Fresh cut & baled hay, how long before feeding to horses?

[jonquilTN]

first cutting orch grass

Thought I would re-visit this thread.

My local CO-OP (Williamson County, TN) has in a fresh cutting of orchard grass right now. The ends smell great- nice and “dry” if that makes any sense. Once you open the bales though, the smell is almost overpowering. I can’t call it a “bad” smell because it does not smell foul, but I will say it is a completely overwhelming scent. (gave me a huge headache)

Hay feels dry to the touch and is very cool but I am just not sure about it. It’s just…odd smelling. Like it is too fresh. A friend of mine bought us 10 bales to split (we board and just buy “extra” hay for our horses) but I am unsure about feeding it. My horribly picky mare gobbled up the flake I gave her but I just feel very uneasy about feeding this.

I know you can’t see the hay, or smell it, but what do you hay experts make of the situation. Feed it- yay or nay? Just seems not cured enough to me. or something…

-JTN

[Tamara_in_TN]

@jonquilTN;2455185

Thought I would re-visit this thread.

My local CO-OP (Williamson County, TN) has in a fresh cutting of orchard grass right now.

I know you can’t see the hay, or smell it, but what do you hay experts make of the situation. Feed it- yay or nay? Just seems not cured enough to me. or something…

-JTN

  ....hay that is packed in a  trailer and left even over nite will intensify in smell...the perfumes of the grasses  just have no where to go....in the same way a hay sample sent in a cardboard box will smell the whole room up when it is opened....if it is an overpowering "grass smell" I think it is simply where it was kept in confinment...it should dissipate over a few days....:yes: but I'd still feed the wheels out of it....that is why you bought it :winkgrin: 

         Tamara in TN

[toby356]

Feeding fresh cut hay is dangerous. I am so surprised to read some of these responses! Hay that is curing is the most dangerous to horses, specifically for laminitis and founder. Maybe in some parts of the country the hay is completely dry when it is baled but here in the northeast, we always have a curing process that occurs. There is heat in the bales for the first 3 or 4 weeks. Be careful, peeps.

[toby356]

Karosel, I couldn’t disagree with you more. Yikes.

[2DogsFarm]

@toby356 Ummm,
You realize this thread is a zombie? Last post before yours was in 2007.
Hay is probably pretty well-cured by now :winkgrin:

[enjoytheride]

@toby356

Feeding fresh cut hay is dangerous. I am so surprised to read some of these responses! Hay that is curing is the most dangerous to horses, specifically for laminitis and founder. Maybe in some parts of the country the hay is completely dry when it is baled but here in the northeast, we always have a curing process that occurs. There is heat in the bales for the first 3 or 4 weeks. Be careful, peeps.

I have literally never heard of this. Never heard of hay curing or sweating out before being fed.

Here in Indiana hay is cut and sits on the field for 24 to 48 hours before it’s baled. If it’s laid down thick a farmer will ted, or flip over, the hay and let it finish drying before it’s baled. Fancier equipment will read the moisture content and hay is not baled above a certain percentage. I feed hay the same day it’s baled and it’s always dry dry dry.

If it’s baled wet or rained on, reputable hay farmers sell it for cows.

This year was terribly wet and many farmers attempted to bale in between rain or when the ground was still wet. People were desperate, hay was baled wet and sold for a lot of money, and it went moldy. Many fields were not cut until June so the hay was past its prime but I’d rather have dry hay than moldy hay.

[Scribbler]

Heat in the bales is crazy dangerous and shows that it’s starting to ferment.

[JB]

@toby356

Feeding fresh cut hay is dangerous. I am so surprised to read some of these responses! Hay that is curing is the most dangerous to horses, specifically for laminitis and founder. Maybe in some parts of the country the hay is completely dry when it is baled but here in the northeast, we always have a curing process that occurs. There is heat in the bales for the first 3 or 4 weeks. Be careful, peeps.

If there’s heat in the bales, it was baled too wet.

There is no black and white “how long after baling is it safe to feed”. Context!

Yes, sometimes it’s baled a bit wetter than ideal, and is still going through a bit of a fermentation process before it’s fully cured. Don’t feed that. Nobody should be aiming for hay to continue curing after bailing, the risk of mold is too high. But sometimes hay has to get out of the field before it’s dry enough, or you risk losing all of it.

But when it’s baled at an appropriately low level of moisture, ie fully cured? Absolutely zero reason to not feed it right out of the field, and that’s done alllll the time.

[S1969]

If its not dry, you shouldn’t bale.it. obviously there are grey areas and sometimes it’s a not too damp to store without molding. But properly baled hay is definitely not hot for 4 weeks. Time to find a new hay supplier if yours is fermenting in bales!