Sounds like haylage or silage.. Anaerobic bacteria convert sugars to something else (acids, or starch, maybe, as someone suggested) while aerobic bacteria consume whatever oxygen was left after it was compacted. When it's all done, the bacteria should either starve or suffocate and the whole pit (or bale, or bag, or whatever) should basically become sterile. Which, of course, is why it doesn't rot or break down any further..kimmyh said:
If it doesn't go just right, though, you just get moldy hay instead of silage. To my knowledge, most cases of listeriosis in goats can be tied back to the consumption of moldy feed or hay.
Listeriosis is something I've never had the misfortune of having to treat, nor do I wish to.. I have, however, seen a listeriosis survivor who was blind in one eye and -- as best we could figure -- was left without feeling in her face to the point that she literally dunked her muzzle up to the eyesockets in the water trough when she needed a drink. I think she really couldn't feel the water, so she'd just keep putting her muzzle in the trough, ever so slowly, until she could actually guage the horizontal plane of the waterline with her one good eye.
Obviously, that's not something I want to mess around with.
As such, I like for my hay to be nice and dry, personally.. Not leaf-shattering dry to the point of decreasing the quality, of course, but dry enough that I don't have to worry doing a 'pat down' to check each flake for white powder..
