Something you don't want to see

[s4sugar]

Sunday morning I was about to spend the two minutes silence with my mare & saw this;-

 

[Regandal]

Oh dear. Ruined?

 

[Equi]

lol witch. Just duct tape over it it will be fine.

 

[s4sugar]

lol witch. Just duct tape over it it will be fine.

If it were wrapped hay that would work but it is haylage.

 

[s4sugar]

The culprit;-


edit, sorry so big having trouble resizing

 

[Zipzop]

Oh dear! Why would you leave them in the field with her? Any decent horse I know would have done the same

 

[Pinkvboots]

If you tape them up really well it will stop air getting in and it won't be completely ruined but you need to move them out of reach from the horses.

 

[s4sugar]

I didn't. This field isn't being used by my horse - hasn't been since last March.
My mare is the bay the other side of the post and rail fence to the left.
It isn't my horse but an escapee from the livery yard next door. He got 13 bales of the forty before I found him. I put up an electric wire to save the rest and then when when his owner came he reached over the post and rail to a bale I had ready for my mare to have next.
I am claiming for replacements off the owner as these won't keep.
If she has any sense she or her insurers will claim off the yard.

Any decent place would have paid for these bales that they have enough horses to use them up so I could get safe to keep replacements. That way no one is out of pocket.

 

[crabbymare]

you can tape holes on haylage as well. just get it on asap and make sure you use the one with the biggest hole first. also fence it as if its a high security prison so the horses cannot get near it without getting a huge zap

 

[Equi]

It will still be fine if you tape it up! its only been exposed a day, and its freezing!

 

[s4sugar]

I have taped it up but from experience it will start to go off in parts.

My horse can't get near it.

I shouldn't have to worry about other peoples horses coming on my land. Had I not been in I know they would have caught the horse & said nothing.

 

[Tnavas]

It will still be fine if you tape it up! its only been exposed a day, and its freezing!

Unfortunately that not true! - The moment air gets into the wrapper the contents start to rot - I lost several bales when my brat of an Anglo 3yr old broke through the fence and bit holes in every one! I could have cried - all my winter feed gone. I taped it up straight away but there were large sections that were disgusting.

 

[Equi]

Unfortunately that not true! - The moment air gets into the wrapper the contents start to rot - I lost several bales when my brat of an Anglo 3yr old broke through the fence and bit holes in every one! I could have cried - all my winter feed gone. I taped it up straight away but there were large sections that were disgusting.

crap! Must have had something in our yards field then, caue most the bales have had a side of yuck - we have all just thought it was craply baled. no issue to us, we feed the good side and the rest is fed to the cows i think

 

[s4sugar]

Exactly.
Once air gets in it starts to rot and needs using as quickly as a bale you have opened - within a month.
Bales can be damaged by birds, chickens pecking can be a nightmare, foxes or badgers scratching, rodents or one case I knew being scraped by a trailer.
A tiny hole lets air in & rotting starts.

I'm waiting for the horse's owner to get back to me. I don't have cows to fed it to and that is over a year's feed lost.
Bad enough when it is your own bratty horse doing it but unforgivable when someone else's that they haven't securely fenced in.

 

[Crackerz]

I've spent my life duck taping haylage bales and at most lost tiny tiny bits over a winter.

 

[s4sugar]

I've spent my life duck taping haylage bales and at most lost tiny tiny bits over a winter.

you may want to read this - http://www.smallbalehaylage.co.uk/what-is-haylage.html

 

[Crackerz]

you may want to read this - http://www.smallbalehaylage.co.uk/what-is-haylage.html

Been doing it forever, no issues, i also feed ad lib with no issues despite 'the internet' telling me otherwise

 

[Merlod]

Could you try tell them on to a riding school or similar, even for a low price at least you won't be losing out completely. I know with the holes they need to be used up pretty quickly but we used 1 square bale each day feeding the horses when I worked at a RS!

 

[SEL]

Our farmer puts duct tape over holes and most of the time gets away with it.

The yard staff were telling me they opened one bale last week that actually had maggots in it. I'm sure there must have been something already in the haylage for that to happen - can't just have been from a hole can it???

 

[paddi22]

Been doing it forever, no issues, i also feed ad lib with no issues despite 'the internet' telling me otherwise

same here, if it looks/smells/feels dodgy i don't use it, but it usually been fine if the hole isn't massive. what a pain though, they should definitely replace them

 

[s4sugar]

Could you try tell them on to a riding school or similar, even for a low price at least you won't be losing out completely. I know with the holes they need to be used up pretty quickly but we used 1 square bale each day feeding the horses when I worked at a RS!

The horse escaped from a livery with about 40 horses. They could have soon used it but instead the poor girl has been landed with the bill.

 

[s4sugar]

maggots must have been from a dead creature or dung in the bale - maybe a rodent. It would have to have had a hole otherwise there wouldn't have been air.

 

[Tnavas]

Could you try tell them on to a riding school or similar, even for a low price at least you won't be losing out completely. I know with the holes they need to be used up pretty quickly but we used 1 square bale each day feeding the horses when I worked at a RS!

Moving the big bales is a problem, unless you have the machinery. They are very heavy, however that's a great idea. When I had my stud running the Brodie's would go through one each week.

 

[Tnavas]

Been doing it forever, no issues, i also feed ad lib with no issues despite 'the internet' telling me otherwise

Their comment about not feeding if it had white patches I didn't agree with, I've been led to believe that the white patches are OK, and the only time not to feed is if it smells sour.

 

[Damnation]

Their comment about not feeding if it had white patches I didn't agree with, I've been led to believe that the white patches are OK, and the only time not to feed is if it smells sour.

I never fed the white patches, a mare I knew got very seriously ill from it as a white patch is basically mould. She got a respitory related illness from the mould spores - much better once she was fed steamed hay.

 

[TheMule]

Urghh
Mine broke through the fence and did that to two of my bales earlier this week. I was extremely cross about that and it's my own horses and only 2 ruined bales so I can understand your annoyance!

 

[s4sugar]

The yard has taken delivery of two trailer loads of big bales today - only not had these because they are *********

 

[s4sugar]

How long would you all give before writing a letter to the owner?
Last text from her was on Monday and her Mum was sorting it and as soon as she had a claim number would let me know. Last time I phoned an insurer I got a claim number that day.

 

[Zero00000]

I would chase it up tomorrow midday, giving time to chase their insurance company

 

[Equi]

Moving the big bales is a problem, unless you have the machinery. They are very heavy, however that's a great idea. When I had my stud running the Brodie's would go through one each week.

Reminds me of the time i tried to stop one rolling down a hill when the riding school i helped at put me in charge of helping the old man who delivered it on a trailer - he thought it was a good idea to roll it off the trailer on a slope after i told him to go sideways on the slope so it would not roll down the hill!

Bale 1 - fence 0 - equi not asked to help again