Bad haylage?

[jenren!!]

I got 2 haylage bales last weekend and one of them had a hole in the wrapping stuff. I've used half of one but iv got to half way and the rest of it is really wet. I've no idea why. It doesnt smell overly bad, but it isnt excellent. The one which had a hole in it is soaked, it has white stuff as well, although someone said it wasnt mould, it was something good :confused:, nutrients or something. I cant decide, anyway, it smells funny, and is warm and damp. Im gonna get them changed, so my horsey doesnt get any tonight but im wondering whether to bother with the stuff, 50% of the bales iv had have been bad :rolleyes:.

Can i just define what bad haylage really is? We always have debates about whether a certain bale of haylage is good or not. I nearly threw one out last week but have now decided its ok, so i fed her it.

[eml]

Be very careful, badly made haylage can kill...not joking.

White coating means that air has penetrated the bale and you shouldn't use it. You need to make sure your agreement with the supplier allows you to return punctured bales. Are you sure your supplier understands how to make haylage for horses, it is vital it is not contaminated with soil which can cause salmonella bacteria to develop.

[jenren!!]

Yes they do, it is made by our YOs who have grown it years and years on the yard's land, and is fed to all the horses on our yard (or those that choose to). I wouldnt feed bad haylage to her anyway, but you often wonder what really is 'bad'. I wouldnt really want to throw away a bale which really is perfectly fine.

Thanks :).

[Lucyad]

Do a google and you will find lots of info - I read up cause I made my own this year and found loads of info. The white stuff can be complety harmless and part of the process that turns it into haylage in the first place - you will find detailed descriptions, I think, to be able to tell (sorry cant be more technical - in one ear and out the other...). It should smell nice, if you wouldnt put it in your house as pot pouri, it isnt good! (or maybe I'm just strange - when I opened my first home made bale I got OH and next door neighbour down to have a sniff)

[jenren!!]

Haha, well one bale i had smelt really really sweet. I put it to the side for a while 'deciding' about it and by the end of the week i thought 'well if i was a ned i'd eat it' so i shoved it in the haynet :D.

[Lucy J]

i don't feed haylage anymore, i don't get through enough of it. it goes off too quickly and the little bags you can buy are too expensive. it was handy when my horse was on full livery and one round bale was split between all the full liveries as then it was eaten before it went off.

[Nookster]

Our supplier always replaces bad bales for us.

I never use a bale thats wet - had a lot of people say only when its wet and hot i should worry but one i opened the other week was soaked through and not a chance i was willing to risk it.

There was a horse on our yard that died from Botulism a few years back. Everyone was in a panic to whether it was the haylage. The bales were burnt, not other horse suffered. The horse that did had only arrived that week so the vet put it down to the yard it had been at before.

Snippet from the web
"The ingestion of pre-formed toxins is the usual route of infection in adult horses. This would normally occur when the animal actually consumes bits of decayed or decaying material that harbored the bacteria. This explains why one horse will die from the disease, but another in the same paddock wont. The toxins have to be eaten to have any effect. "

[becs]

I understood that the white mould was harmless. BUT if the wrap is punctured you _should_ reject the bale, as there is the possibility that the botulism bug (from soil) may have contaminated the haylage significantly.

[Jessey]

The white powdery stuff you get in haylage is the yeast made out of the sugars in the grass (when it ferments), it is perfectly safe and should be expected :D
If you find white greasy muck in the bale that is mould/rotten and the bale should be chucked. A wet and hot bale should also be rejected, and definatly don't even put it in the car if the packaging is at all ripped.
Once opened haylage will normally only keep for about 5 days, if it is really cold out it will keep up to about 2 weeks - but if as you get to the end of a bale it gets wet and warm, don't finnish it :p