Hay was moldy! Should I ask for my money back?

[savingdogs]

I regularly frequent a particular place for our hay, they were recommended to us and are very friendly, normally good quality, competitive prices (for here) and on my way home from work.
HOWEVER the last bale had a big black moldy spot going through the middle of the bale.

I only buy one big bale at a time, but this bale was 13.00 and I had to throw much of it away, at least five bucks worth. It also scared me to death because we are new to goats and my 13-year-old had been feeding them. Luckily he showed good sense and did not feed them the moldy stuff without being instructed about it.

What is the hay etiquette? Should I just buy elsewhere? Should I ask for a refund? Take back the moldy stuff? I am allergic to mold so don't really want to handle it again, especially for just five dollars. Since I am a regular albiet small customer, should they just believe me? I'm inclined to just mention it next time I'm there and see what they do.

 

[cmjust0]

Hay gets moldy sometimes...just a fact of life on the farm. I've bought hay before where the seller tells me the hay wasn't cured as much as they'd like to have allowed for, and been asked to let them know if any was moldy so they could replace it..

I wouldn't consider it an offensive thing to tell the seller.. It's just kind of a fact of life for people who cut and bale hay...you're going to get a moldy bale from time to time.

I think I'd probably just kinda mention to them that the last bale I got was moldy.. If they take pride in their product and appreciate even their smallest customers, they should replace it for you.. If they're indifferent or kinda jerky about it...I'd personally find someone who takes more pride in their product and appreciates me more, and buy my hay from them.

That's just me, though.


Funny aside here...ignore at will... ...I split a bale once and found that about half of it was full of powdery white mold. I retied it and set it aside in the loft and split another bale to feed, intending to return the moldy portion to the seller at some point.. Well..it was like $2 worth of hay, so I pretty much just forgot about it and it sat up in the loft forever.

Then one day, I realized there were yellowjackets in the loft.. Like, a LOT of yellowjackets..

Blasted little evil hornets had built their next INSIDE the moldy half-bale of hay. Nothing we could really do about it except be very, very careful around the moldy-half-bale-nest and try not to piss anything off too bad. Believe it or not, we put up with that ALL SUMMER LONG.

Winter killed them out, of course.. I took the bale out and split it open again, just to look...it was pretty neat, actually. You could sorta investigate the whole nest, flake by flake.

Nobody got stung, either.

 

[savingdogs]

That is an interesting story! Makes me want to toss what I set aside into the compost pile immediately! I'm allergic to bees. I would have thought bees need something more solid than a bale.

I do think they are the type of suppliers who care about their customers, thanks for the advice.

 

[glenolam]

We bought a large round bale for our cows from the same guy we've been going to for a few years now. It was covered in plastic, so supposedly "good", however once the plastic was off it smelled like crap....literally crap. My husband took a chainsaw and cut a peice out, brought it to the farmer just so he was aware. My husband wasn't rude, didn't ask for our money back, just a heads up (our cows had started eating the bale and actaully seemed to like it!) and the farmer ended up giving us a bale for free - not even taking back the nasty one.

I agree with cmjust0 - giving just a heads up or a phone call would probably be sufficient. Their response will tell you how they really feel!

 

[RockyToggRanch]

My hay supplier delivers and puts the hay up in the mow. He knows I'm very picky about what my horses and goats get and he tries to get me the best hay. I've found a moldy bale here and there once or twice. I'm sure if there was an issue he would want to know. I don't bother him with the occasional bad bale....I figure for $3.00 a bale delivered, if I get 3 or 4 a yr out of 1000 I can deal with it

Moldy hay can get hot and actually ignite, so I would never leave it in the barn.

 

[lupinfarm]

We have a whole loft full of 50+ year old hay -_- not cool! We started pulling it out last year but its a real pain in the rear-end to get 1500 sq. ft. of moldy hay out of a loft where the floorboards are in "rough" shape. Good thing we're planning on pulling down the big barn anyway.

I got a moldy bale, just one... it was the heaviest one out of the 25 I bought LOL I wonder why... haha, oh well I just threw it out when I found it and started on a new bale and they've been awesome since then. That was the goat hay of course. With our roundbales, the closer you get to spring obviously the higher risk there is to be mold in them. Occasionally when we buy rounds for the pony in the winter closer to spring there is a spot of mold where the bale has been sitting. Since our roundbale supplier keepers his hay in a lean-to it is a teensy bit exposed to the elements, but not much.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

Yes, when I was loading hay myself from our last guy, I would toss aside the heavy ones. They were almost always moldy. I also smell every bail when I open it. I'm weird like that :/

 

[ThornyRidge]

Rocky your not weird.. I do the same thing.. I smell every single bale of hay I open before I feed... Moldy hay is just a fact of life... the other thing to be aware of for large scale hay producers is that if hay does not cure as long they sometimes salt it when they put it up in barns for storage... as they stack the layers of hay cut side up they throw salt on it.. helps draw out excess moisture and prevent mold.. those that don't do this practice may have occasional mold.. even though hay is dried and stored it still cures and goes through a curing process if when you bring it and store in your facility. one thing I had issue with is I store usually around 100 bales in the loft of my barn and cover them with tarp to keep dust off.. well moisture in barn from animals breathing during winter mixed with extreme warm up in spring meant some bales became molded with the black dust/powder type mold.. anyway my supplier exchanges any bales I have issue with.. it is good to get in with someone.. I have 4 different suppliers (each with a different mix) of hay I use each year and have good working relationships with all of them!!!

 

[savingdogs]

I'm so glad I have BYH to refer to. We are new to livestock and I feel so much more confident hearing what all of you have to say before I return for my one measley bale next week.

However, I'm really really broke so the cost of a bale of hay lately has been more challenging than it should be. I know the right attitude to take now. Our hay barn people are soooooooo nice, if mold is a fact of life then I will continue to give them my business. I'll just mention it.

You guys are awesome and I love learning about all this.

 

[savingdogs]

They told me they guarantee each bale, but I should have brought it back! The next one was great. I'm okay with it, they are very nice and open real late.