lots of space. Is that sufficient? Or should I pull it out on the next sunny day (Thursday) and restack it again after a day of heat.

best thing to do if possible and if the weather settles after the shower, would be to leave them out to let the top air off , then take them in.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

I wouldn’t wanna stack wet hay

 

[Dry Rot]

It used to be standard procedure to stook small bales in the field, never see it now. A bit of rain never hurt them if given time to dry out.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Don't move them now or it will not be happy . Like pulling a cake out of tut oven half baked

 

[Ashtree]

I got caught like that last year. Very heavy rain though for about 3 hours. Left them 24 hours in poor drying conditions but more rain promised.

Moved them Into the slatted shed. Scattered along the slats and feeding passage. Turned them over a couple of times over a week. The air movement up through the slats on empty tank, is like a cold hair dryer!!! Made a great job of the bales ....

 

[D.S.S18]

few years ago we had some hay baled green - was put into mini hestons, these were on their own in the shed and the old boy chucked salt on them to bring the damp to the top - seem to work.

 

[puppet]

I always believe that having baled small bale hay as dry as possible then it seems a waste to leave it out in the rain. Used to get it under cover asap but we did have cattle sheds to sit the clamps down

 

[nails]

It used to be standard procedure to stook small bales in the field, never see it now. A bit of rain never hurt them if given time to dry out.

That takes me back a bit.

 

[bobk]

Let them dry out then stick a match to them , they're f**ked

 

[Pan mixer]

Salt is good, I have a few that were rained on last week, sharp shower and I carted them in the rain in 56's, only the top layer got wet, stood the heaps about not touching, took the top layers off and put onto the top of the finished stack one layer thick with a couple of handfuls of salt per flat 8, they will be fine.

 

[Sellmealamb]

I'll pull them out in the sun tomorrow although I expect they probably feel dry by now anyway. It was only a 30 minute shower. Not torrential rain.

 

[Sellmealamb]

Let them dry out then stick a match to them , they're fudgeed

Nobody else seems to agree...

 

[DB67]

Let them dry out then stick a match to them , they're fudgeed

Nonsense.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Nobody else seems to agree...

You can’t stack wet hay you’re asking for trouble.....let them dry out and then stack them and theyll be fine

 

[puppet]

If the dampness was just on the top after a short shower and there was some drying then they should be fine. If you are worried then take some top ones down by 3 layers tomorrow. If the damp is harmful then you will feel it and see discolouration starting where bales are touching.
Then you have to decide how much to spread out in the shed again. Are you talking 100 or 1000 bales?