I just got a new load of tested low sugar hay (Timothy/orchard/brome) that has some white silky cotton like substance in some of the bales that we just opened up…I sent a picture to a local farmer that I know and he said it looked like Milkweed??…said it’s not ideal but shouldn’t harm them …i of course googled it and it says that Milkweed is toxic 
attached is a picture
With plenty to choose from, horses will usually eat around nasty weeds. Mine ignore Milkweed in the arena paddock when grazing. You could try opening bales when feeding, pull out the seeds, pods and stems (usually thick sticks, pods may be attached). Stuff them into a feed sack to prevent blowing away, contain the sticks, during hay feeding time.
Ask locally if (garden club, nature centers, schools) folks want Milkweed seeds to sow in the spring for Monarch butterflies!! I always get people asking me for Milkweed seeds!
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From what I’ve just read about it, a horse could eat as little as .1% of its body weight, and it could have toxicity.
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I personally wouldn’t feed hay that might have milkweed in it
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I’m not …I just went and dumped all the hay nets …the farmer is going to pick it back up …all 12 pallets of it
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I’ve found some here in bales over the years. Every now and then I seem to get a load that has some in many of the bales. I try to pull it out, but often I’ll find it lying in the pasture with all other hay gone. The horses seem good at avoiding it. I’ve never had any issues from it. I don’t like that it’s in there, but I can’t afford to toss out entire bales of otherwise good hay because of it.
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We spray our hayfield for broadleaf weeds and foxtail. Before we bale, I walk 30 acres of hay and pull the milkweed out by hand. I know I’m a fruitcake but it scares me.
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Milkweed is quite common here - Monarch (and other) butterflies feed on it- and occasionally I do find some in my hay. My horses never eat it.
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I would have done the same, but what a drag. I have milkweed in my pastures and the horses ignore it. My understanding is that most plants that are toxic to horses loose their toxicity when they dry out, but I wouldn’t want to take chances with it.
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Darn, our milkweed does not believe us that this technique works.
We even spay the individual plants with round-up.
Stubborn plant it is.
I try very hard to not have milkweed in my hay, but it happens sometimes.
I find the horses do not eat it.
(But I still do not want it there. Though I do not fret about it being there if I miss some.)
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Well, that makes me feel better a little bit I guess… It seems in the bales that we’ve opened and put out in the heinous. What was there seems to have fallen out and they don’t appear to be eating it so that is my hope that they really didn’t eat it.
Milkweed is common around here - southern Maine - and in the 21 years I had my horse I never heard a peep about it causing problems. The BO fertilized her hayfield annually. Liming it got rid of most of the weeds, including the milkweed.
We were generally enocouraged to let it grow in yards etc. because of the monarch butterfiles.
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I’m glad you said that, as I was absolutely floored reading this thread and other sources about toxicity of milkweed. It’s all over our property, and I have found a stalk or two in almost all our bales of hay this year. We treasure having it around for the monarchs, which are so fragile and go through 5 generations in our area of Vermont annually before the final generation heads south on their incredible migration. I can’t imagine trying to kill it.
Fortunately my horses do just work around the stems and * knock on all the wood * I can’t say I’ve ever had a toxicity problem. Good to know about it though. And I feel like a dope that this is something I’ve never heard before!
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I never heard of it either and I can’t recall ever really seeing it in my hay over the past 18 yrs that we’ve had our farm …I’m relieved I suppose that other people have had it in their hay and didn’t have any adverse issues …I still can’t believe though that a big operation where I got this hay from didn’t inspect it better …they sourced this hay from New York-had it analyzed and cut and compressed it into small bales -surely they had to of seen it -especially when cutting & compressing it ?? This was was quite expensive at $380/pallet(40 bales/pallet) …they were very nonchalant about it and said the dried plant isn’t as toxic as the fresh green plant 
I couldn’t believe my ears hearing them tell me it shouldn’t be as toxic …anyhow they came and took it all back this afternoon luckily
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At least part of NY has had wonderful milk weed growing weather for two seasons now. It is hard to get rid of fully. I would be more surprised to hear people who have never seen any, ever.
The rest of your comment makes it very obvious that you have never cut/baled hay.
Small animals sometimes get baled, and you want them to notice a little milkweed.
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No I’ve never baled hay …we have our own farm for past 18 yrs though and even from our local hay farmer -have never had this in our hay…we’ve been buying it for 18 yrs …I guess I’ve been lucky
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Less than $10 per bale! What a deal! I’m paying $38 per bale for Teff hay out of Ohio. No milkweed in it though!
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I pay $11.50 for timothy/orchard out of NY. Minimal milkweed, LOL.
(Not really adding much to the discussion. Just procrastinating because…work.)
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Oh my gosh!! Is it a big bale???
