It is a fairly straightforward system, and you have plenty of time before next haymaking season to work out how you are going to do it. First, supply more info. How big an area do you want to make hay from? What is the crop, eg mixed grasses, grass and clover, oats, lucerne? Do you have any equipment that can be used? Old McDonald.

I would say that it is doubtful that making hay by hand would allow you to pack it tight enough to seriously need to be worried about fire. There likely would be enough air around it anyway, but with your lower humidity a couple or 3 dry days laying in the pasture would probably allow most grasses to dry.

I am glad that you are wise enough to even consider fire. There was huge barn full of hay that just burned a few miles down the road, and the owners think someone must have come and burned down my barn, because that hay has been in the barn for almost 4 weeks. But the idiot working for them didn't let the hay dry even a day before he bailed it then to make it worse, he stacked it in the barn same day!!!!!! Probably leaving it in the field even a few days even bailed would have made a big difference. But they still think that someone burned down their barn. Even if it doesn't start burning, it will often get moldy when not allowed to dry well.

Thanks for your responses. :)

Old McDonald...I have about 4 acres available for haying. Plants include Brome & Timothy grasses, alfalfa and red clover. Available equipment includes a brush hog, mower, string trimmer and hand clipper. ...no official farm equipment........

I want to be sure that the hay is cured properly before storing. I have read about mold and fire being a problem. The article talked about hay being a certain moisture content, but I don't remember where I read it or what the content was. Just wondering what the hay should look\feel like before collecting it for storage.

Lesli8...TY for your kind words. :) SB

Four acres by hand is too much unless you have done it before on several occasions, have help - at least half a dozen others who have also done it before. As a youngster I was involved in about a 3 acre cut my father had bought and we used a tractor drawn reaper with the rest done by hand, with a horse drawn rake and the whole family was involved. A decent crop would give you about 100 bales to the acre (the small square ones) and that is too much for you to tackle.

You should begin to ask around for a reliable neighbour or contractor to make the hay for you, and learn as much as you can whilst they do the job. 4 acres does not warrant your own equipment.

Whilst I know from more than half a century of haymaking experience what is too soon to bale, I would never attempt to put it in words. Again try to get someone to show you when the time comes. Old McDonald.

I think a good rule of thumb when you have timothy is to cut it when the seed heads just start to come out. If your seed heads are big & long, it is past its prime. That would mean that the hay will be stemy, yellow & hard instead of tender, green & nutritious.

The later you cut your hay, after it is past its prime, the less nutrition it has.

If you cut early enough, you should be able to get a 2nd cutting, that although you will have less hay, the protein & nutrition level will be higher than the 1st cutting.

Sheep & horses, don't like hard stemed hay. They waste it. Cows will eat almost everything.

Regarding the fire thing. Fires start in hay bales because of the heat build up resulting from wet hay being compressed into the bales. Spontaneous combustion.

If you just loosely pile up your hay, after it has sat in the field for 2-3 days to dry, you should't have a problem.
I can't imagine you could pile it so it would be under the same amount of pressure as a hay bale has.

A newly seeded hay field, something like you described, should yield approx. 100, 40 lb. bales per acre. If the field is not new, and has been uncut or baled for a few years, without fertilizing, the yield will be less.

Depending on what animals you are feeding, horses eat about 1 bale a day, sheep 1/2 bale, & I don't know how much cows eat, but I would guess 1 bale a day, you can gauge how much hay you will need to last the winter.

Good Luck

8 paragraphs in the previous post. Agree with the first four.

5/6. It IS possible to have spontaneous combustion in loose (ie unbaled)hay. It can also go rotten or mouldy in an unbaled state.

7. No argument.

8. That is a lot of hay for one animal. They might waste that much, but they will not eat that much. Old McDonald.

Please read my post again...

I said, if the hay has dried in a field for 2-3 days, it shouldn't be a fire hazard.

Of course, if you put wet hay in the barn, it will mold.
Horses & sheep can get sick from moldy hay.

I have horses & sheep. My horses can eat a bale of hay in the winter and some do. I have some large horses.

If you live in a warmer climate, then maybe less will suffice. Not all of mine eat that much, some eat less but its a good idea to plan for more than less. Having to buy hay in the spring at inflated prices is not fun.

