Good Hay - Bad Hay??

[LouLou3]

Hi - I posted on here the other day that I was looking for some hay.

I finally managed to track down some of last years stock but I can never tell good hay from bad hay - obviously I wouldn't buy mouldy or dusty but people on my yard seem to be able to know what is good and bad - they feel, sniff and then declare their verdict....but I just can't seem to master it.

I went to see this hay before buying...and I sniffed it and felt it - its brittle but not cracking and sun faded with some green bits...smelt ok too but when it arrived I doubted myself. I've bought a huge bale - which breaks up into about 20 small bales so am stuck with a huge load now and when I broke it up it was fairly dusty but doesn't smell mouldy. On the whole it is coarse, light brown with bits of green and very, very compacted but guess for a bale this size it would be and imagine would account for alot of the dust.

Would you soak first or just feed to your horse as it is...or not feed this at all as sounds ****?

 

[Kub]

I've always been told and judge by smell. If it smells fousty, mouldy or generally not nice, normally an indication of not good hay. But if it smells quite sweet, the sweeter the better, then good hay. I don't really go by how coarse it is, my hay last year was much coarser than others at the yard but smelt lovely Wasn't too dusty either

 

[LouLou3]

I've always been told and judge by smell. If it smells fousty, mouldy or generally not nice, normally an indication of not good hay. But if it smells quite sweet, the sweeter the better, then good hay. I don't really go by how coarse it is, my hay last year was much coarser than others at the yard but smelt lovely Wasn't too dusty either

Thanks Kub - that sounds like a quick and easy way to test instead of judging the colour, brittleness etc etc.

I smelt it and thought it smelt ok - OH smelt it and said it smelt sweet it just looks dry and light brown! Defo not fusty or mouldy so yay - guess its ok.

 

[Dubsie]

I think the hay you've bought sounds fine for last years. Hay goes lighter and looses the green-ness the older it gets. So long as it smells hay-like it should be OK rather than musty or mouldy. As it's been stored a while it will be quite dry so I'd dampen it or soak anyway.

 

[pottamus]

I had 50 bales of last years hay delivered recently and it is sweet smelling...when I go to open my spare stable where it is stored in the morning it smells lovely...not far off new stuff to be honest. In terms of colour it is greenish but plenty of faded stuff and brown on some of the ends where the sun has got to it. When you open a pad it should fall apart quite easily and not have to be pulled apart and no dust etc...although there will be some if it is last seasons crop.

 

[OWLIE185]

Thoroughly soak the hay for at least 30 minutes and feed it loose from the ground so that your horses sinuses can drain. Also it is good practice to sweep the dust from stable walls, rafters etc once a week to remove any dust).

 

[LouLou3]

Thoroughly soak the hay for at least 30 minutes and feed it loose from the ground so that your horses sinuses can drain. Also it is good practice to sweep the dust from stable walls, rafters etc once a week to remove any dust).

Thanks Owlie185 - I'll definitely feed loose from the ground and always sweep the old stuff up everyday so hopefully the dust is kept down. Hopefully he'll lose some weight - tis the only upside to using old hay - ha