# Hay how long to store



## starjj (May 2, 2005)

What amount of hay do you store.

Just enough for the winter feeding?

More than enough for this year and next year?


I know hay looses it value after a year but I was wondering how long I can store it? Does it really hurt to feed 2 year old hay?


I have 25 bales of really good hay for the mule that I just bought. I am thinking this is MORE than enough for a year (depends on the winter of course)

The thing is it is REALLY hard around here to find square bales and I have found a source just 4 miles down the road. I boought some of his first haying which was nice but this last hay he just put up is really really nice. I just snagged 9 bales.

I don't want to over buy but it is sooooooo nice to have square bales instead of rounds.


----------



## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

From what I've read two year old hay doesn't lose a lot of nutritional value. If it's good hay to start with and you store it well it should be fine. I usually buy enough for the winter, with two mares it works out to be around 250-275 bales, and many years I'll have some left so I just feed it first.


----------



## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

I've still got second cutting hay left over from last year. I was offered $3.50 for it but I'm afraid to sell it for fear we have another bad summer. I want plenty on hand so I can feed hay if need be. If left over I'll use it before I use this year's hay and sell any excess.


----------



## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

Hay will loose vitamins over time, protein holds pretty well. It's more important to keep it dry & the vermin out of it, IMHO. Good hay is worth storing!

When we quit dairy farming, we had 2,000 bales left in the mow. We didn't sell that hay for ~4-5 years, and while the top layer had bird feathers & residue, and dust, the layers underneath were just as green & sweet smelling as when we put it up.


----------



## starjj (May 2, 2005)

Irish Pixie said:


> From what I've read two year old hay doesn't lose a lot of nutritional value. If it's good hay to start with and you store it well it should be fine. I usually buy enough for the winter, with two mares it works out to be around 250-275 bales, and many years I'll have some left so I just feed it first.


I know you have longer winters then me but 250-275 bales???? That seems like a lot? Are they small bales?


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

I wish I could get a hold of some old hay. My POA is tubby and needs grass hay with lower nutritional value. I haven't been able to find any.


----------



## opportunity (Mar 31, 2012)

starjj said:


> I know you have longer winters then me but 250-275 bales???? That seems like a lot? Are they small bales?


 That is about how many we need for two horses. We went though 550 bales for the four horses and needed to buy to more ton to get us untill the grass is green here, we just got more snow:Bawling:


----------



## happychick (Sep 20, 2010)

I try to use up all hay within the same year it's bought. After 1 year it's edible, but they don't like it as much. 6 month old and less hay is preferred around here.


----------



## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

starjj said:


> I know you have longer winters then me but 250-275 bales???? That seems like a lot? Are they small bales?


40-50 lb bales of mixed grass hay, I only feed hay from Oct/Nov until May/June but I feed free choice so I go through 2 bales a day minimum. On very cold days I'll feed 3+ bales to two mares, but I don't like to feed a lot of grain. I hope I'm not jinxing myself but I pay $2.00 out of the field.


----------



## starjj (May 2, 2005)

I paid $3.00 for the first hay but this is really nice and it was $3.50. Bales are big. This is first rate grass hay the first bales not so much and now I wish I had waited and just went with the last ones I got. Same guy just nicer hay this cutting. I loaded these myself he brings them on a rack and puts them under a cart port (large one) if he is around he will help load no charge. My van only gets 10 or 11 bales in it and I have limited storage.


----------



## bergere (May 11, 2002)

I try to have a whole years worth of hay stored.
At my old farm, no problem because we hayed our own place. 

Here I have to buy hay. And the only good hay I have been able to find is 1 1/2 hours away. Costs $6.50 a bale for 35lb bales... pretty spendy, specially since we have to rent a uhaul to get it.
So I only have half a years worth of hay. I need to get the rest in the next couple of months. Because trying to find good hay here in the winter, is basically impossible.


----------



## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

Tractor trailer loads of central and western New York hay are trucked to Virginia, the Carolinas and down the East coast every year. If you're not buying local hay it may come from my area, Bergere.


----------



## bergere (May 11, 2002)

The hay I have seen at Tractor supply's here, is either way to course, which my mini can't have(she colic's if she eats it) or Alfalfa, which no one can have.

Found a wonderful orchard grass hay up in Culpepper. Stuff is really nice, soft and fine, which my horses need.

Incredible how bad the hay is here local, won't feed it to my dads cattle.


