Last years hay - would you feed it ?

[tallyho!]

I forgot to add...

Please, be aware, that hay is different up and down the country depending on soil qualities and properties, grass types etc etc... insert whichever variable you like

 

[CBFan]

my haylage man is always astounded that my bale survies 5weeks in my barn without going mouldy either as i only have the one horse and in the worst of winter feed him haylage its not wet haylage classed as a medium dry but becuase of our barn conditions its does very well

I'm the same. if the barn is dry and well ventilated - winner!

 

[MurphysMinder]

Mine were on 2011 hay until around January this year, have since been on 2012 hay and hopefully I have enough left to feed until the end of this year. We make our own hay so I do know how it has been made, and it is stored in a dry, well ventilated barn. Although having said that the 2012 crop was only made in September so still not very old.

 

[Spring Feather]

Not quite as thread title suggests but... So, would you buy 2012 hay now (at its current bargain prices) and feed next winter?

I am talking stored in good dry indoor conditions, or will it deteriorate beyond what is useful and cause respiratory problems.

I've never done this before, and am just considering cost saving options for the future.

Thanks,

Yes I would. Well made and good quality hay only really deteriorates immediately after harvesting and then once stored it remains in a kind of limbo. It's the leaves which hold most of the nutritional values so once it's been stacked and stored it's as valuable at 18 months old as it was at 3 months old. Make sure you buy from a good source and a farmer who knows how to make hay. Open a couple of bales, smell, feel and check the quality inside. Ask if it has seen rain; it's easy to tell if hay has been rained on as the colour is not right. Don't worry about the colour on the outside if it is yellowing, that is caused by sun bleaching if stored in a barn with skylights, but the hay should still be green inside even if it is a year or two old. If it's very yellow throughout the bales then it's been left out in the fields in the sun for too long prior to harvesting and although will be okay to feed, it will have lower nutritional value as the leaves will have been damaged at harvesting and when being stacked. Large round bales fair better for longer term storage than small squares but a lot of horse owners aren't able to handle them.

 

[Dry Rot]

Absolutely agree with Tallyho. Hay must be one of the most variable products fed to livestock, horses included, and one which very few know how to make or buy! I knew some vitamins deteriorated, but not which ones. You learn something new every day!

When I lived up in the hills, I visited my neighbour to beg a couple of bales of hay for the horses. He refused to sell me even two small bales but said he would show me his hay!

His hay shed was like a wine cellar. He told me whenever they had an excess of hay, they didn't sell it, they simply extended the barn. He had hay going back years! A wise man as one winter we got 26 inches of snow on level ground which stayed for weeks and another time several inches in June which blocked roads!

I have haylage here from 2011 which is as good as it was made with eight wraps so should have surplus hay for 2013/14. It will be carefully kept and stored as my neighbour taught me to do.