"Green hay"?

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domane

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First time to be in a position to be able to buy my winter hay straight off the field, grown in the field next door to where I keep my lot by the lovely guy I rent my yard from. I'm childishly excited about this feeling of self-sufficiency :D I've never had green hay before so I just wondered how long it has to sit and mature before it's OK to feed to the horses? Not that I NEED to feed them hay yet anyway, but I'd just like to know for future reference.

Thank you
 
Some have to use it straight off on some yards, but the old rule of thumb used to be at least 6 to 8 weeks (IMHO). Best to mix with old to start with in case its too green.

I prefer to try not to use it till xmas if possible but I don't start haying till November at the earliest anyway - I try to keep over 10 - 15 from the last winter to do the odd net through summer & start the winter off with.
I then mix the new with the last 2 or 3 bales :)

Its a nice feeling having a barn/stable load of hay sitting there for the winter, isn't it? :cool:
 
The only reason to wait any length of time is just to make sure the hay is properly dry. Any dampness will cause moulds so it's just to give time to ensure the hay was properly dry and no mould grows. Mould can grow in less than 6 weeks so just keep smelling your bales to makes sure nothing fusty is going on.

If you have baled it in this baking hot weather, the chances of it NOT being completely dry are slim. The stuff we baled this week, I would feed straight away, after all, green hay has more nutrition in it and as long as it is preserved and dry, I have never had any problems.

FWIW, we fed old green hay last winter. Green meadow hay rarely changes colour if baled in the right conditions.
 
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Thanks for that, Tallyho, I'm a farmer and always wondered about that!:D

My own small herd are on the harvested field right now, clearing up any hay that wasn't gathered, and they are all still alive and well so far so I thought there must be some subtle reason I'd missed.

Incidentally, a tip someone told me to see if grass is dry enough to bale is to look at the nodes in the grass (the joints). If they are dried out, it's fit. Just test them with your thumb nail. It works!;)
 
No worries dry rot, I only learnt that from farmers I have met over the years. The node thing is definitely used and depending on weather, will help decide whether to make hay or haylage. I'd like to think it's an exact science but I guess experienced farmers just "know" when to bale or not :)

p.s. just to say, hay won't "mature" like a good cheese/wine. It's the most mature at the point of baling and contains the most goodness of the grass. It will just lose goodness over a long period of time so really old hay is just dusty fibrous material. Great for horses on diets but rubbish for cattle :D

Lots of people think you have to wait for haylage (big round plastic bales) too but this is not so. You should not feed haylage over 18mo according to DARDNI. It's supposedly unsuitable for horses due to a very high ammonia content (about 12%) which is better tolerated in ruminants but I know it is popular and many feed it without immediate problems... some looking extremely well on it too! So, it's all anecdotal and whatever is best for your horse I guess. They eat grass direct from the sward so I don't get why preserved hays are any different... someone may well enlighten me.

Mine loves it but goes loop-di-loop!! So, better for her brain to stay on hay :D
 
During one of my searches with Google I found a study, by an American university I think, that concluded grass could be wrapped at any dry matter and it would keep provided the air was excluded.
 
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