Bad Hay...or am I overreacting?

[Wanda]

Unrolled a roll for my girls and noticed some red stuff in the hay! :shock:
My first thought was maybe frost damage--but my second thought was "what if I kill my cows?" Is this okay to feed or should I freak out and run the girls off of this bale?!? :?: :roll:
http://imgur.com/a/EVy21

 

[ddd75]

iw oudln't worry about it.

 

[Banjo]

Looks like red pigmentation in Johnsongrass stalks which is normal if that is what it is.

 

[Wanda]

Lawsy! I tend to make mountains outta mole hills!
I'd probably have fewer gray hairs if I'd stop creating stuff to worry over!
...then again, I guess it's better to worry about the girls than to kill them off while the hubs is working off the farm! haha!

Thank you!

 

[10-e-c-dirtfarmer]

Looks like red pigmentation in Johnsongrass stalks which is normal if that is what it is.

Yep, Looks like it was cut too late, stems are too big to eat.

 

[TexasBred]

Looks smaller than most sudan that's baled. Cattle should be ok with it though.

 

[littletom]

Looks like red pigmentation in Johnsongrass stalks which is normal if that is what it is.

What I thought too.

 

[Rajela]

Looks like red pigmentation in Johnsongrass stalks which is normal if that is what it is.

Yep, Looks like it was cut too late, stems are too big to eat.

How big do you estimate those stems or stalks to be???

 

[10-e-c-dirtfarmer]

Looks like red pigmentation in Johnsongrass stalks which is normal if that is what it is.

Yep, Looks like it was cut too late, stems are too big to eat.

How big do you estimate those stems or stalks to be???

I try to cut my Jgrass at about 36 to 48 inches my stalks looks a lot smaller than the picture, but It would be nice if the second pix had something to reference the size to.

 

[Rajela]

How big is to big to eat????

 

[Rafter S]

I looked at the pictures again, and I'm not seeing those big stems someone mentioned. I've seen Johnsongrass hay with stems as big as a pencil, and didn't see anything anywhere close to that in those pictures. There was one stem in the bottom picture that looked a little large, but it was also blurry, which makes me believe it was closer to the camera when the picture was taken. That would make it look larger in comparison to the rest of the hay. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[TexasBred]

How big is to big to eat????

would have to be larger than a corn stalk because baled corn stalks are often fed around here in dry weather.

 

[Rajela]

How big is to big to eat????

would have to be larger than a corn stalk because baled corn stalks are often fed around here in dry weather.

I know what to big is in Okla & Texas but I was wonder what was to big in east Tennessee....we have feed baled Milo stalks and wheat straw also.

 

[Banjo]

JG don't usually get any bigger than the size of your little finger. They won't usually eat it...they will just go thru and eat the leaves at that stage.

 

[TexasBred]

JG don't usually get any bigger than the size of your little finger. They won't usually eat it...they will just go thru and eat the leaves at that stage.

That is mostly leaves. Very few overly large stems in there. Bet they won't leave much especially with a cold win hitting them in the butt. The cattle will let you know how good or bad it is.