Hay safe for cows?

[Applelonia]

Is 2-3 year old grass round bales - stored outside safe to feed to cattle?

Last year was a bad year for hay at our previous farm - where we still have a field …drought but it was high humidity at baling times …so even though ground was dry the hay in the humidity was just not getting as dry as it should have.

So the round alfalfa bales started molding - they all were hauled out and fed to a larger steer herd / so fed up quickly.

We have 18 bales of a third cutting at the previous farm still from last year. Waiting to hear back from the hay farmer / asked if he’d feed out a couple and let me know how they are. If okay I’ll get that hauled to our farm. And will feed that until grazing.

I thought we had enough grass hay from last year - cut at our current farm to get through until grazing season.

Last night I discovered I was wrong!! 😩

My husband moved around and organized the round bales last summer. I thought the short second row behind an older alfalfa bale was all the grass hay from our farm …it is not! Just some more older alfalfa 😐

So I had the husband put in a round bale that is almost three years old!!! It stunk so badly of mold from being lifted up and moved from its resting spot of almost 3 years!

I had him NOT put it in the feeder but rather place it outside on the ground so they can pick through it.

It has been stored outside. So outside is moldy. It was bailed very dry and inside appears to be just fine. The ends were not moldy as it was tight in line -it’s the outside and bottom. Baled super tight - large round.

I realize nutrient wise it is probably super low …but is it safe to feed that old of hay?!?

Not feeding any to the Guernseys I’m milking or to the Guernsey heifers or to Iris/Peppermint or to the Randall heifer calves.

Ones eating it are dry Randalls - not bred and Volia and her bull calf (he’s about a month old not really eating much).

Peatrice is not eating it by choice …she was horrified. She got herself a huge horn full of it …came stomping down the hill with it covering her head and stood by the gate calling me to file her complaint. I arrived and she dramatically flung the offensive feed from her head. She’s never been fed such poor quality. I asked her if she wanted better hay - she did. I told her to go wait up the fence a ways and I’d be back with hay. She was pleased I had not completely gone off the rails in my care and headed off to patiently wait for my return. She was bouncing and happy waiting in the spot as I pulled my cart with a good square bale.

[bigredcow]

Any hay we stored outside for 3 years would be basically compost. But the last few years were very dry

[daisymilker]

"Peatrice is not eating it by choice …she was horrified. She got herself a huge horn full of it …came stomping down the hill with it covering her head and stood by the gate calling me to file her complaint. I arrived and she dramatically flung the offensive feed from her head. She’s never been fed such poor quality."

THAT IS HILARIOUS!!

[simplynaturalfarm]

I would certainly put it where it can be either unrolled or sorted through. You can tell when cows are in good condition if yours start losing weight you don't know you need to at least supplement with half good hay. Dry beef cows can get away with murder that's for sure

[Applelonia]

Apr 13, 2024 14:37:43 GMT -5 bigredcow said:

Any hay we stored outside for 3 years would be basically compost. But the last few years were very dry

It is normal looking under the first layer - one wouldn’t think it was that old by looking at it …bales have held their nice round shape and structure beautifully …inside looks normal …but the smelly mold part made me uneasy 😬…didn’t know if old molds like that would hurt them.

Here’s a picture of the end of a bale - it’s faded in color but still very dry and no visible mold on surface of ends.

[nextyear]

I'm currently feeding 2 year old hay stored outside because last years hay was so bad they don't want to touch it. I've been using protein licks with it in an effort to make up the difference a bit (along with a hearty serving of grain). I know it's not ideal and I'm praying we'll have a good hay crop coming in this summer. As far as safety.....we used our pigs to till up our cow pasture before we seeded it. We would give them an old hay bale to rip apart and our boar decided it was his girlfriend, if you catch my drift. That old hay bale that was probably 3 year old mulch hay when we put it in, then it laid out in that field another 2 years before we had grass growing and turned the cows out into their lovely new pasture with tender new grass (while still maintain access to a GOOD hay bale too). Wouldn't you know my darn cow went out and ate that nasty old round bale before she started working on the grass! We didn't even remember that it was out there, with the grass all grown up around it but it was very old, covered in pig semen and that darn cow ate it down to nothing, and was perfectly fine after. So while I have nothing scientific....she's still out there kicking and the fattest cow in my crew!

[Applelonia]

Apr 13, 2024 14:37:48 GMT -5 daisymilker said:

"Peatrice is not eating it by choice …she was horrified. She got herself a huge horn full of it …came stomping down the hill with it covering her head and stood by the gate calling me to file her complaint. I arrived and she dramatically flung the offensive feed from her head. She’s never been fed such poor quality."

THAT IS HILARIOUS!!

I started laughing at first until I saw how dead serious she was. She KNOWS there is good feed to be had and I showed up with THAT and I said “I’m sorry guys this is what we have for tonight…night-night cowies” And I walked away …she just was not having it! She does not moo to get her calf Peakalika back that was taken away the other day for weaning, but she was mooing in protest to get me back to fix my error.

[Applelonia]

Apr 13, 2024 14:59:26 GMT -5 nextyear said:

I'm currently feeding 2 year old hay stored outside because last years hay was so bad they don't want to touch it. I've been using protein licks with it in an effort to make up the difference a bit (along with a hearty serving of grain). I know it's not ideal and I'm praying we'll have a good hay crop coming in this summer. As far as safety.....we used our pigs to till up our cow pasture before we seeded it. We would give them an old hay bale to rip apart and our boar decided it was his girlfriend, if you catch my drift. That old hay bale that was probably 3 year old mulch hay when we put it in, then it laid out in that field another 2 years before we had grass growing and turned the cows out into their lovely new pasture with tender new grass (while still maintain access to a GOOD hay bale too). Wouldn't you know my darn cow went out and ate that nasty old round bale before she started working on the grass! We didn't even remember that it was out there, with the grass all grown up around it but it was very old, covered in pig semen and that darn cow ate it down to nothing, and was perfectly fine after. So while I have nothing scientific....she's still out there kicking and the fattest cow in my crew!

