OLD Hay

old_ky_man · Jan 10, 2012

I have some old hay, a blend of fescue and orchard grass, that is 6 years old. It has been in the barn on pallets and always dry. Is it good to feed the cattle or do I just need to throw it away.

rustred · Jan 10, 2012

no mice or mold, then throw it for the cows, they will decide.
chop and mix it?

Super Steve · Jan 10, 2012

toss it to the cows, they will eat it of you could use it for bedding and they will pick out what they want to eat and lay on the rest

Mike (WA) · Jan 10, 2012

Had an old barn without a door to the hayloft- previous owner used a hook and trolley at the peak to put hay in. About a foot of old hay and oat straw in the loft when I got the place, probably up to 30 years old. I knocked a 1 X 12 off the end of the loft to pitch it out, figured I'd spread it in the morning. Made a pile from the ground up to the level of the loft.

Came out the next morning, and cows were happily eating it, even though it was summer and they had good pasture. Pile was about half gone, and I figured they were doing so nicely, perhaps I should give them another day.

Next day, it was all gone.

Just give it to the cattle, they won't eat it if its bad.

JMOR · Jan 10, 2012

Enjoyed your stories & fully agree! I cleaned out an old barn that had about decade old hay in it during the winter when I was feeding 6 month old hay and I saw the cows eat the old hay before the fresh!! :roll: And that ain't no bull!

paul · Jan 10, 2012

There is a thought a few vitamins leach out of the hay over time, but assuming this is not the only thing they will get to eat for the next 6 months, you put in some mineral or grains or fresh hay from time to time, it should be about 95% as good as new hay.

--->Paul

showcrop · Jan 10, 2012

(quoted from post at 17:01:42 01/10/12) no mice or mold, then throw it for the cows, they will decide.
chop and mix it?

Some of my horse customers I swear they don't let their horses decide. they eat some of it themselves.LOL

M Nut · Jan 10, 2012

Oh heck, that's still fresh! I cleaned out the hay mow on our old barn one year and know for sure the bales in the back corner were about 20 years old. Cows never batted an eye. Just ate it right up. Feed it it to the cows and rest easy. They'll be fine.

Michael Soldan · Jan 10, 2012

I had it explained to me this way...do you like pretzels,pretzel sticks etc to chew on?...Yeah..well cattle like to chew on dried up stuff too!
So I learned that cattle will pick away at old hay and if you want them to really get into it throw a handfull of salt over it when you puct it in the feeder.

Dachshund · Jan 10, 2012

A couple of years ago, a neighbor gave me some hay to use as compost. It had been sitting in his barn for at least 10 years. I didn't have room for it all, so dumped 15 bales, or so, onto a brush pile I was planning to burn. The cows decided that they liked the flavor, and polished it off before I had a chance to light it.

James Williams · Jan 10, 2012

Years ago when I first got married I got the bright Idea that I wanted to farm for a living,And I baled a lot of mulch hay for contractors to use for hydro-seeding,One of the fields was about 30 acres, was a large stand of posion oak that was just starting to grow,and we bailed it,the contractor had some cattle and we threw it out to them and they ate every peice

jimmy

kyplowboy · Jan 11, 2012

If you are close enough to me I would say that it is of no value and I'd haul it away for you.

I have fed hay that was in worse shape than what you describe. When we had the late freeze and then dry summer 4 years ago I bought some CRP (they left out the A) hay. The cows really didn't like it at first. I stood them on their end and a five gallon bucket of gluten dumped in the center made all the diffrence.

In short, if it's been dry and the mice ain't been party'n too much I'd at least try some of it.

Good luck.

Dave

old_ky_man · Jan 11, 2012

Thanks for the comments. I'll feed the hay.

I have figured out that cows will eat anything if you sprinkle some sugar on it. Ha/Ha

OLD Hay

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