Feeding newly made hay without waiting, who does this?

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custard

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Okay can you settle a discussion with the neighbours please?

I know that years ago it was said you should wait til 'Michaelmass' (September?) before feeding the new season's hay. However, I think it was my vet who told me a while back that this is a bit of a fallacy, especially with laminitics since the fructan is destroyed during the drying process.

So what's the concensus?
 
Well, I wouldn't feed it until it was at least a month old, preferably eight weeks.
Although it is dried to a certain extent in the field, it still dries more in the stack.
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I asked this last year and got mixed opinions. I always like to leave it a month to six weeks but many people feed it straight away. I think you just have to be careful to introduce it gradually, as you would any new feedstuff.
 
Well for years we have allowed the horses to graze the newly cut fields and they have eaten all the stuff left on the ground to no ill effect, but I wouldn't feed baled new hay for at least six weeks.
If you have a house with an adjoining haybarn as we did the smells that permeated over a month prove it goes through various processes as it dries!
It gets hot then cools down, so it isn't sensible to feed it until that is finished.
 
i think it is each to your own in my eyes if hay is cut now i would not feed until october. i did feed hay witch was cut and baled and waited only a month and my horse come down with colic coz it was not dryed probally it heated up in is stomach!
 
i was told that someone had sent new-made hay for analysis daily, and that after the third week there were no more changes, so it is safe from 3 weeks onwards.
must admit though, i try to leave it a bit longer than that if pos.
 
I have fed new hay because there was nothing else, this was many years ago now when there was a really bad hay shortage and no grass. We just opened the bail the day before we wanted to feed it to let it cool down then fed it. I don't know if anyone has ever put their hand in the centre of a freshley cut bale but its quite hot!!! Nothing happend to any of the horses/ponies that we fed the new hay to.
 
I have frequently fed new hay to numerous horses over the years with no problems. I always shake the hay up I am going to need the day before. This allows the heat to go.
 
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I have fed new hay because there was nothing else, this was many years ago now when there was a really bad hay shortage and no grass. We just opened the bail the day before we wanted to feed it to let it cool down then fed it. I don't know if anyone has ever put their hand in the centre of a freshley cut bale but its quite hot!!! Nothing happend to any of the horses/ponies that we fed the new hay to.

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me too
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I do.

Although I tend to save the bales until later, what I feed now is loose hay that we don't bother to bale from the side of the track. The trackside is pretty rough and we have already broken the baler on it once so 10m either side of a halfmile track gets raked and then (time consuming) loaded on to a trailer and used like that. Very long, rough and full of herbage, the horses love it and choose it over the baled hay off the fields.

It has never overheated and smelled bad, or caused any problems.
 
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Yes I will feed new hay sometimes ... however ... we produce hay therefore we know exactly what stage it is all at. I test our hay twice daily for temperature and moisture-content for about 2 weeks (or until it is stable). The most important thing is moisture-content as this dictates the temperature. If the moisture-content is too high, then the temperature will go up to unsafe levels and this is why so many people lose their barns, as the hay is capable of spontaneously combusting. If this is the situation with the hay then it is most certainly unsafe to feed and in all likelihood, will probably never be safe to feed to horses, as the moisture in turn will develop into mould.

If the hay has a low, or non-existent, moisture-content, then it is perfectly safe to feed immediately ... with no moisture in the hay, it is simply hay and doesn't make the slightest difference if you feed it now or in 2 years time - it cannot be any more dry.

We have some hay which is absolutely fine to be using right now, it was baled a week ago ... the temperature and moisture levels have remained constant over this period, so no fermentation will occur in it.

If you are in any doubt - ask a local farmer if he has temperature and moisture-content probes - this is the only way to be completely sure of the safety of the hay. (Arms/hands are not particularly technical but will at least give you a bit of an idea.)

As commented on above, obviously you need to introduce the new hay gradually, as you would do with any change in feedstuff.
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believe it or not my ex Lammi got a reoccurance of Lammi through new hay - so sorry what your vet said isnt 100% true
 
Then the hay you fed was not correctly dried, as completely dry hay should cause no problems at all with any horse.
 
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Then the hay you fed was not correctly dried, as completely dry hay should cause no problems at all with any horse.

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Thanks Tia that's reassuring, in my experience there's often more than one single factor with laminitis, probably several!

Most of the hay I've come across from last year is quite ropey so feeding the new, if it is clean and dry, would be the lesser of two evils IMO. We've only done it on a whim as the field needs topping but there's far too much to just leave it lying there. Am paying for the cutting so may as well bale it to keep!
 
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