Ok to wrap hay??

Hey guys...we wrapped our bale of hay in a heavyplastic sheeting that the place gave us. Is thisokay? Does it need ventilation holes, or some such?We wrapped it so it wouldn't just go EVERYWHERE (since it's sittingRIGHT next to our bed) when we started using it.

Actually, hayshouldn't be seal tight. It was brought up in another thread justrecently:

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=13525&forum_id=1

Something about hay that was mentioned was,"Do not store hay in sealed plastic bags,hay needs to breathe."

Click to expand...

When I first got Pepsi, my uncle let me fill agarbage full of just loose hay from the back his semi of some left overbales. I just used a garbage bag and left it open . You could takesome of the hay and fill a garbage bag or too and leave the grabagebags open.

It is (a) quite loosly wrapped, and (b) the top about quarter is open. Is that good enough?

You could pokea fewholes inthe wrapping too, just to make sure. It'll take you a whileto use all that hay, and the problem with wrapping it is that it's morelikely to get moldy.

Hay can go mouldy in plastic since it doesn'tlet moisture out. It needs good ventilation like lots of holes. Theother option is keeping it on a garage or shed on a shelf to ensuremice cannot get at it. I keep hay in a small shed raised off the groundby PVC pipe so mice cannot get in it. I have yet to have a problem withmice or mould since the hay since open in the shed.

Any kind of hay can mold if sealed in plastic.

In reading thru the thread about hay, someone mentioned that hay thathas been rained on has more of a tendency to mold. I havebaled many an acre of hay, oat hay and straw. It's not therain that causes the hay to mold. It's baling it too soonafter it has rained ... while there is still some moisture on thehay. If it has been rained on and has been re-raked and isdry, it has no more tendency to mold than hay that has never beenrained on.