Warning. Clearing old hay/haylage areas

soulfull

soulfull

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Last week I cleared out the haylage area. Underneath was lots of white mold. I now have bacterial pneumonia :(

This is the 2nd year running this has happened. I didn't make the connection between the illness and mold until it happened again

It didn't even take me long so wasn't exposed too much. I even held my breath some of the time and only breathed through my nose

From now on I will be either leaving it to someone else or wearing a mask.
 
good grief! thats not good, I cleared the hayledge spot in the barn the other day, thankfully I am ok. Hope you make a quick recovery :-)
 
It's good that you posted about this as mouldy hay is pretty horrible stuff and I don't think people are aware of how dangerous it can be to handle if you don't wear a face mask. Farmers lung is a nasty and debilitating illness and everyone who handles hay should be aware of the risks.

Get well soon :)
 
Ideally hay should be stored on pallets so the bottom can get some air circulation and it doesn't get damp. Straw isn't so bad that can be store straight onto a concrete slab.
 
Christ that is scary, I just cleared out a barn of over 150 bales of manky old hay, by hand, by myself, luckily I didn't notice any mould, which is surprising as it had been there for years!

I hope you get better soon! doesn't sound nice at all! x
 
Oh dear, get better soon. Whether I was using large or small bale haylage I was always scrupulous about sweeping up the seeds, escaped bits and getting rid of every bit of wrapping before putting the new stuff in its place (always up on pallets too which I swept underneath) and opening it.
 
Thank you for the well wishes. I just hope I avoid spending a week in hospital this time

Fat piggy. Given the choice I wouldnt let it get that bad. But I'm on a large yard and farmer delivers haylage on top of other stuff. It has only been 6 wks since I did it but others don't always clean it so farmer delivers new stuff on top
 
soulfull said:
Thank you for the well wishes. I just hope I avoid spending a week in hospital this time

Fat piggy. Given the choice I wouldnt let it get that bad. But I'm on a large yard and farmer delivers haylage on top of other stuff. It has only been 6 wks since I did it but others don't always clean it so farmer delivers new stuff on top
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I know the feeling! I wasn't the only person using the big bales but never got any help clearing it up and they never took the wrapper right off, just hacked a hole in it and started pulling it out. Grrrr. I wasn't being critical of you :)
 
Poor you I hope you feel better soon! What happens when you have that, antibiotics and stuff?

Luckily I am super allergic to mould and stuff, and me and the BF both get awful hayfever, so we tie old lady style neck scarves round our faces when doing this sort of thing (and at the worst times of year for pollen), bandito style! Just need chaps and a ten gallon hat!
 
FP don't worry I didn't take it as criticism just you explaining how you do things to try and avoid it :)

Mandy. Thank you. I as its bacterial and not viral I don't actually feel too bad. Just hurts to breath :(

Treatment is strong antibiotics. Hopefully they work soon
As im obviously suseptible to this bacteria I'm Going to get some medical masks as normal masks may not prevent bacteria, only dust.

Interestingly my horse had exact same thing earlier in the year, despite me being mega careful with never giving him any haylage with any
Mould anywhere in the bale. He needed 3 lots of AB's, ventipilmun and steroids
Vet said it was an everyday bacteria that his system had taken a dislike too. Obviously we have the same dislike lol
 
Scary.

I was in the docs last week and met a lady I hadn't seen for ages. I asked how her daughters ponies were and she told me she had to sell them all for the very same reason. Daughter had three bouts of pneumonia in 18 months and the doc told her she had to keep right away from all hay, straw and horses. Poor kid. :(

I hope you soon feel better and are up and about again. x
 
Huh. You've just sparked something for me. When I was working with horses, I had to clear out a hay/bedding store. Breathed in a load of dust before they handed out masks. Not long after that, I came down with the worst cold I've ever had. I'm wondering now if it wasn't a cold. (Sorry for the ramble. Your post made me think.)

Hope you're soon feeling better!
 
Gosh, I hope you feel better soon! I once had a chest infection that lasted all winter, at the time we were having to get our hay from a massive barn that was full of hundreds and hundreds of bales of hay, probably some of it quite old, I never made the connection, now that I've read your post I will be a lot more careful
 
Ladyinred said:
Scary.

I was in the docs last week and met a lady I hadn't seen for ages. I asked how her daughters ponies were and she told me she had to sell them all for the very same reason. Daughter had three bouts of pneumonia in 18 months and the doc told her she had to keep right away from all hay, straw and horses. Poor kid. :(

I hope you soon feel better and are up and about again. x
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That's awful poor thing. I'm just ordering some special masks that not only stop inhalation but will also kill bacteria, so that when I remove mask I don't recontaminate myself. They are the same as we use on ambulances for swine flu so should do the trick.
 
Sorry to hear that. Yes - it's dangerous stuff and always keep my hay on pallettes. Sister has Cystic Fibrosis so always mega careful to avoid mold as know the dangers. Be equally careful around compost especially when turning it.

Hope AB's work quickly and you're soon better.
 
meandmyself said:
Huh. You've just sparked something for me. When I was working with horses, I had to clear out a hay/bedding store. Breathed in a load of dust before they handed out masks. Not long after that, I came down with the worst cold I've ever had. I'm wondering now if it wasn't a cold. (Sorry for the ramble. Your post made me think.)

Hope you're soon feeling better!
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Glad It's made you think. That was the idea :)

skint1 said:
Gosh, I hope you feel better soon! I once had a chest infection that lasted all winter, at the time we were having to get our hay from a massive barn that was full of hundreds and hundreds of bales of hay, probably some of it quite old, I never made the connection, now that I've read your post I will be a lot more careful
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Glad it's helped you make the connection :)
Nicnac said:
Sorry to hear that. Yes - it's dangerous stuff and always keep my hay on pallettes. Sister has Cystic Fibrosis so always mega careful to avoid mold as know the dangers. Be equally careful around compost especially when turning it.

Hope AB's work quickly and you're soon better.
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Thank you. Yes you would need to be extra careful. I do too as have Rheumatoid arthritis which is a systemic auto immune disease
 
I cleaned out the worst hay shed I've seen in my LIFE at the start of the year. It was so bad and so packed together with years of mould and sheep poo I gave up - luckily its not used anyway and far away from horses.

Thing is I have an auto immune disease and feel like I've been hit by a train on a daily basis, so when I do catch bugs/illnesses I don't tend to notice too much because its normal for me to feel so c*** !

Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing ;)
 
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