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Milkweed in hay

8K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  Yogiwick 
#1 ·
Long story short this has been a rough hay season. I recently bought from a supplier, who was honest about having a milkweed problem in one corner of one of his fields. He had sprayed it, and didn't think there should be a problem anymore. I examined the hay, and it was beautiful, but of course the first bale I threw out had milkweed in it. Not much - the horses didn't appear to have eaten it. So, I am trying to be hopeful that it was just an isolated incident. I am going to keep a close eye on the next few bales I throw and if I find more I will then contact the seller. Has anyone else had milkweed in their hay and fed it? I've talked to a few people and I get varied opinions. Mostly just that the horses will pick around it, and not to worry too much. So, I'm looking for opinions from outsiders.
 
#3 ·
We find it in our hay occasionally, its a very difficult weed to kill in a hay field with regular sprays and either has to be spot sprayed or hand pulled so if a farmer gets a bad year because seeds have blown over from some place they have a battle to then get it under control
I've not found horse to do anything but leave it uneaten, if I see stalks I pull them out but its easy to miss them.
 
#4 ·
I guess I'm just surprised that people are so nonchalant about it, being that it is poisonous. It's my own fault for reading the internet. I guess it's like diagnosing yourself on web M.D. A lot of articles recommend not feeding hay contaminated with milkweed, because there could be fatal consequences. But then you talk to people and, just as you said, it's common to find in the hay. I don't think I've ever had hay with milkweed in it before, but then again I never thought about it before it was brought to my attention. You learn something new everyday.
 
#5 ·
I worry a lot more about ragwort in hay because horses will eat that when its dried out.
I will say that I did worry about the milkweed when I first found it in some hay we'd bought, as a toxic plant it was new to me because I'd not ever seen it in the UK so I asked around just like you are doing now and didn't find anyone who'd had a horse suffer from it being in their hay because they didn't eat it
I would rather not have weeds in my hay at all but it seems to be more normal here than I'm used to so I've had to learn to live with it
I would think the problem would be a major one if there was little else to eat but the milkweed so the horse was hungry enough to not care what it tasted like
I have photos of poisonous plants on the pin board in my feed room so you aren't the only person that worries!!!
 
#6 ·
Another vote for don't worry too much about it. Many undesirable plants that end up mixed in with hay will be picked around and left laying. That said, if I got a bale with a significant amount of inedible plants in there, I would take it back to the supplier and ask for a replacement bale or a refund for that bale.


The only horses I've ever seen that would eat a strange weed when they had access to hay were horses that were starving or nearly so.
 
#7 ·
Okay, I am starting to feel a little better about it. Thanks all for your input. The bales themselves are beautiful, and the horses are by no means starving, and do seem to leave the milkweed alone. I do usually feed hay with hay nets in the winter, but I don't think I'll be doing that with these bales. I'll probably just use these in the fall and throw them on the ground to make it easier for them to pick through.
 
#9 ·
When we fill our hay cart, part of the process is checking the hay for foreign materials like weeds and keeping a close eye out for blister beetles. We normally feed off of big round bales, but I've found weeds in small bales too. In drought conditions or excess moisture conditions, weeds seem to be more prevalent, so we go through the hay with a fine toothed comb. Normally a well fed horse won't touch anything that's poisonous, but we're not willing to take that risk if we can prevent it.
 
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