Large round bales and spray preservative?

[AKfish]

Any experience feeding horses round bales that have been treated with a spray preservative?

Saw a new JD baler this summer in operation that has an integral spray system for baling high moisture hay, alfalfa, etc. with some type of preservative (don't know exactly the compostition, etc..).

Apparently, this system can mean the difference between getting a hay crop off the field during those year's when the weather won't cooperate.

I can appreciate the fact that cows will eat most anything that even remotely resembles a plant -- but, horses are a whole different critter!

Anybody ever try to feed horses "preservative treated hay bales"?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

AKfish

 

[RickB]

I don't do it personally, but I have at least two hay growers that sell hundreds of tons of small squares and big squares treated with buffered propionic acid to horse owners. Round or square doesn't matter much; it's still treated hay. Automatic application systems installed on round balers don't yet compensate for your baling rate because there is no metering wheel on the chamber as there is on a system installed on a square baler (to my knowledge).

 

[chh]

Horses are not near as picky as many people think. They survived in the wild and they could not have been that picky and the species survive. My horse, mules, and donkeys get round bales. My hay is not treated, but I would not think that it would bother them.

 

[AKfish]

Hmm... buffered propionic acid, huh? Have to look that up -- Interesting too, that the metering system for round bales might not be as precise as the square baler setup. Have to do some digging on that, too. Thanks.

Agree that horses can't be too darn choosy or they'd have starved out many generations ago... but, I think that their overall condition and fitness can vary considerably depending upon diet. They're alive and eatin' but they sure could be better off eatin' somethin' different...!!

AKfish

 

[Renze]

I don't do it personally, but I have at least two hay growers that sell hundreds of tons of small squares and big squares treated with buffered propionic acid to horse owners. Round or square doesn't matter much; it's still treated hay. Automatic application systems installed on round balers don't yet compensate for your baling rate because there is no metering wheel on the chamber as there is on a system installed on a square baler (to my knowledge).

If you run a 100hp tractor with a round baler with crop cutter, the application per bale doesnt differ much, as long as you drive fast enough to keep the 100hp working hard and shift back when it dies down in revs. Only problem is that it puts more in the outer shell of the bale, because it takes power when the bale chamber is allmost full. On the other hand, preservants are most usefull in the outer shell where the most oxygen can be.

 

[bjcsc]

I wouldn't feed treated hay to my horses. As far as livestock goes, I think horses are the most sensitive to feed and changes in feed. Feed cow hay to cows and horse hay to horses. Them surviving in the wild is a stretch as they have been seriously domesticated forever...

 

[RickB]

I wouldn't feed treated hay to my horses. As far as livestock goes, I think horses are the most sensitive to feed and changes in feed. Feed cow hay to cows and horse hay to horses. Them surviving in the wild is a stretch as they have been seriously domesticated forever...

Every livestock owner certainly has the right to make independent choices regarding what and what not to feed. But here is a link to one opinion with other links to university findings.

http://www.harvesttec.com/pdfs/AcidTreatedforHorses.pdf

 

[Lazy J]

Feed cow hay to cows and horse hay to horses.

I have been making hay for many years and still don't know what "horse hay" is, can you enlighten me?

As to using Proprionic Acid on hay, it is a proven technology and in all the treated hay I have sold I have never had a complaint.

Of course you can feed what ever you want.

JIm

 

[zzvyb6]

Don't forget the effect of the acid on the baler: It will cause corrosion on all the metal parts it comes in contact with. This is the reason you see a lot of relatively new balers up for sale whose bale case is rotted out....

 

[Mike120]

I have been making hay for many years and still don't know what "horse hay" is, can you enlighten me?

I make hay and I'm a horse breeder....I don't know either. I joke that it means "smells good, looks pretty, and you can get a higher price". I am pretty picky about what I feed our horses but we also run a show barn and have to worry about customer perception as well. In reality, if it's fertilized, no bad weeds, and not moldy....they do just fine. Hay is just one component of a proper overall feeding program.

 

[bjcsc]

I have been making hay for many years and still don't know what "horse hay" is, can you enlighten me?

Around here our grass hay is bermuda. When you pick up round bales, they are always in two separate areas: cow hay and horse hay. I figured the same thing as you and Mike120: Prettier hay for more money, i.e. clever marketing. So I bought some of the cow hay rolls as they were $10 cheaper. There was a big difference. The cow rolls had lots of other stuff in them, most notably briars. I ended up wasting at least a third of each of the 30 bales I bought. I raised heck with the hay guy, and he said that's why it's cow hay. They cut the hay for the horses from the best parts of their fields and then the cow hay from the rest, including the edges.

Maybe you guys are good and produce consistent quality rolls. Around here they aren't that good and the rolls that fall below the bar are sold as cow hay...

 

[Lazy J]

Don't forget the effect of the acid on the baler: It will cause corrosion on all the metal parts it comes in contact with. This is the reason you see a lot of relatively new balers up for sale whose bale case is rotted out....

Buffered organic acids do not cause corrosion, they do act as a surfactant which can act to remove the paint.

When I worked for one of the major hay preservative manufacturers we conducted corrosion studies continually to ensure the buffering process was working.

Jim