# Is wrapped meadow hay..hay or haylage?



## Umbongo (19 February 2010)

Hi just wondering as I need to take it into account for some of the horses I am using in my studies.

At work we use big round bales of what my boss calls meadow hay.
It does not smell as strong as haylage and it is not as moist, however it is a lot softer and sweeter smelling than normal hay.

The round bales are all wrapped like haylage would be. My boss doesn't really know and Google doesn't tell me either! Can I class it as hay or haylage, I guess if it is meadow "hay" it would not be ensiled like haylage would.

Does anyone else have these and know the answer? I'm assuming its hay, that is wrapped purely for the purpose of keeping it dry and stop animals peeing on it 
	
	
		
		
	


	





Thanks!


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## trick123 (19 February 2010)

If it is wrapped it is either haylage or silage. Haylage or silage can be made from any type of grass depending on the quality you want. If you are feeding wrapped silage to dairy cows you would want the highest quality grass, this would not be suitable for horses. The process of haylage and silage making includes wrapping it in plastic [sometimes silage is made loose and in bulk and put into a pit which is then covered in plastic] The covering with plastic helps as i said with the process. Haylage is 'made' much quicker than hay, that is it is cut, baled and wrapped whilst there is still some moisture within the stalk, whilst hay has to be properly dry before it is baled. If the grass still has moisture in it it will heat up which is necessary when it is wrapped but can cause hay stacks to ignite. Is this any help?


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## miller (19 February 2010)

We have a very dry high fibre haylage that is to ann intents and purposes hay - haylage is created by the fermentation within the wrap - if the grass is dried as long as you would to make hay and then wrapped you get hardly any fermentation


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## Umbongo (19 February 2010)

Thanks Miller.
Macidoodle, Thanks, I know how halyage/silage is made etc (I do nutrition at uni 
	
	
		
		
	


	




). What I was wondering is do any people have hay that is dried and baled first like normal hay...but is then wrapped to prevent any contamination from liquids or dust etc. 

Just this wrapped hay is DEFINITELY not your typical haylage. It looks/feels/smells nothing like haylage, but equally is a lot softer than a typical bale of hay. Thanks, I am assuming it has been dried and baled like hay but then wrapped just before it was sold but so as none/very little fermentation takes place so it is still classed as hay?....

Or as Miller said is maybe just a very dry haylage


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## Dolcé (19 February 2010)

It could be hay, we have had it in the past when it has been wrapped, we have also had 'haylage' that has been down a day or so longer than usual and is more like hay than usual haylage.

Meadow hay tends to be very fine and sweet smelling and also greener and softer than seed hay, our YO makes it to sell in pet shops and the seedy stuff is sold on rather than bagged because it doesn't look as nice in the bag.  I would go by whether it is dry or not rather than the feel/look of it, after all, haylage is just hay that has been wrapped in a more moist state before it has dried out fully.


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## Noodlebug (15 August 2010)

Did it make your horse cough?? We have just had our new haylage delivered and it is very similar to hay


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## lizness (15 August 2010)

If it was fully dry when wrapped suspect hay, wrapped to store outside


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## Mike007 (15 August 2010)

If I were baling a 20 acre field for haylage, it would take a good fiew hours,and in hot weather the grass is drying all the time . By the time I bale the last few,they can be so dry that they are in fact hay. Also ,sometimes hay is wrapped deliberately if the owner lacks barn storage or transport is a problem. Incidentaly Hay stacks DO NOT spontaneously ignite. This is an urban/rural myth!


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## kerilli (15 August 2010)

why not send it off for analysis, if you're not sure?
Baileys used to do this for me (f.o.c.) so i could be sure to use the correct amounts of the Baileys feeds I was using.
i have heard this "dry wrapped hay" called Dry-lage, by someone or other. I think of it as being very dry haylage, and hopefully not as acidic. (i'm not a big fan of haylage.)


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## Noodlebug (15 August 2010)

Never heard of Dry-lage but supplier does do wrapped hay and this could be a bale of that. Not sure if feeding wrapped hay works for horse with allergy to pollen and dust.


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## touchstone (15 August 2010)

Mike007 said:



			Incidentaly Hay stacks DO NOT spontaneously ignite. This is an urban/rural myth!
		
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Not according to this:- http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/dairy/facts/hayfires.htm

I've witnessed a fire that the fire brigade said was caused by hay spontaneously combusting, luckily not too much damage though as caught early


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## hobo (15 August 2010)

agree with most what Mike007 said apart from hay not self combusting we,ve been there and done it!! we over filled barn with round bales stacked the wrong way as well, and luckly a builder doing some work could smell something . We called firebrigade and they hosed them down as husband got them out with tractor it was the air though that made them burst into flames. we did save the barn.


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## amandap (15 August 2010)

I'd say if it's wrapped it's haylage. He's a link to the water content differences in hay, silage and haylage.
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/dairy/as1252w.htm


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## Mike007 (15 August 2010)

touchstone said:



			Not according to this:- http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/dairy/facts/hayfires.htm

I've witnessed a fire that the fire brigade said was caused by hay spontaneously combusting, luckily not too much damage though as caught early 

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Nope ,I stand by what I said. There has to be an ignition source so it is not spontaneous combustion.


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## BubbleDog (15 August 2010)

I think you'll find the reason why it doesn't look like most haylages is because it is made out of meadow grass whereas most haylages are made from rye, or sometimes timothy but you can make haylage out of anything, even alfalfa.


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## touchstone (15 August 2010)

Mike007 said:



			Nope ,I stand by what I said. There has to be an ignition source so it is not spontaneous combustion.
		
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But according to the sciency stuff - it is the gases from the heating hay that ignite on exposure to the air, see as a woman I have to have the last word!  

"A hay crop that is placed too wet into a mow will heat rapidly. If the mow is so large that heat loss is restricted, the internal temperature will rise. As the temperature rises above 130°F (55°C), a chemical reaction occurs and may sustain itself. This reaction does not require oxygen, but the flammable gases produced are at a temperature above their ignition point. These gases will ignite when they come in contact with the air."


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## honetpot (15 August 2010)

The haylage this year is very dry as it was so hot when they baled. I have had it very dry previously, the finer grasses in meadow hay do dry out quicker than fat rye grass but they eat just the same and you get more in the bale if your buying by weight as your not paying for water.


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## mytwofriends (15 August 2010)

Thanks for your post - it all makes very interesting reading!  We learn something every day eh?


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## Mike007 (15 August 2010)

touchstone said:



			But according to the sciency stuff - it is the gases from the heating hay that ignite on exposure to the air, see as a woman I have to have the last word!  

"A hay crop that is placed too wet into a mow will heat rapidly. If the mow is so large that heat loss is restricted, the internal temperature will rise. As the temperature rises above 130°F (55°C), a chemical reaction occurs and may sustain itself. This reaction does not require oxygen, but the flammable gases produced are at a temperature above their ignition point. These gases will ignite when they come in contact with the air."
		
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    Nope ,I really dont believe it , it still needs an ignition source. The trouble is that people dont realise how little it takes. A static discharge from the tip of a bale spike, or simply removing a tarpaulin. But spontaneous ,it aint.


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## Noodlebug (16 August 2010)

The haylage is made up of rye and meadow grasses and I think your right that it has just dried so much before being wrapped it is hay. 
Does anyone know how this would affect his allergy to pollen ??


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