White mould in hayage?

Depends if its actual mould. The majority of haylage I've bought in a feed merchant in small bags has white mould type on the outside section. It turns out its not actual mould but yeast like substance which is perfectly fine. If it is definetly mould though I wouldn't feed it.
 
I had a horse that developed laminitis after feeding haylage (was at a yard where you had to use their supplies), despite carefully going through before filling nets it did have white mould we had to sift through. Although I cannot prove it, I put the laminitis down to the toxins from this as it was in winter, so not grass related. I personally would be very cautious.
 
My Dad has made haylage for 35 years. When I had my horse at home as a teenager I used to feed her the '2nds' i.e the bales that had got holes in the plastic (mostly minute) and the haylage had patchy white mould. I would just take off the mouldy bits and feed the rest of the bale. No harm done. But I wouldn't be paying full price for mouldy bales...
 
I feed haylage as whole bales in the field, and have never had any problems with a bit of white mould. They can eat round it, and will leave any haylage that is actually past it - as long as you are keeping a close eye and not leaving them with only nasty stuff to eat it should be fine.
 
Yip, don't be too picky. If its just white patches its unlikely to harm them. All five of my horses are still alive, they just don't tend to eat it.
 
Thanks everyone. I have been trying to remove the white bits. The haylage that looks OK next to the white patches smells a bit odd but the ponies were eating it today. I gave them about double what they normally get so they can pick and choose.

I actually gave a couple of bales to my neighbour for his cattle but learnt today that he's been away over Christmas and his brother had fed them to his liveries!
 
I wouldn't swear to this, but the white mould which we see is quite harmless and they seem to eat it. The mould to be careful of, is black, but by the time that it's formed, it stinks and animals wont eat it anyway. I've had sheep refuse haylage which has black mould, and sheep seem to be the fussiest of the lot. That's my experience, but may not be that of others.

Alec.
 
Alec Swan said:
I wouldn't swear to this, but the white mould which we see is quite harmless and they seem to eat it. The mould to be careful of, is black, but by the time that it's formed, it stinks and animals wont eat it anyway. I've had sheep refuse haylage which has black mould, and sheep seem to be the fussiest of the lot. That's my experience, but may not be that of others.

Alec.
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Funny you say that. A bit OT but I usually feed hay in 4x4s which is stacked outside on pallets if the barn is full. I put a new bale of lovely hay out for the ponies and pulled the outer layer off to dump as it is usually black and spoilt on the top.

An old mare (Highland) walked up, ignored the fresh hay and started browsing on the black stuff! Nothing as wierd as horses, eh? She is a brood mare and I suppose it might have been the equine equivalent of having a pregnant craving for gerkins and curry! (It was just a few mouthfuls but definitely deliberate. She's still here so it didn't kill her!).

Thanks again for the reassurances. They all appear to be alive today so that's a relief!
 
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