Archive for countrytalkandtips.myfreeforum.org ........................ smallholding, crafts and country life ................................................... IN IRELAND .......................................................
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blowin
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uses for / disposal of ruined hay ?Half of a rapidly deteriorating haystack has been left on my field and I need to get rid asap .
It is sheeted but water has been getting in to it for weeks now. Some is soaked , the rest is just slightly damp . I could use it as bedding for pigs and chickens but have been warned not to , due to the possibility of fungal spores causing respiratory problems . Is this a real risk or more of a recommened precaution ?
Lambs and pigs can get at it where it is now . Is there any significant risk associated with that while it is in the open ?
Many thanks
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wayland
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This is a main cause of "Farmers Lung" so would not do you much good let alone your stock Blowin  Can you pull it all out and spread it over your field a bit thin? Perhaps you could think about composting it in a corner somewhere. If you could move it so getting air into it, and add some activator it would decompose quite quickly. Good luck anyway. Its a shame to loose good hay this way.
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Jack
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Gidday
Just stick it on the garden and keep it waters till it rots down like proper.
Wish I could get at it.
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wayoutwest
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mulch everything in sight - if it's growing, mulch it. oh, unless of course you are having the same monsoon that's hit us the past few days, and then do nothing for another few days!
(agree, avoid any animal contact, and get a mask for yourself, or at least tie a thick thing around your nose and mouth.)
if you add it to compost, then pee on it too to activate it a bit, and do it in layers - layer of muck, layer of the hay, layer of somehting else, quick pee...
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wayoutwest
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also, your local council might take it for composting, if you;re desperate to be rid of it.
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wayland
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We used to use old hay to reseed areas that have been poached by stock. Like at gates etc. We would just cut the strings and let the stock walk over it. Worked a treat. So to use it as a mulch would you not just be spreading grass seed around your beds? Just a thought.
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wayoutwest
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that's probably very true, actually. I used it when the chucks were (temporarily) on hay, because that's what we do with the straw. I guess we mulch on top of mulches so much...
OK, so take his advice not mine!! 
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keithrawlins
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i use it to put a path around my raised beds to stop me walking in mud all day
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