Haylage - how bad is too bad?

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turnbuckle

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Grass in the summer field is pretty minimal (hope that will improve with the rain) but for now am haying......and am down to the first cut of last year, which was very wet and is dire. Basically going off the second the bale is opened - but I allowed the eejit horse to have a sniff and he seems to think it's very nice. Hasn't dropped dead overnight, which is good.

I'm slightly tempted to take the view that he has a good sense of self-preservation and let him decide whether it's OK. Anyone lese take that line?
 
I once fed some I wasn’t 100% sure on.
Horse was elderly and had no grass (summer) My bosses were away and I had a big project I needed to get.
So I gave it him. Planning to get more sorted that day. He hoovered it up happily and colicked severely later in the day.
It may or may not have been the haylege but..... it’s not a risk I’d ever take again personally
 
Do not trust these animals to have any sense of self preservation. Do not. ?

We had some wet haylage but it didn't go off or anything immediately. However, if I even thought they hay or haylage weren't good, I wouldn't feed it. These animals are so fragile and expensive.
 
With the greatest respect and absolutely said in goodwill - you are bonkers to even consider feeding it.

I have just so nearly lost a horse from gassy colic. The cause for her was being allowed onto a minimal area of greener grazing after we had had some rain and the parched ground had sprouted new grass. It was a minimal change in her routine but resulted in a terribly distressing and worrying 4 days for both of us. Seeing her writhing on the floor looking like a bloated cow was awful as was the noise she was making.

The sugars and fermentation in rotting haylage will be huge. If you had seen my mare on Sunday morning you would be burning your rotting haylage not feeding it.
 
you are insane...no, don't expect the horse to self regulate when something so yummy is put before him lol, I wouldn't...
 
I don't see why it should be rotten or contain botulism just because it was baled too wet. All that usually does is make silage instead. And while silage is too acidic for some horses, I once liveried at a hunter yard where they were all fed on the silage that came out of the clamp made for the cows, with not one issue with it.

If it is acidic rather than rotten I would soak it and drain it to reduce the acidity and feed it. But only if I was certain that the acidity was the only problem with it. I did this with a winters supply of acidic small bale one year. It was that or dump £1400 of haylage, and other horses in the area including the makers' were eating it so a refund was out of the question.

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