I picked up about 15 bales of hay yesterday and didn’t have a chance to put it in the barn.
Today we had a freak storm blow through rather quickly. I got the truck in the garage but the storm already started and it got wet.
What’s my next move to try to salvage it?
I planned on getting it down the barn asap so I can seperate the wet from dry, and open up the wet ones to breathe.
how wet did it get?
How tightly is is bailed?
As I recall (from lightyears ago) it should be Ok, as long as you don’t stack the wet mess up, but let it dry before.
And since you had it on the truck, I am assuming the exposure was minimal. Try to reach into the bails, see how wet they got!
(and post on On the Farm)
Feed it yesterdaY. If you are putting it up for winter-don’t.
Will be fed in the next 2 weeks. Wet ones first.
THinking once the rain stops I’m going to take it to hubby’s air conditioned shop so it will keep cool and pull moisture out.
That is, once this downpour ends!
You need to open all the wet ones to air out…now. Not sure where you are but with this heat and humidity you’re asking for trouble leaving the bales tied up. No way I’d risk the heat build up in wet baled hay (fire hazard) or potential mold.
If they are tightly baled and didn’t get soaked right through, they will probably be fine. If they were stacked in the truck probably only the top ones got wet. Set those aside, feed them first, and only open any that are really truly soaked through.
[QUOTE=saultgirl;8763923]
If they are tightly baled and didn’t get soaked right through, they will probably be fine. If they were stacked in the truck probably only the top ones got wet. Set those aside, feed them first, and only open any that are really truly soaked through.[/QUOTE]
I agree. You could bring it to the shop for the AC but I probably wouldn’t. You could open up bales if you have room.
I wouldn’t stack hay on top of it but I wouldn’t freak out about it either. It’s not going to get hot and burn up if it was dry when it was baled.
They were just wet on the surface. I seperated out all the dry ones and opened all the wet ones. Thank you all for your help and input!!!
[QUOTE=ryansgirl;8763908]
You need to open all the wet ones to air out…now. Not sure where you are but with this heat and humidity you’re asking for trouble leaving the bales tied up. No way I’d risk the heat build up in wet baled hay (fire hazard) or potential mold.[/QUOTE]
This!! Split ALL the bales…spread/shake it until fluffy… out in the sun until dry then store…loose!!
My hay guy always tells me to use rock salt on top of the bale to absorb the moisture (cleaned off after drying, of course). Never had to try it myself but he knows his stuff when it comes to hay.
Rock salt is an old-time traditional remedy and has been proven ineffective. Sorry.
Baled hay generally does not get soaked through in a rainfall. It would have to be sitting in deep water for some time for the water to soak in. Rain generally stays on the surface. (As the OP found out). So no need to spread it all out and fluff it all up. Unless the bales were floating in water like breakfast cereal for days.
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