Baling up manure with your hay?

unregistered168043 · #1 04/19/13, 01:03 PM

Just wondering if I should be concerned. This year I would like to bale up a field that is currently pasturing 3 horses on it. Field is 6 or 7 acres...very nice grass, my girlfriend is concerned that I will bale up manure and contaminate the hay or cause a fire. I feel that the manure is minimal. Any advice on this?

FarmboyBill · #2 04/19/13, 01:18 PM

Very minimal, but with that in mind, id wait a day more than usual to bale it. The horses and cows will be able to tell it when they are eateing the hay and it wont be a concern to them.

**Kris in MI** · #3 04/19/13, 03:45 PM

I'd say no. As in, no, don't make hay off a pasture that currently has horses and manure in it. But that's just me. In 28 years of owning/otherwise being involved with horses, I have found very few horse people that would ever consider feeding hay that had manure in it.

I guess if it's for your own use, that is up to you. But if you are thinking about selling any excess as horse hay, you might have problems there.

coup · #4 04/19/13, 04:02 PM

are you going to keep the horses in the pasture until cutting?
we drug- scattered manure late feb. and always cut hay for cattle and horses.

jwal10 · #5 04/19/13, 04:36 PM

Get a pasture harrow and drag it over the field after removing the horses, good to go. If you get rain it will help fertilize the hay, it can dethatch and scratch the surface for better rainfall retention. Does not harm the grass, just make sure there isn't a mess of old grass to ball up in the harrow making it hard to cut....James

Molly Mckee · #6 04/19/13, 05:48 PM

I agree with Kris, if you are going to sell it for horse hay, be prepared for very unhappy customers. Depending on how much manure and how fresh , it can cause some molding. If there is a lot and it is not dry it will ruin the hay. If you wait for the manure to dry the hay will shatter, if you bale when the hay is ready to bale, the manure will be wet.

mink · #7 04/19/13, 07:55 PM

i been spreading horse and cow ---- on my fields all my life as do all the farmers here. if anything id just drag the field this spring and forget about the poop . just sit back and watch the hay grow

rambler · #8 04/19/13, 09:56 PM

Not sure which way you mean.

I'd say its fine if there is 30 days of time between the last time the horses were in the pasture and when you cut it for hay. Running a drag through it to break up and distribute the manure is a great idea.

I would not want fresh manure in a hayfield raked and baled. That is a good way to pass on pathogens. If its your hay and your critters it's acceptable, but certainly not at all of you are going to sell the hay.

Paul

unregistered168043 · #9 04/20/13, 08:00 AM

Not selling the hay, its for our sheep and horses. The problem with running a drag through is that I cut with a sickle bar and I need the hay standing not pressed down.

I suppose as Rambler suggests I could do it the month before and keep the horses out for 30 days before.

opportunity · #10 04/20/13, 09:10 AM

My animals escaped into the hay field last year it's gross when you run over the manure when cutting or baling. I would never plan to have it happen you don't want to cut something that has animals on it if it can be helped. We remove animals from May 1 until we cut in July then they go back out.

where I want to · #11 04/20/13, 09:25 AM

Having kept horses for lots of years, I have fed hay with clumps of dried poop in it. Obviously, since they were small balls, I'm pretty sure it was harrowed horse poop.
If it is totally dry, which means spread out, then I can't see it would cause a fire or make the hay unusable. I never like to see it but hay is difficult in our area and I would rather see the occasion dried poop than bad hay.
It might spread worm eggs in the area where it is scattered as the animals nudge it out of the way.
But something to consider. Horses tend to poop in "roughs"- that is they tend to pick areas to deposit and leave areas clean for grazing if they have enough area to do that. Also, poop seems to disappear just fine in about 6 months or so if not left in large piles.

If the horses are not grazing down enough so that you actually have grass enough to bale, then maybe you could confine them to a smaller area with temporary fencing and leave the other part ot become a poop free zone?"

tinknal · #12 04/20/13, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darntootin

Not selling the hay, its for our sheep and horses. The problem with running a drag through is that I cut with a sickle bar and I need the hay standing not pressed down.

I suppose as Rambler suggests I could do it the month before and keep the horses out for 30 days before.

Yes, you drag it in the spring before the grass starts to grow. Even if you cut and baled while the horses were present the vast majority of manure would be sorted out by your rake and the baler pick-up.

Livestock of all sorts poop where they eat, they know to avoid it, even if it is in their hay.

mink · #13 04/20/13, 10:32 AM

makes no sense to me to have your horses in a field your going to cut hay in . put them in a pasture until you cut the hay and then when your done turn them into the field again.

haypoint · #14 04/21/13, 08:41 AM

A damp gob of horse manure will cause mold and the mold creates heat that can cause a fire. Many barns have burned down due to hay baled with too much moisture. The moisture makes mold and the same event that heats your compost pile, can cause the dry hay to combust.

tinknal · #15 04/21/13, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haypoint

A damp gob of horse manure will cause mold and the mold creates heat that can cause a fire. Many barns have burned down due to hay baled with too much moisture. The moisture makes mold and the same event that heats your compost pile, can cause the dry hay to combust.

I doubt it would be a problem as long as the rest of the hay is good and dry.