How to Safely Store Hay While Maximizing Storage Space
There’s nothing more satisfying than a barn full of fresh hay, but storing hay comes with several challenges and risks. These hay storage tips can not only help you maximize what you can fit in your barn, but can also make storing hay safer and prevent hay waste.
Carefully Consider Your Hay Storage Location
Hay is highly flammable, and if hay has too much moisture when it’s baled, it’s possible that hay can heat up and combust while in your barn. In short? Hay is a significant fire risk, and it’s best to store your hay away from your barn, if possible.
Whether you’re renovating your barn or are thinking of redoing your hay storage, try to find a way to store hay in a separate building from your barn. While building a separate barn or shelter can be initially expensive, that’s an important investment in your horses’ safety and barn fire prevention.
It’s also possible to store hay outdoors without a shelter. The Horse outlines a detailed plan on how to stack hay outdoors on pallets and protect it with tarps.
Prepare Your Hay Storage Area
Before you receive a hay delivery, take time to prepare your hay storage area so that it’s set up right. You’ll need to put down pallets to keep the hay up and off the ground. Laying tarps underneath the pallets can also act as a moisture barrier to keep the hay from getting wet.
Position the pallets so that the hay won’t be touching any surrounding walls, where condensation can collect. If your building or hay barn’s metal ceiling condenses, you can attach plastic sheeting to the ceiling to catch condensation.
Check Your Horse Hay Before Unloading
Before you unload your hay, take a few minutes to check it over. Break open a few bales and feel the interior. Is it damp or unusually hot to the touch? If so, the hay may have been baled when it was too wet, and it could be a fire risk if you bring it into your barn. Hay that was baled damp will also mold, so you could risk horse health issues like colic or heaves if you feed it.
You can also check the hay’s internal temperature with a thermometer. It’s a good idea to check hay temperature before unloading, as well as to periodically check it while it’s in storage. You can buy a commercial thermometer probe designed for testing hay. To check temperatures, insert the probe into the center of a bale (without breaking the bale open) and leave it in place for 10 to 15 minutes. Then, take your temperature reading.
The University of Minnesota Extension provides the following guidelines on the internal temperature of hay bales and fire potential:
- Less than 130 degrees: Least risk of fire
- 130 – 140 degrees: Little risk of fire; keep checking the hay
- 150 degrees: Moderate risk of fire; check the hay often
- 175 – 190 degrees: Fire is imminent; contact the fire department
- Over 190 degrees: Use extreme caution; bales may combust when moved
Stack Hay for Ventilation
When you stack hay in large piles, you limit ventilation and can contribute to higher temperatures and even heat damage and mold. To maximize ventilation, stack the bottom load of hay with the cut ends up and the twine facing to the side. Place the second layer of hay with the cut ends to the side and the twine facing up, and then repeat this alternating pattern with every layer. This stacking method helps encourage drying and allows for air circulation.
If possible, limit stack size, too. Shorter stacks allow for more ventilation and less heat buildup. They’re also easier to access as you feed out the hay.
Some barn owners use rock salt to help absorb moisture while storing hay. Sprinkling rock salt between the bales may reduce any remaining moisture and help prevent mold and hay damage.
Organize Your Hay Feeding
If you receive multiple hay deliveries throughout the year, plan ahead so that you can feed out the oldest hay first. This might mean positioning your stacks so they’re all easily accessible, and feeding out the stacks closest to your barn doors so you have room to receive the next hay delivery.
As you feed, always take the time to not only open up the bales, but to also pull apart some of the flakes. Mold might be concealed inside of flakes, so unless you pull the hay apart, you could overlook moly hay. If you find a moldy bale, remove it from your barn immediately to avoid it from accidentally being fed out and to prevent any potential barn fire risk. Finding mold means it’s a good time to check internal bale temperatures again, and you may want to open up other bales from the same stack to look for additional moldy hay bales.
Keep Your Hay Storage Accessible
Now is the time to make plans on how to keep your hay barn or hay storage area accessible for wintertime deliveries, if you’ll need them. As you prepare for winter, create a snow removal plan for your horse barn and property that includes your hay storage area. Actively removing ice and snow from the very beginning of winter can help ensure that you can get vehicles to the hay barn and open the barn doors when you need to. If your barn entry doors are old, difficult to open, or no longer fully close as they should, this is the time to replace them with new barn doors that will properly protect your hay storage.
Don’t forget to also periodically clean out your hay storage before a delivery. Wearing a mask, sweep out old hay dust and debris to get the space ready for your next delivery.
Improve Your Hay Storage Today
Do your barn entry doors need an upgrade? At American Stalls, we offer custom barn entry door designs including sliding barn doors, hinged barn doors, and arched designs. We can custom design and build barn entry doors to be the perfect fit for your horse barn or hay storage barn.
Contact us today at (855) 957-8255 or email us at sales@americanstalls.com to schedule a sales and design consultation or to ask any questions. We would be happy to help you renovate your barn or hay storage barn before winter.