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

bergere said:


> The hay I have seen at Tractor supply's here, is either way to course, which my mini can't have(she colic's if she eats it) or Alfalfa, which no one can have.
> 
> Found a wonderful orchard grass hay up in Culpepper. Stuff is really nice, soft and fine, which my horses need.
> 
> Incredible how bad the hay is here local, won't feed it to my dads cattle.


I'll bet you miss our lovely PNW grass hay about now.


----------



## bergere (May 11, 2002)

LisaInN.Idaho said:


> I'll bet you miss our lovely PNW grass hay about now.


Oh goodness,, don't I ever!! 

I thought because they can get three cuttings, to only our one in NW Oregon, they should be able to grow good hay. Ah... Nope.
Scary what people feed their horses around here.

Need to win the lottery so I can go back to NW Oregon!!


----------



## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

I usually get 200 bales. I have a lot left over this year because of the mild winter. I had 3 goats, 2 horses and a Mini-Donk this past winter. Now I have 2 more goats and the Mini-Donk is having a baby this summer so I will have more mouths to feed this coming winter. I will just feed what is left over first....and any broken bales and waste is used for bedding


----------



## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

Only enough of the large round bales stored outside to last through the winter. Already got those layed in from the first cutting.

Square bales stored inside - we usually keep an extra years supply of those. Always buy second cutting only for these because they are mainly for the minis.


----------



## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

I think it is the vitamin E that goes first. But if it is cured and stored correctly, hay does not decline much. Here at our place, the limiting factor is humidity. The exterior of the stack will grow mold readily so I can't keep more than 6 month's worth at once. Even then, I try to use up the outside of the stack and not let any one bale sit exposed for too long. The hay is in my barn, in a walled feed room, but the ambient humidity in the fall and early winter creeps in anyhow and dampens the outer layer of the hay. If I had a climate-controlled hay room, I would not hesitate to feed 4-year-old hay. 

The hay needs to not be exposed to humidity (to prevent mold), needs to be sheilded from the sun (sun will break down the vitamins and minerals quickly - though only on the portion of the hay exposed to the sun... maybe the outer 3" - 4" of the bale), should not host a large population of vermin (we have 4 barn cats), and - most importantly - should have been cut and baled correctly. The hay should not have been overripe to begin with or it will have a decreased nutritional value from the start. The hay should have been allowed adequate time to cure and not baled up damp - although if it hasn't dried enough, the damage is going to begin within the first week or two after baling.


----------



## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

Irish Pixie said:


> 40-50 lb bales of mixed grass hay, I only feed hay from Oct/Nov until May/June but I feed free choice so I go through 2 bales a day minimum. On very cold days I'll feed 3+ bales to two mares, but I don't like to feed a lot of grain. I hope I'm not jinxing myself but I pay $2.00 out of the field.


Irish, what kind of horses do you have? They sound like hard keepers. We have one APHA and a QH. We've never grained them. We feed hay from about November to April. Unless it's really cold, we give them 1/3 square bale per horse twice daily. When it gets cold they get 1/2 bale twice daily.



happychick said:


> I try to use up all hay within the same year it's bought. After 1 year it's edible, but they don't like it as much. 6 month old and less hay is preferred around here.


I'm curious as to how you know your horses don't like six month to 12 month hay. Our boys just eat whatever is put before them and they eat it as well as anything. The hay on top of the stack is brown on the top but the middle of the bales and all bales under that are totally green and as sweet smelling as they were when first brought into the barn.


----------



## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

I have 19 year old TB and a 11 year old Hanoverian Sport horse, both mares. They definitely aren't hard keepers, both have to have grazing muzzles all summer, I just feed all the hay they care to eat. The TB needs some grain in the winter but not nearly what most people feed them.


----------



## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

Irish Pixie said:


> I have 19 year old TB and a 11 year old Hanoverian Sport horse, both mares. They definitely aren't hard keepers, both have to have grazing muzzles all summer, I just feed all the hay they care to eat. The TB needs some grain in the winter but not nearly what most people feed them.


Isn't it funny how each horse needs something different? Our boys eat grass only in the summer and don't need grazing muzzles but they don't eat as much as yours during the winter. They can even get a little chubby over the winter. We don't free feed like you do so that could account for some of the difference. Just like people, our horses are all different and have different needs. 

One of the reasons I like this forum is that I've learned how different we and our horses are. I've really learned a lot.


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

Joshie said:


> Isn't it funny how each horse needs something different? Our boys eat grass only in the summer and don't need grazing muzzles but they don't eat as much as yours during the winter. They can even get a little chubby over the winter. We don't free feed like you do so that could account for some of the difference. Just like people, our horses are all different and have different needs.
> 
> One of the reasons I like this forum is that I've learned how different we and our horses are. I've really learned a lot.