Sheep will waste hay, even if it is nice green tender hay. I never bought bedding because of the hay waste on the barn floor. Just let that be their bedding.

I like to plan on 1/2 a bale depending on their size.
Smaller sheep will eat less, larger more.
Marquisella

Lots of good advice here. TY

Actually, I live in "grass" country. I have never seen grass grow with such abandon! In our area, we get 3 cuttings\year. It starts growing in April and is relentless till October, when it is finally beaten down by a hard freeze.

I have read about cutting the grass just before the seed heads emerge, to retain nutrition. Very do-able. Good point.

We have 5 sheep and 4 llamas. While I haven't observed the sheep being picky about their hay, I have noticed that the llamas eat ALOT of straw in addition to hay. We use straw for bedding and they eat it up. I checked with the llocal llama llady about this quirk and she said, "It's a llama thing". :)

Thank you for allaying my fear about the fire hazard. I can certainly leave the hay drying in the field for 3 days. I was also worried about the mold thing, too, but the drying time addresses both issues.

Looks like I just need to implement a plan for cutting and collecting the hay, for next season. If I can't do the whole 4 acres at once, I will just have to pace myself to do what I can.

I am amazed at the prices people are paying. $3-$5??!\bale Choke!! We haven't had to pay quite that much...yet. SB

Marquisella, It seems like you have taken offence at my remarks. I read your post correctly the first time.

Two to three days is nowhere near enough drying to store 4 acres of cut hay even if it is all leaf and cut way before its time, plus perfect drying conditions. That quantity of hay, even loosely piled in a barn or open sided hayshed could still be a fire hazard. Stems on the bottom of the swathe, with turning once a day, will still have lost little moisture in that time in most temperate climates. Even here in Portugal with temperatures in the mid 30s I had to wait more than a week before the hay was "fit" this year, because the field was variable for moisture through a very dry winter and some was stemmy. Most haymakers will not be so fortunate with the weather, and 3 days is far too short a time in most situations. In fact, even in Australia I never had hay ready in that short a time.

Assuming, as we both appear to have agreed, that a bale of hay weighs 40lbs, you said a sheep will eat 20 pounds a day. Now you say they do not eat it all, but waste it and you use hay as bedding. If you do that then there is probably no limit to how much you could use - but you did say eat in your first post and not waste. I suggested waste in my post.

I have never offered a horse ad lib hay, but still doubt it would eat 40lbs., and have never had cattle eat that much. Half a bale a day is adequate, even with limited other feed. I suggest you invest in some different feeders and save yourself a lot of money. Maybe you know what you meant in your original post, but you were replying to a novice haymaker who had to take every word literally.

SB, Think again about attempting 4 acres on your own. With your present stock you will have a lot of surplus hay so you can probably do a deal with a contractor to take so many bales in exchange for the work - in which case he will maybe rip you off, but make a better job because HE will also have better hay, and you will have some spare. Old McDonald.

I appreciate you all sharing your ideas with me. I will take them under advisement.

OM, A point that you made about the air temperature is something I hadn't thought about. The drying times will always be different at various times of the year. I would be cutting in June(70's), August(90's) and October(50's). The average air temperatures would be quite varied, therefore I would need to know how the hay feels when, at a certain moisture percentage, it is ready.

Do you all know what the moisture percentage should be when the hay is ready for baling\collecting? How can you tell what if the hay is at the correct moisture percentage?
Can you tell by looking or feeling it?............SB

The standard rule of thumb on feeding sheep is 1-40lb bale of good quality hay per 4-5 sheep per day. This works for our flock of 70. Only the lambs get free choice hay all the time. Sheep will pick through hay and waste a lot of good nutrition ($$) if they are not rationed.

As to drying time. In our area (sw Ontario) it almost never takes more than 3 days to dry hay. If it is hot and windy and not humid, one can be enough. The hay should feel dry when you squeeze it, not just limp, but most of the leaves should still stay on the legumes when you pick it up. It is a bit of a learned art.

If you are hand harvesting, you shouldn't cut more in a day than you can harvest three days later. Don't try harvesting in early morning after dusk, because once the dew comes down, the hay will be as susceptible to moisture problems as rained on hay.

