spear grass in my hay

[Anonymous]

I've noticed my hay is loaded with what I call spear grass. It's about 4" long, has a small barbed head and a corkscrew tail. I've had a problem with this in my pasture but not in my hay meadow until now. I've removed this "spear grass" from my dogs and noticed once they come in contact with it, it burrows deep under the skin. My question is, can my cattle tolerate hay bales infested with it?

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[Anonymous]

My first thought would be no. Do they clean up the hay, do they have sores in or around their mouths? Maybe unaccounted for bleeding froim nostrils? Those would be the sumptoms I would expect from a sharp irritating part in the hay

dun

> I've noticed my hay is loaded with
> what I call spear grass. It's
> about 4" long, has a small
> barbed head and a corkscrew tail.
> I've had a problem with this in my
> pasture but not in my hay meadow
> until now. I've removed this
> "spear grass" from my
> dogs and noticed once they come in
> contact with it, it burrows deep
> under the skin. My question is,
> can my cattle tolerate hay bales
> infested with it?

 

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

First of all, sorry for the no message in the previous post, I got side tracked earlier. I'm not really sure if Spear Grass is the name of my problem, I've sent a E-mail to my county extension service to verify. Anyway, my cattle are reluctant to clean up the hay but I pretty much force them to. I notice the barbs in their facial hair but they never seem to attach themselves and burrow in. There are no visual signs of harm but I was mainly concerned with internal problems. Thanks for the assistance!

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[Anonymous]

> First of all, sorry for the no
> message in the previous post, I
> got side tracked earlier. I'm not
> really sure if Spear Grass is the
> name of my problem, I've sent a
> E-mail to my county extension
> service to verify. Anyway, my
> cattle are reluctant to clean up
> the hay but I pretty much force
> them to. I notice the barbs in
> their facial hair but they never
> seem to attach themselves and
> burrow in. There are no visual
> signs of harm but I was mainly
> concerned with internal problems.
> Thanks for the assistance!

Sounds like Spear Grass to me. I used to play with it as a kid but I haven't ever fed any.

 

[Anonymous]

> Sounds like Spear Grass to me. I
> used to play with it as a kid but
> I haven't ever fed any.

I really can't post an intelligent answer to the original question, but thanks for the chance to walk down memory lane a bit. My grandfather's place had a lot of "spear grass", in the fall I believe, and I recall fondly the times that I peppered certain of my cousins with a good handfull of spears. Not so much fun to be on the receiving end though! But for what little it's worth, I can't recall the "grown-up's" ever talking about any problems to the cattle from eating that grass.