Oh my! 😳

[Applelonia]

Apr 13, 2024 14:51:28 GMT -5 simplynaturalfarm said:

I would certainly put it where it can be either unrolled or sorted through. You can tell when cows are in good condition if yours start losing weight you don't know you need to at least supplement with half good hay. Dry beef cows can get away with murder that's for sure

Grass is starting to come in …still a good month out probably from grazing. Maybe more depending on weather. Our hay guy should have enough small squares that I can give the Randalls a couple small squares a day of third cutting alfalfa/grass but not enough to be feeding them all squares. Potential buyer still wants them if everything lines up on his end but is not giving the final okay to purchase - I have a butcher appointment from last year reserved for 2 1/2 weeks from now…might just send a couple in. I prefer working with butchers than buyers! Would greatly reduce feed needed.

[rosalind]

I agree you could roll it out or partially roll each day, allowing them to sort and eat what's edible.

Considering offering a vitamin supplement as this hay will have zero vitamin content.

[Applelonia]

Peas was waiting at the gate …watching me closely as I pulled my little hay cart down the gravel driveway from the hay shed towards her this evening…


As I neared closer …


Smelling to make sure I was bringing the good stuff …



If the rounds are not good at our previous farm, I’m checking with our small square hay guy to see if he has some extra …I just feel so bad about the old hay 😐 …they don’t understand what has happened. At least they seem to be enjoying it for bedding 🙂

[Applelonia]

Apr 13, 2024 20:12:49 GMT -5 rosalind said:

I agree you could roll it out or partially roll each day, allowing them to sort and eat what's edible.

Considering offering a vitamin supplement as this hay will have zero vitamin content.

It’s probably like eating flavorless devoid of any nutritional benefit filler or slightly unpleasant tasting filler …I feel even worse about it tonight than I did last night 🙁

[mtchick]

It should be fine, yes lower in nutrients but its not going to hurt them as long as the inside is not moldy.

I had some 3 year old sorghum hay I put out this winter to use as straw and I thought they would have a nice pile of bedding to lay on, when I got it rolled out it smelled good, looked good and the cows ate it like it was candy.

I always have protein blocks out to make up for anything the hay might be lacking.

[bigredcow]

As dry as it was the last couple years, anyone would be lucky to find hay that good for sale, and take it as it is filling in the gaps with supplements. I know where I work they'll need to buy hay to get them to first cutting, and most guys got one less hay crop than usual.

[trina b]

If it makes you feel better, I have Hope in the corral to wean her heifer, and it was so mucky I decided to put in an old bale of moldy straw for bedding. It was the least moldy of the 3 straw bales, but still nasty… I fed her good alfalfa hay first, then took the straw bale in and spread it out for bedding on the opposite side of the corral. Hope left the beautiful alfalfa hay and ate the nasty moldy straw bale… 🤢
I was worried, as she is due next month, but she’s fine… though I’ll be burning the last two straw bales, and getting fresh ones tomorrow!

[Applelonia]

Our excavators were working on the house/farm project today and they had time, so they cleaned out all of the run-in shelters from the winter deep pack and cleaned all the cattle yards… I went over in great detail regarding the different areas to clean - different areas to leave alone. I clearly told them to leave the hay bale - told them cows were eating it.

I had just finished milking Rowie, out in the pasture, and looked up and saw from hundreds of feet away the skid steer… pushing a pile of manure and old hay into the three year-old hay bale in order to remove it all including the hay bale.

I’m not one to move quickly unless it’s an emergency …never did I think I would move so fast in order to try to save three year old hay 😂

[simplynaturalfarm]

About February my cows started losing weight. The beefers were working through our good last year's hay and got to a new pile the neighbor had disc bined for us as he was 10x faster and wanted to cut hay . They just weren't consuming it, and it was dusty and lower quality . I tested it and it was low in protein and obviously it wasn't what they needed. I added protein cubes which I prefer not to do , and they started to eat more but it wasn't causing them to Gain the way i wanted.
Finally in March I found hay only 2 miles away - every other person sold it within an hour of listing and nobody was closer than 60 miles. He said he'd finally gotten out of his beef cows and he had CRP hay, first cutting Alfalfa/grass, second cutting alfalfa grass , third cutting alpha and fourth cutting alfalfa. And all priced the same. I talked to him on the phone and he really sounded like he knew what he was doing and at that point I couldn't be picky because my cows were not looking good.
Without looking - my absolute first mistake - dh took the trailer and I gave my husband $1,800 to buy a load.. . Unfortunately by the time I got there the money had exchanged hands and the seller was just waiting for me to pick the hay. There were five stacks of rotting disintegrating moldy hay and you couldn't tell what was what. Without a grapple it couldn't be moved....
He pointed me to the supposed 4th cutting. He had obviously baled it wet because the bales were a sagging mess. He asked me how much more did I want because he had a buyer lined up to buy the other 1600 bales!!!! I said no thanks and I took the load home thinking if the cows can get anything out of it, it's not more expensive than protein cubes I don't want to feed. Protein cubes are $26 for 50 right now and only 18%, so it's $1040 a ton and this hay was $150 ton..
The next day I found a guy selling hay for the same price and it is pristine hay. Beautiful and excellent tender mix... So I bought two loads.. that the cows walk away from LOL . I tested it - it tests gorgeous but the cows stand fence bellowing for The moldy alfalfa.