What does poor quality hay look like?

What does poor quality hay look like?

Poor-quality hay may be damp and moldy with a musty or fermented smell. Hay that appears weathered, straw-like, or brown is likely low in nutritional value. If hay has been cut late in maturity, seed heads will be apparent in grass hay and blooms will be evident in alfalfa hay.

What should good hay look like?

Look for the following characteristics: Maturity – High quality hay will have a high proportion of leaves in the bale, with few or no coarse stems or seed heads. Condition – High quality hay will contain little dust or mold. Color & odor – High quality hay generally has a bright green color and a sweet, fresh odor.

How can you tell good quality hay?

Your hay should be greenish in colour – not brown and certainly never dark brown. 3. It should feel dry – and increased warmth you can feel when put your hand inside a stack of bales may be indicative of it being baled too wet. If this heating is extreme, the hay may catch fire.

What’s the difference between meadow hay and seed hay?

Meadow hay is made after the seed has fallen so the plant has finished making loads of energy to produce it. Seed hay still has the seed on it so there is much more energy within the plant.

Is Meadow Hay good for Laminitics?

Unlike cattle, horses are less able to digest stalky grass, so leafy hay is always best. The healthiest hay for horses is a mix of leafy grass and clover. This is referred to as meadow hay. But meadow hay, while the most nutritious, can vary greatly in quality.

What type of hay is best for horses?

Grass hay

Is Meadow Hay OK for horses?

Feed Suggestions This hay is suitable for horses and ponies prone to laminitis needs no soaking. For a 500 kg horse in maintenance/light work fed 10 kg of this meadow hay, feed: 100 grams of Forageplus Hoof & Skin Winter/Summer Balancer carried in any fast soak fibre provider or small feed of your choice.

Is stalky hay bad for horses?

Horses will avoid thick, stalky stems so you should too. Note: alfalfa may appear coarse and stemmy, yet still have lots of leaf inside. Ask your hay seller to cut open a bale and inspect the leaf content of the inner flake.

Can hay be too dry for horses?

Hay that is baled with too much moisture will heat up, become moldy and/or dusty, and has a foul smell. However, if hay is baled too dry, it can get very brittle and dusty. Hay at the peak of maturity is ideal hay for horses. As hay becomes overly mature, it loses nutritional value.

Is green hay good for horses?

When hay is…. Green and sweet-smelling: it’s usually of good quality. The color also indicates decreased carotene (used to make vitamin A), but the hay still has nutritional value. Yellow throughout: it was overly mature when cut, which indicates reduced nutrient value and palatability to horses.

Can hay be too green?

Bright green hay indicates that hay was cut at a relatively early stage of maturity; rapidly and properly cured, with no damage from rain, molds, or overheating during storage. Light green or faded hay is often due to sun bleaching and is generally not a concern for quality.

Is first or second cut hay better for horses?

Timothy hay is one of the most popular hays fed to horses. Timothy must be harvested in the pre- or early-bloom stage to ensure a high nutrient content. The first cutting usually has a higher weed content, and quality decreases after the second cutting, so the second cutting is usually the best to feed.

Can horse hay get rained on?

Truth: Rained-on hay can be acceptable quality. For example, if rain occurs within a day of cutting, it has very little effect on hay quality. All hay, especially material that has been rained on, should be tested for quality and inspected for mold or dustiness before use.

Is Hay still good if it gets rained on?

Rained-on hay often has relatively high protein values compared to fiber content unless there’s great leaf loss. Leaves contain a lot of the plant’s protein. As soluble carbohydrates leach, structural fibers make up a greater percent of forage dry matter. The digestibility of rained-on hay can decline 6 to 40 percent.

What happens if hay gets rained on?

In addition, drying will make plants somewhat brittle. If hard pounding rains occur, leaves can be broken off, which will also lead to dry matter losses and a drop in quality. Sometimes, rain will not reduce hay quality significantly if the hay has adequate time to dry and cure prior to baling.

Is it OK to cut hay in the rain?

Rainfall will extend the length of time that the hay is wetter than 50% moisture, leading to more loss of sugars from respiration. Rainfall also leaches the soluble sugars from hay, he explains. In the 1980 research, 1 inch of rain that fell soon after cutting had little negative impact on forage digestibility.

How long after cutting hay can you bale it?

about three days

Can you bale hay at night?

As humidity approaches 50 percent moisture on the outside of the windrow hay can become dry enough to shatter leaves, while the leaves on the bottom are tough enough to hold together. Baling at night is nice if your climate will allow. Rake when it is too damp to bale. Bale when it is too damp to combine.

Can you round bale wet hay?

Anderson recommends storing hay on elevated, well-drained spots that will prevent the bales from soaking up moisture from wet soil or standing water. Never stack round bales during the rainy season unless they are covered or unless they will be fed very soon.

Can wet hay cause a fire?

“Excessive moisture is the most common cause of hay fires,” Schroeder says.” Odd as it might seem, wet hay is more likely to lead to a spontaneous-combustion fire than dry hay.” High-moisture haystacks and bales can catch on fire because they have chemical reactions that build heat.

Can wet hay spontaneously combust?

Actually, wet hay is more likely to lead to spontaneous combustion than dry hay. If wet hay with more than 22% moisture is stored in a barn or stacked then the risk of spontaneous combustion is increased.

How do you keep hay from going Mouldy?

Stack the bottom layer of bales on their sides, with the strings facing sideways instead of up. The uneven surface allows better air circulation and helps prevent mold from growing. Stack the second layer with the strings facing up, all pointing in the same direction.

Should you stack hay bales on pallets or directly on floor?

Store Hay On Pallets Never store hay directly on the floor or the ground. Doing this restricts air from circulating beneath the hay. Moisture will seep up from the damp ground and ruin the entire bale. By using pallets, you allow ventilation beneath the hay and prevent excess moisture.

Should you cover hay bales?

Cover it up. Allowing round bales to weather can reduce digestibility of the hay. Plastic wrap, tarps, or canvases can all be used to prevent extreme weathering.