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Hay questions

Transport alone would be a hefty price tag! I was trying to figure out how many bales a day you must be using (46 btw)! ROFL

Big blocks are starting to be more available in my immediate area. They look like they would be easier to “peel” off a daily ration than rounds. Do they really flake off like I’ve heard?

I’m in FL and feed a lot of alfalfa so if a big block square of alfalfa was cheaper per pound vs a two string square it might be a sensible move for me dollar wise.

The 3x3x8 bales ( usually 750-850 lbs) are pretty easy to pull flakes off of. The 3x4x8 bales are a little more challenging. I have been buying them too because I get better value than buying regular small square bales.
I don’t know how these compare to the “big blocks”.

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Just wondering if those changing to big bales have vaccinated for Botulism? At times wild animals get baled up, carcasses spoil, to contaminate the bales. Not as quick to find such animals in the big bales set out to consume, as when using small bales broken up into measured flakes for feeding. Germs can also live in the soil, get lively under certain weather conditions. So it can be best if horses are kept vaccinated every year.

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We have a large trailer for moving equipment and a skid steer with a hay spike. I can get 12 on the trailer. The bales I’m getting are 3x4x7. I have gotten the 4x4x8 bales before and I agree they are a tad bit more difficult to move the individual flakes.

I find that they do flake apart, but the ease of flaking depends on the type and cut of hay and how tightly the hay was packed. Alfalfa tends to pack tighter than other types of hay. It seems to come apart easier than a first cut orchard grass.

I find the flakes are pretty consistent in size for each bale. The flakes that are 12-15lbs each are easier to pull off in one piece than the lighter flakes. If I don’t have any grazing and the temperatures are moderate, I count on feeding 2 flakes a day. I use the extended day small hole hay nets. I can fit one flake in there easily and if I work a bit, I can get 1 1/2 flakes in there.

I store my big bales out of the barn and use a big wheel barrow or a cart to move 1-2 weeks worth of hay into the feed room. I pick a day that the weather is the most cooperative. I have a large pallet with a solid top in my feed room. I lay the hay flat and can stack 14 flakes in a corner. This is around 4’6” tall when it’s uncompressed. I tie at least one string on the main bale to keep it from fanning open.

As far as botulism, that can be an issue in any type of hay. The way I’m feeding the big squares is similar to the way one would feed small squares, flakes at a time, as opposed to just putting out a large round bale and allowing them to free feed from it.

According to my hay guy, the moisture in a large square has to be spot on. He said he can round bale slightly damp hay, but as long as he places them in his barn on their sides one on top of the other, they will act as a chimney and the moisture will be drawn out of them. On a side note, he also does balelage/haylage which also has a specific moisture requirement. If I could go through a large bale every few days, I’d consider going that route.

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I call everything not a small (regular) square bale or a round bale a big block! They are not terribly common in my neck of the woods.

Thanks for the info

That’s a good point. Do the vaccines have a good record for effectiveness? Commonly available? I don’t believe my vet has offered that vaccine to me before.

Wow thank you for all of those details!

I am going to reach out to the dealer that has these, they come from out West I understand, and see if I can make it happen.

I have a space where I could store one or two of these in the barn if I kick the tractor out.

I’d either need to arrange delivery or coordinate pick up with a day when a neighbor or my dad could bring their equipment to move the bales. I have access to a heavy duty trailer so I could do pickup but my tractor is too little to move the bales.

Thanks again for the details!!!

I STRONGLY disagree with any use of haylage for horses!! Everything I have read, heard discussed by experts, say that haylage is a bad way to feed horses.

Equines are much more sensitive in reacting to the things going on in haylage than other herbivores with more complicated digestive systems. Horses get sick on haylage easily, even “excellent” haylage. Usually with very bad results.

Do some Googling to learn specifics of feeding haylage to horses. Lots of information to read.

Much better to fight with the large bales than introducing haylage into horse diets.

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In Britain haylage is commonly fed to horses as the damp climate makes haying hard. I was shocked when I heard that :slight_smile: and I certainly wouldn’t seek out haylage in North America. But in Britain it appears to work fine.

I wonder if the UK has has the same bad stuff happen to their horses fed haylage as has been found in the USA and Canada? Is their haylage made like ours is?

Could be another issue of 2 totally different meanings of the same word here and there. Different definations mean you are talking at cross-purposes, are not really even on the same subject or details.

2 totally opposite word definitions, often horse related, happens to me in conversations with UK folks. We have to back up conversation to the diverging point and re-discuss!

@KBC, can you clarify what goodhors is saying above. What is haylage in the UK?

The haylage I was familiar with is a chopped grass product that arrives in large feed sacks, or bales like shavings. It is a …trying to find a word that isn’t moist…but dryer than damp product. I would say half way between hay an silage, and without the spoilage issues that can happen with silage.

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I think I’ve seen similar here in the states. Worked for a British lady and she had the local mill make her what we called chaff. Chopped hay with a tiny bit of oats and some drops of molasses as best I can recall.

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:rofl: Chaff is slightly different, that is a totally dry product, chopped hay, as you say then moistened with molasses or something. Haylage is ‘cured’ so retains a slight amount of moisture.

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I stand corrected :sweat_smile: I’m in the south East so it’s all unusual round here lol

It all depends on how much rain it got. A slight mist, drizzle or brief very light rain may be ok on hay that had dried significantly but in my experience of us putting up a lot of hay it will most likely be bleached, yellow and tasteless. You can only try and the animals will let you know pretty quickly.

OTOH --if you have just cut and it gets drenched while it still has plenty of green( laying flat and not yet raked ) you may get away with it still being quite good and green ( we have).

@xrmn002 You may be able to find a supplier who will hold and deliver hay as you need it. That way you have a consistent supply of the same type of hay for the year. The problem with trying to find hay year round is that many times you can’t.

Well, it does not sound like the products mentioned, chopped hay, chaff, mixed dry forages, are anyplace close to what I know as “haylage”.

Going to my friend Google, haylage is up to 45% moisture with anerobic activity changing the sugars to lactic acid. Higher moisture, poor storage can disrupt the fementation, make It go bad with spoilage.

Haylage at 45% moisture and fermentation, compared to a nice dry bale at 20% moisture, is a big difference going into a horse.

Any of the “ages”, silage, balage, haylage, are all moist, fermented forages.

I think we may be working on the named products using different definations again!

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Ugh, we have the clover problem. I say it is a problem despite the fact that the horses LOVE the hay. It is just too hard to dry. I have had 2 cuttings of some nice hay rained on last year because the clover wasn’t dry yet. That said, both cuttings produced reasonable hay once dried. Horses like it and it can be good to wash out some sugars. I tested one washed batch from an earlier year and it tested just fine. Last year I even considered selling it at a premium as “low sugar hay” :wink: This year I’ve decided not to fight mother nature anymore and I am using hay field as pasture. I might regret it as it appears we are having a drought and hay prices might jump again…

But to your point on rain, I have found that rain does not disqualify a crop automatically so as long as it is baled dry.

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Question. Do you think hay dealers are sourcing rained on hay that tests low sugar?

I don’t know. Most hay I see marketed as low sugar comes with a test. You can always look at it to determine if it has the nutrient profile you need. The major issue I would see is palatability which honestly is actually an issue in any low sugar hay. They like the candy better.