Can cows eat wet hay?

Cows can eat some wet hay or they just tear it off the outside and get to the dry hay inside. This is not, however, a good plan for feeding horses, who can be sickened by eating wet, deteriorating hay.

Can you feed wet hay?

What happens to hay if it gets wet?

Will cows eat around moldy hay?

Can hay bales catch fire?

High-moisture haystacks and bales can catch on fire because they have chemical reactions that build heat. Hay insulates, so the larger the haystack, the less cooling that occurs to offset the heat.

Is my hay moldy?

Look for Mold

Cut open a bale of hay and separate the flakes. Look for the presence of mold in any of the flakes. Moldy hay generally presents as darker areas which are grey or black. If you find mold, refuse the bale – mold indicates that the hay was baled when it was too wet.

Can you cut hay with dew on it?

Avoid cutting hay until the morning dew has fully dried. “There is enough water that must leave the plants already without adding more from the nightly dew,” Kaatz says. “The bottom of windrows also absorb moisture from the soil, so keep drying hay off of wet soils as much as possible to avoid added moisture content.”

Can horses eat wet hay?

Wet hay typically goes through a fermentative state, of sorts, and it would not be good for the horse to eat it while this was happening,” she continued. Caution should be used in purchasing hay that was wet when baled. Too much moisture affects the quality of baled hay.

How do hay bales catch on fire?

When hay’s internal temperature rises above 130 degrees Fahrenheit (55 degrees Celsius), a chemical reaction begins to produce flammable gas that can ignite if the temperature goes high enough. Fire is possible in hay that’s loose, in small or large bales or stacks, and stored inside or outside.

Will old hay hurt cows?

Risks of Feeding Moldy Hay

Consuming moldy hay can lead to respiratory and digestive problems such as heaves and colic. Cattle and other ruminants aren’t as sensitive to moldy hay. However, moldy hay can still cause issues such as aspergillosis and mycotic abortions in cattle.

What do you do with spoiled feeds?

At feedout, discard visibly spoiled feed and the forage immediately around it. Situations occur where the visibly spoiled feed is actually stable again, albeit robbed of nutrients, and active deterioration is taking place all around the spoilage, 50 percent or greater in size of the spoiled feed.

Is it OK for hay to get wet?

Unfortunately, rain can damage hay in several ways. Rain leaches soluble nutrients and keeps the moisture level high, thus increasing the likelihood of decay and mold. Hay rained on during field drying of course damages legume hay more than grass hay and the drier the hay when rain occurs, the greater the damage.

Can you put wet hay in a barn?

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. Further, the wet hay loses in forage quality.

Will horses eat bad hay?

Horses will eat moldy hay, especially if they have no alternative forage, but consuming moldy hay is dangerous and can cause digestive and respiratory diseases. Moldy hay can be fatal for horses; however, eating a small amount shouldn’t cause serious problems.

Is it OK to cut hay at night?

Though starches and simple sugars accumulate during the day, a substantial amount of these carbohydrates are used up during the night for growth and maintenance (via the processes of respiration). Therefore, cutting the crop at night will likely maximize the sugar in the crop, at least at the time of cutting.

How can I dry hay fast?

Swath width is an easy adjustment that has a big impact on drying time. Lay the crop as wide as practical. Do not cut hay into a tight windrow. A wider swath will dry faster, because more drying area of the hay is exposed to sun and wind.

Is rain bad for hay?

The majority of the damage from untimely rains is the loss of soluble nutrients from the hay (the sugars). Even before rain damage, we lose some sugar during plant respiration that occurs from the time forage is cut until it reaches about 50% moisture content.

Does rain hurt cut hay?

Rainfall reduces dry matter yield

Wisconsin researchers found that: 1 inch of rain on alfalfa after 1 day of drying caused 22 percent dry matter loss. Similar hay dried without rain damage lost only 6.3 percent of the starting yield. 1.6 inches of rain on alfalfa over a few days caused 44 percent dry matter loss.

Is burning hay toxic?

Smoldering and burning hay can be the source of toxic gases. Carbon monoxide can be concentrated within the smoldering fire and surrounding area. Chemically preserved hay crops may produce toxic gas vapors. Deadly gases add to the fire risk.

Can you feed moldy hay?

Feeding moldy hay to livestock is a tough decision. Although all hay contains some mold, when mold becomes noticeable the decisions become important. Usually, mold makes hay less palatable, which can result in lower intake or in animals refusing to eat the hay.

Will moldy feed hurt a cow?

Mold can grow on grain in the field, storage or feed bunk. Molds and mycotoxins can harm cattle and lower the nutritional value of feeds.