jpj
Member
Has anyone tried wrapping large round bales of Hay,so it can be stored outside?We will have to buy hay in this year, but indoor storage is distinctly lacking,so we are looking at alternatives.Any advice gratefully received.
Wrapping hay
- Thread starter jpj
- Start date
amage
Well-Known Member
Yes will work just fine. Make sure and paint outsides of wrap or put blobs of grease on them to stop birds doing damage
Dry Rot
Well-Known Member
There's quite a lot on storing hay outside on the Internet if you Google.
An American university found that grass of any dry matter %age will keep provided the air is excluded. However, there is danger of mould on the inside of the plastic if the air is not totally excluded so if you are doing that the recommendations are to make haylage and cut out the risk of bad weather
The best way to store hay outside is apparently by putting the bales on pallets or old tyres in a row about a foot apart and covering the top half of the bale with plastic. In the USA, you can buy "bale bonnets" (search on Google) which are squares of heavy gauge plastic for that very purpose. These keep the worst of the rain/snow off but still allow the bale to breath. I don't think they are for sale here in the UK but it would be easy enough to make something up. (Builders' damp proof membrane -- DPM -- is the stuff).
Some round balers can be adapted to put on one layer of plastic on the outside circumference of the bale, then wrap with string. It would be easy enough to do that with cling film by hand while the bale is on a fore loader. The problem with this appears to be that (a) dampness can condense on the inside of the plastic leading to mould, and (b) you can get water settling at the bottom of the bale inside the plastic. So bale bonnets are meant to be better! Even stacking round bales in a single row on pallets saves a lot of wastage as most of the spoilage is from the hay absorbing water from the ground.
I keep meaning to experiment with different methods -- but somehow there never seems to be enough time during hay making in the Scottish Highlands!
An American university found that grass of any dry matter %age will keep provided the air is excluded. However, there is danger of mould on the inside of the plastic if the air is not totally excluded so if you are doing that the recommendations are to make haylage and cut out the risk of bad weather
The best way to store hay outside is apparently by putting the bales on pallets or old tyres in a row about a foot apart and covering the top half of the bale with plastic. In the USA, you can buy "bale bonnets" (search on Google) which are squares of heavy gauge plastic for that very purpose. These keep the worst of the rain/snow off but still allow the bale to breath. I don't think they are for sale here in the UK but it would be easy enough to make something up. (Builders' damp proof membrane -- DPM -- is the stuff).
Some round balers can be adapted to put on one layer of plastic on the outside circumference of the bale, then wrap with string. It would be easy enough to do that with cling film by hand while the bale is on a fore loader. The problem with this appears to be that (a) dampness can condense on the inside of the plastic leading to mould, and (b) you can get water settling at the bottom of the bale inside the plastic. So bale bonnets are meant to be better! Even stacking round bales in a single row on pallets saves a lot of wastage as most of the spoilage is from the hay absorbing water from the ground.
I keep meaning to experiment with different methods -- but somehow there never seems to be enough time during hay making in the Scottish Highlands!
jpj
Member
Thanks for the info,we'll have to be careful I think.
D66
Well-Known Member
I keep our hay on pallets next to the gable end of the stable block. We have some hooks high up on the gable end on which we fix a large tarpaulin - it takes about 60 bales.
fallenangel123
Well-Known Member
My local farmer sells wrapped hay, done when baled. It's fantastic stuff, not quite totally dry but not Haylage either. Horses loved it.