Also, keep in mind that bale sizing is different depending on where you live, though I don't suppose there is a whole lot of difference between NY and IL, at least remembering bale sizes in New England and Indiana.
Out here, our small bales run over 100 pounds. I miss the eastern smaller bale size...so much easier to move.


----------



## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

My dh"s cousin had a grade A dairy farm. He made beautiful hay and always kept a years feed on hand so he was always feeding the previous years hay. He kept very good records on each cow and found no difference in production and he always was one of the highest producing farmers at the dairy he sold the milk to.

I think the key is starting with very good hay and storing it properly. If it is stored in a clean, dry hayloft it will keep better than tarped hay in a carport or temporary storage.


----------



## bergere (May 11, 2002)

Very true Lisa.
We baled 65lb bales and that was the smallest I saw over in the NW. If I bought some Orchard grass from the Eastern side, was three string 110lb bakes.

Here,, my DH calls the bales, Marshmallows. They run 35lbs... I have never seen bales so tiny and light.  

As for two year old hay. I brought some of the three string 110lb bales over with me.. and by then, they were nearly two years old. Still beautiful hay. 
And no one over here that I showed them too, had ever seen bales of hay that big! LOL


----------



## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

Most small bales here run an average of 45-65 lbs, I've never fed round bales so I don't know how much they weigh. 

When I was a teen I worked at a large stable and they put in 75 lb bales and we had to throw them in a dump truck. I wish I was half that strong now. I have a problem getting 45 lb bales in the pickup once there's a few layers on it.


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

Irish Pixie said:


> Most small bales here run an average of 45-65 lbs, I've never fed round bales so I don't know how much they weigh.
> 
> When I was a teen I worked at a large stable and they put in 75 lb bales and we had to throw them in a dump truck. I wish I was half that strong now. I have a problem getting 45 lb bales in the pickup once there's a few layers on it.


We fed round bales from a nearby farm that weighed about 500 pounds. I really liked them because they'd be eaten so quickly there wasn't much wastage (in a feeder).Usually though here, they run about 1000 pounds per bale.


----------



## sidepasser (May 10, 2002)

starjj said:


> What amount of hay do you store.
> 
> Just enough for the winter feeding?
> 
> ...


Wish I could get by with 25 bales of hay for the year - lol..even with grass, I feed at least 100 bales to my mule over the end of Nov - first of March time frame. 

You can feed 2 year old hay as long as it is properly stored (kept dry, rodents kept out of it). It will lose a little nutrition but a mule is very good at getting a lot of nutrition out of less than quality feed anyway. The biggest tendancy for all the mules I've known is to keep them from getting too fat.


----------



## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

LisaInN.Idaho said:


> Also, keep in mind that bale sizing is different depending on where you live, though I don't suppose there is a whole lot of difference between NY and IL, at least remembering bale sizes in New England and Indiana.
> Out here, our small bales run over 100 pounds. I miss the eastern smaller bale size...so much easier to move.


Wow, I don't think I'd like 100 lb bales. It's hard for me to move around our 50-60 lb bales as it is. 

We do shares with the guy who bales our hay. The first cutting is done in round bales and the second in square. We don't use the round bales so we just let him keep them. It keeps him happy so we know he's going to keep doing our hay. He usually only takes part of his portion of the square bales. If we ever have a bad winter I'm sure he'd let us have some of our round ones back. I don't know that we'd even use one or two. I'm afraid of the waste with round bales. I get kind of creeped out at the chance they'd damage their eyes if they stuck their heads in trying to get the tasty stuff in the middle. Round bales are a whole lot cheaper than square ones.


----------



## starjj (May 2, 2005)

sidepasser said:


> Wish I could get by with 25 bales of hay for the year - lol..even with grass, I feed at least 100 bales to my mule over the end of Nov - first of March time frame.
> 
> You can feed 2 year old hay as long as it is properly stored (kept dry, rodents kept out of it). It will lose a little nutrition but a mule is very good at getting a lot of nutrition out of less than quality feed anyway. The biggest tendancy for all the mules I've known is to keep them from getting too fat.


Not saying that 25 bales will be enough. I have no idea what will be enough I just hope I don't get caught short. Rained like heck and then some yesterday and I am thinking that the hay that he has on the hay rack got wet (unless he pulled it into the barn he has next door). I don't want to buy any that sat wet because this rain was blowing every which way but up. Mule is fat yes she is too fat. . I tend to baby my animals abd while I know fat is NOT good she keeps telling me she is NOT fat just plump. LOL


----------

