Safe Hay Storage Tips

You just bought a horse and you will need to get hay and storage for it. So you find some great hay at a good price and buy it now where are you going to store it for safety and long term so don't get mold, mildew, rodents, and the weather makes it go bad!

Steps for Inside Shed Storage:

1. Most important thing is to keep your hay dry, so make the shed you keep it in leak resistant so no water can get your hay wet.

2. Always have a good drainage system for condensation cause humidity cause sweet in tightly sealed buildings. Always use tarps to protect your hay inside the shed so it will keep it dry just in case.

3. Rodents contaminate your hay so always keep your eyes peeled for rodents like mice or rats. Keeping a cat around your shed will keep mice away.

4. When storing your hay make sure to put it on pallets.. the wooden kind, you can often get these for free if you ask around, lots of business have them to give away like the feed store or lumber store.

5. You should stack square bales on edge with narrow gaps between rows. Be sure to check for get the heat out of bales by driving a metal rod through the center. You should always look for the highest air flow when stacking your hay.

6. Always use up your older hay first. Always stack new hay away from old hay so you know where the old hay is to use it.

7. Do not Break open bales keeping them in their original bale make for less exposure of air and less flake off. You will loose the quality of your hay when air is exposed to the inside of a bale.

Best Conditions for outside storage:

8. You will need pallets if storing outside also to lift the hay off the ground so it won't rot and give ventilation to your hay for less sweating. Be aware of seasonal wet spots!

9. Always use tarps when keepin hay outside to wrap around it to keep rain off and protect it from the sun. You should stake you bales in a pyramid for the water to run off and not sit on top of the stack.

10. Sun can cause alot of the nutrients in the hay to be lost if it keeps drying it so Hay always need to be covered.

Hay needs to be stored properly for maximum safety, nutrition and usability. But no matter how carefully it's stored, always check each bale for mold or foreign objects. Never feed a horse hay that looks or smells moldy or you horse may get sick and die!