Dusty Hay

[HorsesRule2009]

Hi all,

Just wondering what others would do, my last lot of hay delivered I'd incredibly dusty.
It looks lovely initially but has you start taking it of the round, clouds and clouds of dusty come of it which also coats your hands.

Do I call to return it/have refund? Or do I soak it?

Hay supplier has supplied the yard for the past several years, so as much as I only buy 4/5 bales from them per year the yard as a whole probably takes 60ish a year.

My worry is
1. Finding another supply,
2. Is thar supply going to be any better?

After all the summer ( what 1) was dreadful for Hay making/ agriculture in general so unsure how much 'good' Hay is around.

Thank you for all/any replies

 

[GrassChop]

I'd probably wet it down if it smelt and looked okay.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I think there is a fair bit of good hay around. The early summer was really warm and a lot was made then.
In the big hay and straw auctions where the dealers go it was making less per ton this year than straw, by quite a lot. A good deal went unsold through auction.

I'd maybe look around, see what's out there, you could soak but soaking bad hay wont turn it into good hay. I guess it depends how sensitive your horse and you (because thats important you dont wantt to be breathing in dust daily)

 

[Gloi]

Hi all,

Just wondering what others would do, my last lot of hay delivered I'd incredibly dusty.
It looks lovely initially but has you start taking it of the round, clouds and clouds of dusty come of it which also coats your hands.

Do I call to return it/have refund? Or do I soak it?

Hay supplier has supplied the yard for the past several years, so as much as I only buy 4/5 bales from them per year the yard as a whole probably takes 60ish a year.

My worry is
1. Finding another supply,
2. Is thar supply going to be any better?

After all the summer ( what 1) was dreadful for Hay making/ agriculture in general so unsure how much 'good' Hay is around.

Thank you for all/any replies

Send it back. It's not worth the risk feeding it.

 

[Tiddlypom]

After all the summer ( what 1) was dreadful for Hay making/ agriculture in general so unsure how much 'good' Hay is around.

That’s the worry. There was very little 2023 hay made in these parts at all due to the dreadful weather last summer, and there are quality issues with much of what little that did get made.

I bought in some 2022 hay which is rather dusty out of the bale, but once steamed in my Haygain is super again, you wouldn’t know that it had been anything other than great hay.

Beggars can't be choosers, I’d try soaking in the first instance.

 

[MissTyc]

It depends on your relationship with your supplier as well.
Our supplier was able to keep delivering to us for the same cost per bale at a time when many other yards were struggling to get any hay at all.
It is usually good quality, but if the odd dusty bale arrives, we just soak the nets. If it became a regular thing, I'd discuss it with them.
Anything with mould, I take a photo and he will replace for free, either leaving us to feed the good bits if that's possible or removing the bad bale.

 

[HorsesRule2009]

It depends on your relationship with your supplier as well.
Our supplier was able to keep delivering to us for the same cost per bale at a time when many other yards were struggling to get any hay at all.
It is usually good quality, but if the odd dusty bale arrives, we just soak the nets. If it became a regular thing, I'd discuss it with them.
Anything with mould, I take a photo and he will replace for free, either leaving us to feed the good bits if that's possible or removing the bad bale.

Unfortunately it seems to be most of the hay we've had of him that was late cut September hay.
They cut in June as well but that sold out extremely fast and they were with out any until they cut again in September.

 

[Highmileagecob]

You can't be sure that the dust isn't harbouring fungus and spores. I would be very reluctant to use it based on past experience. I now have a COPD horse who cannot be near hay in any shape or form. This can be directly linked to a bad batch of hay we were given to use back in the days when our yard owner supplied fodder and bedding.

 

[meleeka]

I’d probably just soak it for now, but start looking for alternatives if the quality isn’t likely to improve. My supplier is wonderful and I wouldn’t dream of sending a bale back, unless is was really awful. I have thrown away a 1/4 of a large bale before, but that’s not too bad when I consider how much I buy from them in a year. Most of the time it’s lovely hay.

 

[setterlover]

Last year's weather was rubbish and very challenging to make hay.The good weather came very early most people's grass wasn't long enough to cut for hay at the end of May /June we cut one field then but it had been rested all winter from end of September.We actually baled on 1st June it was fab quality.
We waited and waited to cut the other 2 fields and ended up cutting for haylege in the 3 to 5 day sunny weather windows certainly not long enough to make decent hay.The haylege we made it absolutely lovely and almost like wrapped hay the horses love it.
People just ran out of time waiting all of July and August for a 7 day window to make hay and ended up making it in September which is rarely as good .
Could you find some nice haylege to fed instead.

 

[irishdraft]

We make our own hay and managed to get it all done in June. By this time of year the bales on the outside of the stack ( that's in the barn ) are getting dusty & bleached, the inside is fine & still sweet smelling. I soak all my hay mainly because of storage dust and my horses have never had a problem with it , maybe you've just been unlucky with this particular delivery.

 

[spotty_pony2]

I’ve noticed it on a couple of bales I’ve had lately - but it’s literally just the very outside so I wonder if it’s got damp as once I get inside it’s fine. The last one I’ve had is ok else I was going to say something.