My, how this post brings back memories. As a "little girl", it was my mother and I who raked the fields after they were cut. The first memory was the neighbours helping sythe then my folks bought a mower. If the weather was good, here on the B.C. Coast, the first day the hay was cut, the second day, we raked the rows one way, the third day, the rows were raked tother way, the forth day we raked rows together to make wind rows. If luck was with us and there was no rain, maybe around dinner time of the forth day we loaded the trailer and hauled the hay to the barn. Each day raking took us five (5) hours. All the equipment my father had, he refused to buy a hay rake??? He never got "sunburned" or "blistered hands". Happy Haying

I hand hayed about 1 acre here several times using all hand equipment. An old scythe, leaf rake and pitch fork.

I would mow a day, rake into windrows the next day then turn the windrows the third day. Usually ready to store after that (haul on 4th day). Would take me about a week to do the entire patch. It is a LOT of work but it can be done. I then bought a walk behind sickle bar mower - works but it also it a problem as a heavy stand tends to ball up on the mower, wrap around the wheels, etc.

Harry K

Well, I am not one to argue with Old Mac if anyone knows his stuff, he does. But around here if it just too humid/wet/rainy one doesn't usually cut hay. When one does cut hay, it rarely takes more than 3 days drying time. Of course our summers are usually 100+ degrees, and they go till end of Sept. Perhaps there is a huge difference in the grasses used? In the spring it would take a while for clover to dry, because it holds so much water. Raking is really important and turning the hay, I am glad that Judith Ann and Harry both mentioned that. That speeds the drying time. You may talk to neighbors who cut hay or the local hay guy and ask how long it usually takes, they would be your best help.

Old Macdonald,

No, I didn't take offense, just thought you answered without reading my whole post.

I stand corrected on the sheep/hay ratio. After thinking about it, I realized I should have written, 1 bale per 4 sheep, at least with my large animals, Cotswalds, they did eat a lot more than the smaller breeds.

Everyone feeds differently, you have to determine, after a while, how much hay keeps your animals in prime condition.If your hay is good and high in quality, you will be able to get away with feeding less. If you have a bad year, you will have to feed more just to get the same amount of nutrition.

Sheep will not eat hay that is hard stemmed. They will pull it out of the feeder and it lays on the ground and gets trampled. Thus the bedding result. If your hay is nice & green & tender, they will eat it all.

But, I haven't had that many years where it was that good that it happened. So I just let the dropped hay, act as bedding.

I still say, and I know how much I am feeding my horses, they eat at least 1/2 bale a day to 1 bale depending on the horse. I wish they ate less, believe me!

And of course, who is going to cut 4 acres at one time?
I think we were all assuming it would be cut as time permitted to get it in, not all at once.

If you cut your hay and it is very humid, it will take longer to field dry, so its hard to predict what the weather will be like at any given time.

Here, in the North east, 2-3 days of non-humid, maybe a little breeze, will certainly dry the hay sufficiently, as long as it doesn't rain.

If the fire hazard was that high, we would all have had our barns burn down! I have had marginally dry bales put in due to pending inclement weather, held my breath, and the worse thing was I had several moldy bales. I keep a lookout for hot hay, if I suspect it was damp when baled. You can tell if things are heating up, by sticking you hand down into the hay. If it feels warm, too warm, stir it around to get the air to it.

I'm still suggesting that loosly piled field dry hay, and using common sense, that you should not have a problem with it. If you find it is still damp when you go to put it in the barn, don't pile high, spread it around. To avoid this problem, don't cut more than you have space for in case it doesn't dry enough.

Loosely piled hay, high high can you possible pile it, cannot compare to baled hay, stacked 10 bales high...and that is when your fire hazard is the most high.

ok, I hope you take all the info that is posted here, and
have a good time making your hay! You'll discover yourself how much to feed, after you get going. Good Luck.
Marquisella

Your varying drying time estimates may also be due to the fact that many hay mowers have rollers that crush the stems to speed drying. Obviously, you wouldn't have this with a scythe or sickle bar.

Spontaneous combustion is due to the head generated by mold and microbial decay, which is fastest in wet material. That is why a 3x3x3ft compost pile can get to 120degF. Compaction exacerbates the problem by putting more food in a unit volume as well as improving the insulation. Compaction is not the cause of the heat.