Baled hay heating up

3 days ago I baled some oat hay that was not quite dry enough. I have never done this before, usually it gets too dry because I don't get to it soon enough. We are buying hay for $20 per bale at the other ranch 200 miles away so I wanted to bring some here. The little 2 wire bales weigh about 120 lbs each and I had the tension backed off all the way.
This morning I see that the bales are getting warm inside. It is not steaming but getting warm. There are only 6 bales. I am wondering if I should open the bales and spread it out a bit. I don't want it to spoil or catch fire. We will be feeding it out in a week or 10 days. The stock seems to like it warm like that.

well you answer your own question, open it up and dry it out before it catches fire or gets moldy,before feeding it to stock that can get sick and who knows what.

Are you sure it's gettin hot or are you just feelin' the heat from yesterday's sun? They do take on the heat of the day, ya know.

If it's really heating', you can smell it.

Allan

I would agree, now these are regular small squares, 120 lbs? That sure seems heavy. I've had similar problems with 2nd cut and fields with moisture, springs etc.

I've had bales heat up, were heavy, and subsequently molded up, absolutely never put those in a barn or anywhere a fire is concern.

Now being hypocritical, I have spread out tarps in the barn and cut them open, spread them out to dry, fed as soon as possible.

Boy I'll tell you windrows feel dry, raked again if left over night and could not be baled for, too late, repairs or something, all in dry weather, a tad cool maybe but still always find those darned bales that are borderline. Some fields just have too much moisture in the soil it seems. We always tedded the hay too. Even set the tension loose, well as much as you can stand for handling, which does seem to help vs tight compact dense bales, especially when its borderline, often times it went my way instead of mold with loose bales.

One benefit for me was I usually handled most if not all hay be it bought or I baled, so I could sort them, and separate any questionable ones, absolutely do not want those in my barn ever. It's amazing how they do warm, and get hot, when others may not, but still mold later on, fine line sometimes, makes it hard to deal with if you have horses. Can't tell you how many times I've sorted, made separate stacks, opened and aired them out, always 2nd cut too, sometimes in great haying weather, tedded, raked, checked multiple windrows, I've lost plenty of bales too, always liked doing 2nd cut, so green, fresh sweet smelling, and you know its high in nutrients, protein, enjoy feeding it because they don't leave any of it behind when fed.

What kind of hay is it and whay are you feeding it to? Cow hay, I wouldn't get too worried about. If I was feeding to horses I'd say you are already too late and shouldn't take the chance. I'm pretty particular about horse hay. Especially any I sell to customers. Any that is questionable I just feed to the cows.

Thanks for all the reply's. It is oat hay, It was really tall so it is kind of coarse. The cows lick it all up. The horses do not clean it all up, they are used to alfalfa. If I feed it all to the cows it will save a few bucks. There are still a few bales in the field down at the coast, they might go bad. The baling was going really well so I was going to bale it all up but the press ran out of gas. Now I am glad I didn't. It will probably cure in the windrow in a week or so.

I have a hard time putting up hay, I commute between 2 ranches. Usually I cut and rake 5 days later. It is a cool coastal climate. I raked this 2 days later. If I wait until I get back it ends up being 7 days, too long, it gets too dry. I think I will go down and pop open those few bales and spread it out a bit. I noticed this morning the horses seemed to go after it better, I think a little heat puts a good cure on it.

Thanks,

Tom

Oat hay, yes that explains why so hard to dry, that is a tough one, good stuff, high protein. We always wait 2 weeks before feeding any fresh hay, something to do with curing or what have you, that and any sudden diet change with these finicky animals that have delicate digestive systems, I do not know what the official terminology is, but you can tell the fresh green cuts like 2nd and similar seem to go from a real rich forage/almost sileage odor before it dries down further when in the barn, odor is much more mellow afterword, that must be what it is, we never deviate from this, though a handful or partial pad seems to be ok, I don't toss any real amount in.