You apparently have not met my gelding :lol:! He is my official hay quality control inspector, I know if he is eating it it’s good hay. The fat pony, on the other hand, would probably be the dope that would be eating moldy hay!
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We bale hay, and note that we are in Texas where bermuda grasses are often used. Long stems will cause the flakes to stick together, two flakes at a time. The baler takes in hay, shapes it to flake size, folds it once, cuts it, then jams it into the bale chamber. This continues until the chamber is full, then the tying or wiring mechanism is triggered and the hay comes out in a bale.
So, you can sometimes separate the flakes easily at the fold (because the grass was short) and sometimes it separates easily only at the cut. You can see these cut ends on one side of the bale. If more than two are stuck, then the cutter is the problem. (This hay was probably a huge hassle to bale too, speaking as someone who has had to shut down and clean out the overstuffed baling apparatus.)
Also, for those of you who usually get orchard grass or timothy and occasionally receive bermuda grass from far away, your horses may love it, (ours do) but if the stems are too long you can have more risk of colic, as some varieties of bermuda can have very tough stems (in some varieties the stems are fine, but wiry). So, any time you change hay, keep an eye on how the horses are doing.
Also, I would never feed moldy hay to horses. I realize I have the luxury of living in an area where plenty of hay is produced. Sometimes our hay smells a bit musty, usually from having been kept in our high humidity for a few months, but is not moldy, as happens when the hay is baled too wet or is rained on or something after baling. If you see mold clumping the stems together that is truly mold. If a lot of white or grey dust comes out when you separate a flake, that may be mold too.
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Judy in Texas, thanks! I always wondered how that worked. My guess was that the hay in question was very long, mature first cutting hay that was cut late. Definitely a pain to deal with but maybe those bales are the ones you set aside to put out in the pasture in winter when you’re feeding more generously.
I was going to chime in as well, flakes that won’t separate are either very long-stemmed, very compacted or a bit on the damp side. No wish to get into any member backstories or alleyway tiffs.
OP, keep an eye on your bales.
Last year I put up some Teff which is generally baled at a long length in my area due to growing cycle and seasonal weather. Hard to separate flakes are common due to the stem length. This load however probably needed another day to dry but weather was rolling in and the farmer hustled. It was right on the edge apparently but seemed fine to me.
First few bales I opened were fresh and lovely, but hard to separate. A bit harder than usual, but only by a bit. Others opened fine. Everything was fresh and clean smelling and horses loved it all.
Still, it stuck with me as a bit odd so I kept an eye on the stack like a mother hen. All was well for about 4 or 5 days until one day, running my hands slowly over the stack as I do each day with new hay, I felt the slightest heat. Stuck my arm deep in the stack and found HOT bales. Screaming hot. I dropped everything and ripped the whole barn apart.
Probably just long stems in your case, but keep an eye on things all the same.
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Thanks for this explanation! It seems my “stuck” bales have one corner with long stems that reach into the next flake. Once I pull the long stems from that corner apart the whole flake falls off nicely. We had a weird spring that went from snow and freezing temps over Easter to nonstop rain for a few weeks, followed by 90 degree temps. I’m guessing everyone’s first cutting was later than they wanted which would account for the long stems? Regardless, this thread has been very educational 
Sugar Cubes, I am so glad that helped you. Lots of the other information in this topic is excellent, such as making sure that newly-received hay is not heating up in the barn. buck22’s message can save horse lives and barns.
Yep, late cuttings lead to long stems!
I make small square bales of hay. Each flake is the product of a plunger that compresses the grass that was fed into the bale chamber. There is a blade on the plunger that cuts any grass laying between the chamber and feed opening. Picture in your mind a guillotine. I would guess the baler that produced your hay had a damaged blade or plunger, that failed to completely cut through. Therefore you have a corner that connects each flake.
Just take a serrated knife (a bread knife will do) and cut the corner as you separate a flake.
