Beware of New-Baled Hay!

[csaper58]

@Lady Eboshi

Just putting up a little PSA for newer horse owners who may not know; beware of the local Farmer Jones who calls you and offers a ginormous discount if you go “pick the hay up off the field” so he doesn’t have to truck it and stack it in his barn. They usually call when racing thunderstorms, which is suspect right there. :ambivalence:

I got another one of these calls yesterday from the usual character, which reminded me. :winkgrin:

If it sounds too good to be true, IT IS. First of all, chances are that no matter how good the hay looks to you, the horses won’t eat it that fresh. The enzyme-curing process hasn’t taken place completely yet, so the taste is sometimes “off.” Furthermore, it has a lot of drying to do even if it WAS baled under ideal conditions (and plenty isn’t!), so it’s going to weigh a lot less after a month or two in your barn.

The bigger issue is “heating.” If the hay was NOT truly dry when baled, fermentation will take place causing literal heating of the hay; a condition the results of which can range from musty, dusty unfeedable hay to BURNING DOWN YOUR BARN! :eek:

So wait to buy for a couple of months post-haying season, that way if it’s going to curdle it does it in the hay-man’s barn, not yours.

I think it is important to know the local hay growers, Who gives growing hay their best effort, who gives it a half-hearted effort.

Knowing what the weather/humidity has been for the last few days is equally if not more, important when buying hay out of the field.

For the informed fastidious hay buyer there are good deals to be found in the fields.

[Foxtrot_s]

It is more important to know which field the hay comes from - wild, unkept, unfertilized, full of weeds, cut once a year so they weeds can seed and germinate. Nothing but yellow during buttercup flowering season…

[pony_grandma]

We buy/pick up in the field. Easier to see exactly what you are getting, seeing the cure on the windrows, we follow the baler. And we don’t pick up under the shade or in the low wetter areas. $3/bale good mix hay. WHY NOT???

[Foxtrot_s]

Ha! I remember the days when it was recommended not to feed new hay - that it should be at least last year’s hay.
Thinking has changed btw!

[pezk]

@Foxtrot's

Ha! I remember the days when it was recommended not to feed new hay - that it should be at least last year’s hay.
Thinking has changed btw!

You also have to know your horse. There are a few horses that will colic and/or founder on fresh hay. I know from experience and its not fun.

[vxf111]

I buy fresh hay out of the field. The key is that it was PROPERLY baled so it’s dry an that the person buying it how how to deal with it so it can cure.