"Compressed" Hay bales

[ayrabz]

Are they always going to be dusty/dust’ier’ than normal hay bales?

I bought some last year (beautiful Timothy from out west) …but then had to store it longer than I thought and when I began using it, I did note I had to fluff it prior for horses as it did make a ‘cloud’ when doing so…

I thought it was just because I had to store it longer than I had hoped.

I JUST bought some gorgeous Timothy Orchard…and, just as the prior, it is NICE hay (and costly)…this came from NY state and is sold as ‘Second Cutting’ and its lovely.

But…feeding it, I find, again: a dust/fine particle ‘poof’ each time I shake it out.

It crossed my mind? is this to be expected ‘always’ with compressed? I mean I’m sure? ‘compression’ does to an extent, squeeze moisture out?

I’m not sure how to judge this type of hay vs. regular (in this one regard) and in our area, this type of hay is all we are going to get in the Winter months as summer grown local hay is gone very quickly and most is then shipped in…

I just want to know how? to judge what is acceptable?

TIA

[Simkie]

If Tamara in TN doesn’t see this, shoot her a PM. She produces compressed bales and I’m sure can detail what’s acceptable and why yours are dusty!

[ayrabz]

Simkie: THANKS!!! Great idea! I’ll be doing so soon if she doesn’t chirp in!

[Tony]

I recently had to get compressed hay for the first time. It is not dusty. 2n cutting orchard / alfalfa 80/20.

[Tamara_in_TN]

hi there
a compressed bale of hay is a 3x3x8 or 3x4x8 or 4x4x8 bale of hay that is cut numerous times and put under hydraulic pressure such that the rectangle becomes something more like a rubix cube when completed.

you can have single compression (my machine) or double compression(think Larsen out of ID) they were designed to fill container ships headed for the Pacific Rim from Oregon.

my machine can only increase the bale density by 30% of that it was in the field in the big balers…most run in grasses at about 60%. I am not familiar with the specs on the double presses so I cannot speak for their numbers.

The only thing the machines do is squeeze and cut hay. Very wet hay (over 16% moisture) does not cut well due to the water expansion at the very end of the process…think tying christmas ornament hooks around a feather pillow case.

super dry hay (under 12 or 11% moisture) is very brittle and this will cause in the end bale the leaf shatter that people complain about in double compressed alfalfa “oh it just is powder!waaaa!”
well um it was designed to go in a cargo hold of a ship as heavy as possible and then be put in tub mixers as complete rations for Chinese dairy cattle…so yeah they don’t care about leaf shatter,the horse market is TOTALLY secondary in the press world to the dairy industry…

it cannot cause poofs of mold or dust or (from many western farms) just plain dirt raked up in the windrows…it also cannot create moose poop in a bale (but that is a story for another time :))

it you are seeing weird things in compressed hay,it was put there at the time of baling not pressing. As with every other kind of hay a quick 10 min dunk in water will tell you what the hay looked like the day it was baled…

best
Tamara

[Foxtrot_s]

Hi Tamara - you back - not seen much of you lately?

[Tamara_in_TN]

not really a friend here sent a hotlink of the question to my FB page…I’d like to be here more but it is not possible right now.

[vandenbrink]

cloud dust is VERY fine, typically mould from hay that was baled too damp. Leaf shatter dust will drop to the ground right away, and is not harmful. You can get dusty hay in all hay shapes, from small squares to compressed large squares.

[susanne]

So, Tamara…the very compressed rattlesnake I found was not created by the compression process?

[Tamara_in_TN]

his physical shape yes…his presence ? not so much

[ayrabz]

Thanks All, and especially!! Tamara! I’m afraid I’m just unaware how to evaluate this. I’ve never had any compressed hay ever except these two, and its really beautiful, pricey, and horses love it, but I’m coughing when I ‘re fluff’ it from its squeezed pad. Two different states, two different suppliers, two different years cut, two different hays / bale sizes… one load stored awhile after purchase, one fed right away…just seemed to me? Maybe some of this is expected. Its not ‘dirt’ or anything you see ‘fall out’ (ok…thank you LORD there was not the rattlesnake you found, Susanne!)…but a rise of ??? as you open and shake /pull the compressed hay out for hay nets…NO mold…

[Foxtrot_s]

Sure - understand.

[Tamara_in_TN]

also I would not bother to fluff hay unless you just wanted to…a horse can snap my neck in half with just his teeth…compressed hay should be nothing for him

[ayrabz]

Hahaha…Tamara, good point EXCEPT: I’m using slow feed haynets. If I fill them with these ‘books’ :lol: not only would it be VERY hard for them to utilize? It also would mean I’m putting WAAY more hay out there then I want for ‘free choice’ I have found out these are double compressed…I have also found? I’m WAY more comfortable to do the ‘fluffing’ because (!) of the dust that happens. Rather it happen to me, then to their lungs. (I’m starting to wear a dust mask for this chore AND my pelleted bedding stall cleaning–mainly stall cleaning as now with freezing temps I’m not hosing the bedding as often and its DUSTY…) Anyway. NEW DEVELOPMENT: because I’m using slow feed haynets…and have interlocking mats…when I’m cleaning stalls, I’m finding arrow head sized flat ‘slate’ looking rock pieces. grey, 1/4-1/8 inch in height, 1 - 2 inch in ‘across’. the ‘feel’ of them leaves a dust covering feel on your fingertips. I’m ‘expecting’ this all has a connection. Maybe a small pocket of shale/slate rock in a certain field, I don’t know. … But, I will say, the ‘type’ of issue of dust/cloud (NOT the amount, at all…but the TYPE) is definitely best described as the same product that say, if you dump a bag of quickcrete into a post hole – is created. Ok, the pieces of rock are its own issue, and I’m working with hayer who is VERY wonderful and concerned and attentive. but…Tamara, back to the ‘haying process’ can you tell me? Does ‘second cutting’ involve more of a ground contact in re: machinery than say, first cuttings?

[Tamara_in_TN]

[QUOTE=ayrabz;7997218]
Tamara, back to the ‘haying process’ can you tell me? Does ‘second cutting’ involve more of a ground contact in re: machinery than say, first cuttings?[/QUOTE]

no it should not…every cutting and really every field has a raking hay height and I have heard people say that they need to “get closer to the ground” raking with second cutting hay as it is so fine…BUT the actual correct way to do this is to set the mower head at about 6 inches instead of 4 (standard height for a cutter) we have a block welded in the cutter to prevent it from going too low.

In good grasses (esp orchardgrass) you cannot cut below what they call the “crown height” in the summer months as the grass roots suffer too much to recover from it for a proper third cutting

anyway, the mower height going up, while leaving more grass on the stalk,allows you to keep the rakes at a higher level even in second cutting and thus you avoid the dirt and dust that I think you are seeing now… hay from out west esp in prairie dog country has lots of rocks and just true dirt in it…this is what I think you are seeing…

Tamara

[AKB]

I feed compressed alfalfa in a bucket after thoroughly wetting it. It is great for trailering as it is an easy way to get horses to consume more water.