dried mud in haylage

[krustykittens]

Hi everyone, I opened a large round bale and have been feedingmit for a couple of days. Tonight I found quite a lot of dried lumps of soil in the core. The soil is dry, the haylage smells fine, but I am terrified of botulism! I have tossed the core, should I toss what is left as well? Thank you!

Honestly, some of the things our lot eat, dried mud would be the least of my worries.

If it smells ok it wouldn’t bother me at all. The horses won’t eat it if it’s not right so let them decide.

I’m fairly sure it won’t have any effect on horses but do not feed it to sheep.

You are all right. I stayed up until 4am reading every article that I could find on botulism, only to stagger out in the morning and inspect the haylage and find that it is fine! There was some dirt and stones caught up in the core and the haylage was discoloured and smelly around that, but the rest of the bale is fine. I should have just gone to bed! I worked myself up into a state of hysteria, terrified I would find them all drooling and staggering in the morning! I've owned horses for 30 years and I am still terrified I am going to feed them something I shouldn't.