[kernow64]

Hi All,

First post by a newbie (outside the introductions section) so please be gentle.

We've just taken on a small holding and are busy sorting through what we have got. Among the things (some useful, others less so!) that we have "inherited" from the previous owners, include approx 100 hay bales (old style oblong ones) which have been stored in various barns and a polytunnel.

I believe that these were bought for a herd of alpacas owned by someone who owned the place about 7 years ago and my question is whether there is still any nutritional value in this hay and are there any risks (fungus/mould?) of feeding sheep (or other livestock) with old hay that may not have been stored in ideal conditions?

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jerry

[Sbom]

Hello 
I wouldn't feed anything seven year old hay, it's likely to be very dusty and it's nutritional value pretty much zero. Cut a bale open and have a good sniff...you'll probably be able to tell for yourself 

[harmony]

Agree with Sbom but old hay does make good pig bedding providing it isn't dusty.

[Marches Farmer]

I'd use it to make paths between vegetable beds, mulch around newly-planted trees and the strawberry bed, grow pumpkins, courgettes and squashes on a thick mat of it, use it as a walkway across muddy patches in the fields.   You don't know how well it was made, if it incorporated soil and where else it may have been stored that may have caused the bales to get damp then dry again.  The risk of mould spores and listeriosis is too great.  If you open up a bale it should have that wonderful. fresh hay smell, even now.  Anything else is suspect.

[kernow64]

Thanks for the feedback I'll have a rummage but you've pretty much confirmed my suspicions.

[sheeponthebrain]

Why not use it for bedding and the if the sheep eat it among their feet then it's still good enough quality and not mouldy. If they don't, then atleast you've saved on bedding

[TheSmilingSheep]

Or you could use some bales for 'environmental enrichment' for any lambs due?  They will adore being able to jump on and off them.... repeatedly.....

[SallyintNorth]

BH and several of his neighbours got through one of those really snowy winters using up some well-stored 4-year old hay he had in the Dutch barn.  It was readily scoffed by Texel type commercial sheep and our native ponies alike, with no ill effects.

So yes, open a bale, look to see if it's dusty and whether there's any musty smell.  If your senses don't tell you it's no good, spread a segment in a field in front of a couple of cows, or some hungry sheep, and see what happens.  Experienced cattle (hence I suggested cows not bullocks or heifers) are great for finding the good stuff and leaving the rubbish, so if there's any good in there they'll pick it out and leave the rest to disperse in the wind / rot back down into the soil.  Sheep won't eat bad hay, end of.  They'd rather die.  So if they're hungry and won't eat it, it's not good for sheep.  (Although of course some sheep are just awkward cusses and won't eat it cos it's different )

If sheep will eat it, horses probably will too.  At least, fat greedy native ponies will.  Feed outside so that any dust disperses.  With natives, you're often looking for hay with low feed value to give them bulk without them slabbing on the weight, so you might even find there's a local market for the stuff!   

[pharnorth]

My experience of older or iffy hay has been cattle will sort and eat it, sheep may eat some of it and horses won't touch it if they don't like it. We have grown ours for 20 years and had one bad year, probably weather related but the horses hated. Same fields, same fertiliser, but very dry May/June when it should have been growing. 100 bales is a lot to discard for a smallholder so I would open a couple to check for mound (greenish dust and musty smell) and if there is any get rid of it. If not mouldy try it for cattle.  I don't keep cattle so when I had a few the horses and sheep didn't wan at swoped it for 1/2 a cow.

[carla78]

Feeding 7 year old hay does not seem like a great idea to me.

If rodents have been in it during that time, you could be passing disease on. There is probably a reason it has been left.

[Hevxxx99]

 

It could possibly make good sheep shelters as well, or temporary housing for shut-in poultry.

Or even more permenant structures...

http://www.self-build.co.uk/natural-building-straw-bale

[Penninehillbilly]

It could possibly make good sheep shelters as well, or temporary housing for shut-in poultry.

Or even more permenant structures...

http://www.self-build.co.uk/natural-building-straw-bale

I like the idea about sheep shelters, built in a Y shape so there is shelter from any direction. Sheep could then help themselves if they wanted.

[kernow64]

Thanks for all the feedback.

Things are progressing a bit slowly so livestock other than fowls is unlikely this year but I think I have found a solution to the old hay mountain.

It seems that straw bale gardening has become a "thing" (as my 14 yo niece would say) so I am going to try with hay bales - the worst that could happen is I get a pile of compost!

https://www.strawbaleveg.co.uk/how-it-works

[YorkshireLass]

High slug risk, but I'm always up for an experiment 
If it starts growing grass, you could plonk them back in the fields to re seed them?

[kernow64]

My experience of older or iffy hay has been cattle will sort and eat it, sheep may eat some of it and horses won't touch it if they don't like it. We have grown ours for 20 years and had one bad year, probably weather related but the horses hated. Same fields, same fertiliser, but very dry May/June when it should have been growing. 100 bales is a lot to discard for a smallholder so I would open a couple to check for mound (greenish dust and musty smell) and if there is any get rid of it. If not mouldy try it for cattle.  I don't keep cattle so when I had a few the horses and sheep didn't wan at swoped it for 1/2 a cow.

As a post script, having composted lots of broken bales and used some for bale growing (with moderate success), I finally got rid of the last 40 bales to a neighbour whose cows scoffed it with no problems.

Thanks for all the suggestions.