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Discussion on Hay compacted
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Member:
sonoita
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 15, 2008 - 10:23 am:
Has anyone used the hay that is compacted into smaller bales? I am thinking of trying this because of the shortage of room I have.
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Member:
zarr
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 15, 2008 - 8:36 pm:
I have not but friend did. She liked them very much except stand back when you cut strings! They really expand!  Cindy
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Member:
juliem
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 15, 2008 - 9:01 pm:
I use the alfalfa compact bales, like you for the space issue. In the three years I've used them, I haven't found any mold, but they do seem to have a lot of fine particles. I think they use the huge square bales and cut them with some type of giant chain saw! They have the same variables as alfalfa hay in my experience. The fist cutting is stemmy, the second is my favorite. They actually are no different than any baled hay other than being so tightly compacted. You would still feed by weight.
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Member:
ekaufman
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 16, 2008 - 10:01 am:
They convert large bales to small using a bale converter (google Steffen Systems bale converter to see a video). The same machine will also shrink wrap the whole load to a pallet for shipping. Guess that could cause mold problems.
I think the converters run around $300K with bells and whistles, which means the compressed bales are no bargain (since the producer is trying to re-coup this on top of everything else). Apparently they were developed to help US hay producers ship hay to Japanese dairies.
The machines generate strong opinions around here-- some controversy about waste and the odds of hay loss (mold, dust) because of the angle of cut with the converter blades. I sat through a discussion about this, but bleeped the details, apparently!
But anyone who's using one is serious about hay production. The Japanese market is pretty picky about hay.
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Member:
ekaufman
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 16, 2008 - 12:46 pm:
oops. Google doesn't find it. Here's the link:
https://www.steffensystems.com/Products/Conversion_Systems/index.htm
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Member:
freshman
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Posted on Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 - 4:52 am:
No experience using compressed hay, but I loved the compressed straw bales when I used it and could get it in this form. The instantaneous *poof* of expanding straw surprised me every single time I opened a bale!
Never noticed a mold or other quality problem, and these bales were shrink-wrapped to pallets during transit. Not sure if hay would mold more easily, but I'd guess that it would depend on the moisture content. I never let the straw sit around with the plastic on it.
They did cost more than reg bales from other places, but were really a good deal considering that the "small bale" was actually a "large bale" that took up so much less space. So I got more straw volume for my dollar in the end, considering that I could usually get a better price by buying more bales at a time and having it delivered less often.
But compressed or not, I hate mucking straw! So I don't. All mine live out now, and when one does have be stalled, I spoil myself with bagged shavings. And then I kick them out ASAP!
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