Moldy hay?

[ny_grass]

Hi all,

Well the winter is finally really here in upstate NY. What little snow we had all melted with a couple of days of weather in the 40s about 8-10 days ago. Prior to that we'd had mostly reliable moderate cold.

The reason for the weather history is that I think I have a big problem. As I wrote last late October, I got a good deal on large square bales. The hay is of uneven quality; much of it was made 2 summers ago when we had a really wet summer and most of the first cutting didn't get made until mid-August. But some of it is very good and they were eating it pretty well and I was pretty happy. Note the past tense.

As of about a week ago I've noticed them nosing through it, leaving lots. Last night I go out and they've left a bunch from the day and are mooing loudly.

So, I've got mold. I guess. My own fault; I wrapped the bales too tight with a tarp and the up and down weather (not consistent freezing from mid-November to now). When I smell the hay I don't really smell mold. Perhaps, near the bottom near the ground there might be a smell.

Is there anything I can do now? I'm going out to today and take off the tarp. At least this'll arrest any further growth for the moment. I'm sure the bales on the ends will be fine, giving me some time to deal if (fingers crossed) most of the hay is spoiled. I can hardly imagine this possibility; I'm hoping it's just some of the bales; it would be quite a huge financial mistake if most of it is bad.

It's always something .... Any sage advice?

 

[1982vett]

Build a storage shed for next years hay is about it. Would probably have have been better to leave uncovered rather than put a tarp on it. As for what you can do now? I don't know...tear the pile apart and see what you have. Take the wet moldy stuff and bust them open in the pasture. Maybe in time they they will pick thru it.

 

[piedmontese]

when u feed the bales dont put them n a feeder,just roll them out and let the cows pick through it.some guys feed hay like this all the time and say it is the least wasteful,i do not agree but it might b your best option.

 

[dun]

Yup, scatter it, they'll pick through it and after a while maybe even go back and eat some of the moldy stuff. That's a big maybe. The old saying of 1st day dining room, 2nd bedroom, 3rd day bathroom pretty much holds true

 

[ny_grass]

I went out today and started from the other end of the pile. I spread out a third of a bale and they were munching it happily. There still seems some reluctant nosing, looking for the best stuff. Not the behavior that I'd suspect from cows that, having eaten less than an optimal amount for a couple of days, are probably pretty hungry.

I wanted to point out that NONE of this hay is remotely moist or wet. It's very dry. I'm wondering whether the mold that has grown has been scattered throughout the bales; lots of it, evenly distributed, with no great impact in a given location (as you might see if with more obviously wet hay) but enough so that they smell it in many places they sniff. I can't decide, if this is true, whether this is better or worse than having more dense concentrations in obviously wet patches. Seems worse.

I've loosened all the ropes so it's flapping freely on the sides; the top is still on; this should allow sufficient venting of any moisture. Of course, I might pull them all off; I just haven't had time today.

 

[Kingfisher]

I wanted to point out that NONE of this hay is remotely moist or wet. It's very dry" Then why do you think it is moldy?

 

[Suzie Q]

I woudl say for the future instead of getting large square bales, get round bales. They can be stored outside with no tarps. The outer layers will be no good, but the inner bales is okay for them to eat. You can't do that with large square bales.

 

[1982vett]

I wanted to point out that NONE of this hay is remotely moist or wet. It's very dry" Then why do you think it is moldy?

Kingfisher...just cause it isn't wet now doesn't mean it isn't moldy.

 

[ny_grass]

I wanted to point out that NONE of this hay is remotely moist or wet. It's very dry" Then why do you think it is moldy?

Some of it smells moldy. And the cows aren't eating like they were. They nose around and pick carefully at it. I saw one of them nose a new pile I threw out. She sneezed, jumped back like she'd been shot and ran around a bit kicking! Never seen that before.

I'm assuming that, though it feels very dry to the touch it still has lots of moisture it in.

I don't know. Are you saying you've never seen hay that smells moldy that's dry (I don't think it was moldy when it arrived at my place.)

 

[ny_grass]

Just feed them tonight. The bale of hay that they are eating (still the same one that was on the end with more ventilation than then others on the inside) has several prominent streaks of mold; this bale arrived this way to my place, as there the streaks of don't continue down into the bale under it. So, the mystery continues. I'm going to bet that as I get farther from the ends I'll see more bales with "invisible mold" ;-)

 

[crimsoncrazy]

Was the hay wet when you stacked it?

 

[Suzie Q]

It could also have sweated under the tarp to get excess moisture to mould.

 

[snickers]

we do round bales of clover mostly and have always tarped it and it did mold alot this year we decided to try and not cover and we really like uncovered better. there is no mold and the waste on the outside is minimal so I doubt we will ever cover it again.

 

[Angus Cowman]

we do round bales of clover mostly and have always tarped it and it did mold alot this year we decided to try and not cover and we really like uncovered better. there is no mold and the waste on the outside is minimal so I doubt we will ever cover it again.

for a tarp to work properly you need to leave the bottom half of the bottom bale uncovered and it helps if you leave the ends open also
this will eliminate the greenhouse effect and it won't sweat under the tarp

 

[dun]

We used to use a tarp that was made expressly for hay. It was breathable, never had a problem with hay getting moldy inside of it. I think it's calld Haygaurd

 

[Kingfisher]

We used to use a tarp that was made expressly for hay. It was breathable, never had a problem with hay getting moldy inside of it. I think it's calld Haygaurd

Who are all those good looking folks in your avatar?

 

[dun]

We used to use a tarp that was made expressly for hay. It was breathable, never had a problem with hay getting moldy inside of it. I think it's calld Haygaurd

Who are all those good looking folks in your avatar?

My daughter and her family

 

[Angus Cowman]

We used to use a tarp that was made expressly for hay. It was breathable, never had a problem with hay getting moldy inside of it. I think it's calld Haygaurd

Who are all those good looking folks in your avatar?

My daughter and her family

SHE MUST BE ADOPTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dcara]

Its been about 4 years since I read an article that talked about feeding moldy hay. As I recall there were 2 problems for both cows and horses.

1) Refusal to eat it unless they were really hungry. Refusal rate increasing with amount of mold
2) Long term feeding of moldy hay could lead to respiratory problems from inhaling the mold dust.

Has anyone experienced other known problems from feeding moldy hay?

 

[1982vett]

I suspect you could have more problems with the horses...all I know about horses is that I don't need one. Also suspect problems with moldy hay really comes from a situation where there is no other option than eating moldy hay and the amount and type of mold. I've fed hay with signs of mold and never had a problem...but it wasn't all they had to eat either. "Moderation" goes a long way in everthing we do.