Hay storage - need advice/help

[nsanywhere]

Well......after pulling out a bunch of moldy nasty hay, I think it's time I figure out how to store hay properly!

I don't have a barn, just a run in house for the sheep and small sheds around the property that used to be used to raise chickens. Most have been repurposed by the family for other stuff (one coop from the 1940s is now a studio apartment, complete with bathroom and kitchenette!)

Anyway, the one I have available is small, ~3'x5', maybe 6 ' high. It has a concrete floor, little door and window flap. It's a wood building, but there lined inside with nasty old plaster boards that I think need to go. Maybe put in fresh plywood? I don't keep it closed up, but I was storing hay on its end up sitting up off the ground on old pipe things. Pretty sure that is where the moisture gathers so back to basics for me!

Can someone give me a crash course on how to store hay without a barn? Stacked tightly on the concrete floor? Put down something else for a floor? Any info would be appreciated. I just hate wasting hay.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

The key to storing hay is ventilation. I'd try to find some pallets to put on the concrete floor. Stack the bottom row of hay on it's side, cut side up. Then stack the bales criss cross on top of those, so the stack holds together tightly. It's hard to explain. You need to have a way to get air in the building though, so leave the window or door open as long as rain can't get in. Sometimes you're just going to get a little bit of musty hay on the bottom row, it just happens. It really depends a lot on your area....it's humid in our area and we have a hard time fighting it sometimes.

Lots of people store hay on pallets outside covered with several tarps...it can work if you're out of other options.

 

[patandchickens]

It sounds like the building needs better ventilation, like, a lot more.

Do not stack the hay against the walls... leave at least 4" and preferably more like a foot of clearance for air circulation.

Put down a tarp, and then A COUPLE LAYERS of pallets to put the hay on.

Make sure that if the low side(s) of the roof are over walls that have vents/windows/openings, there should be gutters in place to prevent large amoutns of roof runoff from blowing in onto the hay. (Incidental 'blown rain' thru a basically-pretty-sheltered opening, with the building being well ventilated, is not so terrible).

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Beekissed]

You could always build a semi-temporary structure out of cattle panels and tarping that can double as hay storage and extra sheep shelter. My sheep journal has pics of a small sheep shelter that would make a wonderful hay storage with a few extra tarps or even if built a little larger. Or, you could store your hay in your three sided shelter like I did and let the sheep use the sheep shelter for lounging.

This was constructed using three cattle panels and some T posts, tarps and cargo netting....only held together with zip ties. It withstood the most severe winds we have ever had hear this winter and didn't even move.

Then I used my three sided shed for hay and self-feeding station with the use of another cattle panel held tight against the hay stack....best idea I've ever utilized! No more moving hay bales, no more waste, no more slopping through sheep mess to feed.