# moths in hay....help



## TailGaiting (Aug 21, 2012)

<a href=http://s1144.photobucket.com/albums/o484/TailGaiting/?action=view&current=9c36bee5.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/o484/TailGaiting/9c36bee5.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

Just purchased some hay...found these moths in them. I don't think they are army worms... These seem smaller about the the size of a pinky finger nail. Should I be concerned feeding the hay to my horse, or is it just offering extra protein? Lol please help.:viking:

SORRY...CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET PICTURE TO SHOW. 
THE MOTHS ARE WHITE/BEIGE IN COLOR.








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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

To get the picture to show, mouse over the picture on photobucket and click on the bottom box to copy the link for the forum, then paste it here. It will have


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## TailGaiting (Aug 21, 2012)

Awesome...thanks for the info carol.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Yay! Too bad I don't know anything about moths in your hay....


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## fols (Nov 5, 2008)

I have them also. I think they've been in my barn a few years, but their population exploded this year. They are pantry moths and are the same ones that you can get in you house in flour, rice, etc. They live on any type of grain.
I've never had a problem feeding the hay, but also can't find a way to get rid of them. I had lots in my grain room this year (they will destroy bags of grain), so I put those sticky fly strips up and caught most of them in that room. But can't do the same thing in the hay loft since there is such a big area.
Sorry to say that once you have them, you may be stuck with them unless you thoroughly strip your barn of anything they would eat. You may want to buy from someone else in the future if they came with the hay.
Sorry I don't have better news from my experience!!

Diane


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

I had grain moths in the chest freezer I use as a grain bin. I bought moth traps from Garden's Alive to catch the adults but removing old grain will stop the larva from hatching. You can also hand pop the larva which is incredibly gross but does work, I recommend latex gloves. :yuck: Thankfully, they never escaped from the bin. I imagine it would work in your hay area as well but you'll need many traps and replace them frequently, the traps contain a pheromone that will draw the moths in to be stuck on the sticky stuff.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

I would imagine that the average grazing horse eats 100 pounds of bugs a year, the vast majority benign. I wouldn't worry about it.


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