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VETERINARY VIEWS
FEED STORAGE & PRESERVATION
In today’s world, on a moment’s whim,
we find what we need at the supermarket, the farmer’s market or in our backyard garden, with little need to keep substantial quantities of food on hand. But when it comes to putting in food stores for horses, a different approach relies on thought and planning for feed storage and preservation, using lessons learned through history and science.
In much of the country, hay is grown primarily during temperate months. The
best quality is obtained, and the best prices achieved, by putting up a year’s supply until the next harvest. When storing horse feed, consider two important elements: 1) obtaining the safest product and preserving it for feeding throughout the year; and 2) protecting your horse’s health from adverse effects caused by feed deterioration, mold, or contamination.
HAY STORAGE
To keep stored hay as fresh and palatable as possible, strategies focus on prevention of mold, heat, combustion, and nutrient deterioration.
Correct harvesting and drying of hay are important to control “respiration,” a process that produces heat along with bacterial growth. A hay crop generally contains around 80% moisture at the time of cutting; field curing reduces more moisture. Hay stores well with
minimal problems of heating or mold growth if cured to less than 16-20% moisture. However, if baled with too much moisture (25-35%), microbial activity generates significant amounts of heat, with the possibility of spontaneous combustion at temperatures of 150-175 degrees Fahrenheit. Hay that bursts into flames poses a huge danger to a horse facility.
In the initial weeks following baling,
hay has the highest risk of combustion from
a combination of moisture and heat. For
two weeks after putting in a new stack of
hay, monitor moisture and heat using an electronic moisture probe (Delmhorst) and temperature probes inserted into bales. Check that temperatures remain safely below 120o Fahrenheit. Bales with higher temperatures should be removed from the stack, opened and spread to allow drying.
In addition to buying properly cured hay, the safest scenario relies on appropriate storage, preferably in a building separate from the stabling barn. The roof should be free of leaks, and to thwart wicking of ground moisture into bales, place bales on pallets, poles or crushed gravel. Condensation forming beneath bales sitting directly on dirt or concrete leads to mold and spoilage.
So that air circulates freely to facilitate evaporation of moisture, stack square bales
on edge, leaving narrow gaps between rows, alternating bale orientation in each layer and stacking no more than 4-5 bales high. Round bales are an economical and less labor-intensive way to feed hay, but they should be well dried before stacking too many together.
Excellent ventilation and air circulation are essential in a loft where hay is particularly prone to the hazards of heat and spontaneous combustion. Refrain from stacking bales tightly or all the way to the ceiling. Lofts tend to accumulate dust, which if collected on hay poses respiratory health problems for horses.
Protective cover for outdoor haystacks relies on water-proof tarps that are secured well to withstand wind, rain and snow. Punctures or holes in plastic covers allow moisture to leak in. Hay exposed to oxidation, sunlight and weathering is subject to nutrient loss with inevitable vitamin deterioration. As much as 75% of carotenes (vitamin A) diminish in the first 24 hours of cutting in the field. Vitamins A & E amounts go hand-in-hand with the color – the greener the hay, the more substantial the vitamin content. Even under ideal storage conditions, more than 5% of vitamins are lost each month, necessitating supplementation with
a vitamin/mineral mix, ration balancer, or commercial concentrate.
by Nancy S. Loving, DVM
Round bales are an economical and less labor-intensive way to feed hay, but they should be well dried before stacking too many together.
108 SPEEDHORSE August 2020