Stupid question: what does moldy hay look like?

[BethW]

Is it typically a black mold or white?

I've sniffed a bunch of hay bales in the 4 years I've had goats and while I've smelled many that were a little musty, I've never sniffed one that smelled strongly of mold.

I'm looking at some hay right now that has black specks on some of the leaves. Its not the kind of thing that you can scrape off with your nail, it's more like a discoloration of the leaf. Is that mold?

[DamnearaFarm]

Usually a grayish white and I always smell it before I see it.
Look at all the stems and leaves- are the specks on more than one type of leaf/stem?

[ozark_jewels]

If the eyes fool you, use the nose. If it smells sweet and fresh, its highly unlikely to be mold. Is it flyspecks?

[where I want to]

Black spots could be mold or simply a bacterial spot that occured on the leaves before it was harvested. Sometimes around here hay is baled on waterland areas and smell awfully musty without being bad. It's hard to say without seeing or sniffing.
Mold I've seen has formed clumps or grayish fibrous areas or dust that rises up like smoke from a bale. Sometimes you can get mold to rise by just smacking the outside of a bale. I'm luck to have a mold allergy- if it makes me cough when I put my nose into it, it's mold. Sometimes moldy hay bales are heavier than normal or has no spring when you cut the twine.
I used to try to pick through hay to save what hay I could from a moldy bale. Then one day the light came on- why try to save $2.00's worth of hay and risk a $200 vet bill. Now I just compost what seem not right.

[Reed77]

There are no stupid question! moldy hay will be black, slimy, bad smelling, and also hot on the inside. google image it, it's important to know good hay from bad!

[Willowynd]

I had some hay get moldy when we had a hard rain that dampened it underneath the bales...and it was damp and looked like mold....grayish and stuck the hay together like matts.