horse hay question

We feed in open air feeders, no problem with inhalation. Wyoming wind provides *plenty* of ventilation. Generally we don't have any mold anyway, and some animals are sensitive to it. Ruminants in general are much more tolerant of poorer quality roughage, up to and including light mold.

As I said, the best choice may be to resell to cattleman so that hay won't be a complete loss.

Moldy hay can also be used to make silage, the heat produced during fermentation will also kill mold, and the moisture in it prevents inhalation-which is the truly problematic part of mold. But you would be hard pressed to get a horse to eat silage, they know it's not what they are supposed to eat. Cows and goats, on the other hand, ferment their food and rechew it anyway, so they will eat it readily.

I had no doubts that you guys are feeding any moldy hay responsibly. The OP is in NY and her cousin wants it for her horses, hence my concern. And strong wording. I love horses!

Quote:
Then we agree I was just trying to save the hay from being a complete waste. I know how expensive it is to buy feed. If they could resell it to someone that can use it, she could buy more (and unmoldy) hay for her horse.

There's not much chance of sunlight here, much less enough to kill a mold spore

My goat eats with the horses so that's not an option either.
I agree that it's not worth the risk for the price of the hay. That's why I have so much in my questionable pile. I do everything in my power for the health and wellfare of my animals. It has cost me a small fortune. I will grow potatoes in the bales as suggested by another post.

Yeah, it is expensive enough without the extra expense and work of bad feed. Oh, well, when life hands you lemons.....grow taters!

cows can eat almost anything- They can do fine with slightly moldy hay.
You say you can't fit a pallet thru the door -look for a plastic one and saw it in half- or try milk crates to stack on
If you get dusty hay you can spray it with a little water but, Im
'm in Fl and its always warm-would yours eat it?

I have one horse that will eat anything you put in front of him. My older horse picks through everything and only eats the best parts. He pulls every bit of hay out of his wall feeder onto the ground, only eating his favorite parts. He then will chase the other horse from his stall and pull his hay out. The other horse will eat the hay that picky leaves on the ground. I put hay in both feeders as well as a feeder in a run in shed at the other side of the paddock and in a bin in the paddock, so the old grumpy can't claim all the hay spots before the other horse and goat get their share. Between the three of them, they usually clean it all up.
I have gone out to feed them and found most of the hay that I left still there. Although it seemed fine to me. I remove it and toss it into the manure pile and give them fresh from a different bale. I figure if they didn't eat it, there's something wrong with it. Than I worry about how much of it the non picky horse ate...
I'm probably more paranoid with the horses than I need to be. But they're my responsibility.

To freemotion. Interesting what you said about your Dad and ripping out the walls. Mold is really bad stuff. Sometimes houses have to be destroyed because of the amount of mold in the walls and studs. I have asthma and I always wear a mask when I'm anywhere near hay mold. The thought of mold spores in my lungs freaks me out. Anyone who has asthma can relate. Not being able to get a full breath is a horrible feeling. Wouldn't want to see any of our horses doing that.

We live on the plains in Colorado and get some pretty low temps in Jan and Feb. Gets down to 15 below 10 or 15 nights per year. Then stays in single digits during the day for probably 20 or 30 days a year. We have a loafing shed pointed south for our horses. They get some seriously heavy winter coats on them. The only horses around here that stay in barns are show horses that the owners don't want to grow winter coats. When they let them out they use blankets. It is real dry here. I imagine 10 degrees in Maine feels a whole lot colder than it does here. We get some real high winds though.

Our horses do the same thing with hay. If you get a timothy alfalfa mix they pull all the alf out and don't touch the timothy. If there is grazing available they will leave the timothy on the ground. They don't eat it till they get penned up at night. If it's pure alfalfa they pull the leaves out and leave the stems. We have drafts and the only time we ever had a colic problem was with some alfalfa that had a lot of stems in it. Had to walk that horse for 4 hours before the vet got there. All she wanted to do was lay down and roll. Never want to do that again.

Mold is nasty stuff!! That is why I have always fed all the horses in my care their hay on the ground, no exceptions. It is a more natural position for them to eat in, and they don't breath in as much dust as they do if the hay is up in a rack or a net, etc.

Even in Maine, where 10 degrees in winter is considered a heat wave, we had horses outside. We would often have periods of up to six weeks or more when the daytime high temperature did not get above 10 below! Add the wind chill to that.....yeesh.

I took care of some nice show horses full time, and one retired mare was "heavey." She had to live outside year-round, into her twenties. She was finally put down...she did great in the winter, looked like a polar bear, but spring was tough on her. She would stand with her neck stretched, trying to get some oxygen, poor thing. I would soak her hay with warm water in a clean muck tub for an hour so there would not be so much as a speck of dust, and all leavings had to be cleaned up twice a day, so there would be no mold.

I saw many horses there with heaves, especially in the 70's and early 80's. It is better now. Hence my vocal-ness on mold and horses....it is just not worth the risk. Yup, those with asthma know exactly what I am talking about!!