# How long does haylage last once opened?



## maxusa (3 April 2008)

Hi,

Just moved to a new yard where is totally DIY and we buy in our own haylage.  We opened a huge bale of haylage last Saturday and it is still nearly 2/3 full, and that is with 3 horses!  At £25 bale do not want to throw away unused haylage, but do not know how long you can use it for before it goes bad??

Does anyone know how long I should use before I throw it out and get new bale?

Thanks


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## mrussell (3 April 2008)

I also use big bale haylage and mine last up to a 8 days in the winter and 6 days in the summer before it starts to go off.

As long as its not warm or sticky it should be ok.  It goes a bit smelly after a week and it will take you a few bales to get confident with it.  The horses will soon turn up thier beaks if its going off.

Ive got 6 horses using 1 bale but I struggle to use it all up.  It wont burn either so is there anyone else you could offer it to?  My neighbour has 2 horses and pays me £7.50 a bale to take 2 nets a day.


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## samp (3 April 2008)

God we must be feeding ours too much we get through 1 bale at £28 a week between 2 stabled full time. In the summer it ends uo being thrown out as we can't get through it as quick and it starts to ferment


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## vennessa (3 April 2008)

You do need to be careful as they can get Salmonella from gone off Haylage.


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## amandathepanda (3 April 2008)

During winter I will keep a bale for up to 6 days but during summer I don't like to keep it longer than 4-5 days as it starts to ferment and mouldy.  I've got 9 horses in at night and out during the day at the moment - I find a big bale of haylage will last me about 4-5 days for this lot.  Remember they don't need so much haylage as hay so if you can come to an arrangement with other local horsey people it might save you some money and wasting haylage!


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## miller (3 April 2008)

we have high fibre haylage that is very dry. Buy a big bale (2 bales wrapped on top of each other) and open just enough to get top one out first then open the bottom when ready - lasts 2 weeks between 2 horses and has never gone off. (very dry in first place)

We checked with vets and they said it was fine as long as not stinky!


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## henryhorn (3 April 2008)

It will last a week in the winter but much less in the summer when the heat starts it fermenting. 
Buy square bales and wrap them up again in bin liners, that way they last longer.
Our horses go through at least 250 huge round bales every winter, and towards the spring stop eating so much, last year a bale stayed uneaten in the feeder all summer, and just dried out into hay.
The bigger danger is when it's baled, they should cut the crop slightly higher off the ground than hay to avoid contamination from the soil which causes botulism and is fatal. 
Sadly you can't tell if it's got it in either, but don't use any that has got mould or blue on the outside, the smell seems to be as good a guide as anything, if it smells nice it's fine, if it smells like sick it will go off very quickly..


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## Tanta (3 April 2008)

We have haylage for our 3 horses - get through a bale in about 10 days and it keeps fine. It is baled fairly dry - and we find that the best way to deal with it is to open the bale and unwrap it totally, then keep it under cover (ours is in a spare stable, on pallets to let it breathe).  If it is baled a bit wet, we spread it out a bit. That way, we dont seme to get any mould on it and no wastage.


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## maxusa (4 April 2008)

Hi,

Just to say thank you to all who responded, don'tknow where I would be without this Forum.

Thanks again


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## zelli (6 April 2008)

Someone said they need less haylage than hay, that is wrong, if they are going to achieve the same level of nutients and fibre, they need more due to the water content in haylage


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