Ryegrass - Can it be baled????

[Carol Nelson]

Remember several of us all planted ryegrass in our pastures last fall...well, after 22 inches of rainfall, I've got ryegrass coming out my ears!!! I will sneak out there later and take some pics to post, but it's raining again now, as I write this.
What I want to know is can it be baled for later feeding to horses? I've got so much grass out there, there is no way the horses can eat it all before I'll be needing to plow it under to fertilize and plant the coastal bermuda. I'm having to pull mares off of it cause they're getting too fat, and I'm afraid they'll founder.
So what's your experience, does ryegrass bale successfully????

[Boyd R]

Yes it does

[Carol Nelson]

Leave it to Boyd to know! ;-) :D

So tell me...what's the procedure...how tall does it have to be before cutting it, and how long does it need to dry before baling? Some of mine is knee high already. I don't need to ask how long it keeps in the barn as it won't last long here! ;-)

[Terry Wallace]

Cut it before it makes seed heads as the rye seedheads are very sharp & prickly when dry... To dry? Probably three hot days turning in once each day... maybe only two days...depends on humidity.

[moonrize]

My horses love rye grass hay. It's usually the first hay we can get in the spring - have to be careful though if horses haven't had green grass in a while and go slow with it.

[Terri]

I had rye growing in my pasture last year. They loved it, but something about it was sticky. Everytime they came in, they acted like they had "peanut butter mouth". Is it still sticky after it is dryed and baled?

[Terry Wallace]

Did it have seed heads on it Terri? Those are really sharp and can stick in their mouth soft tissues and break off & abcess...very sharp points on the grain head tails.

Sometimes horses lip their knees and rub the sides of their mouths on the knees to try to remove the stuck tail fragments of the grain seeds.

[Carol Nelson]

Wow, guys, thanks a bunch...looks like I've got to look for someone who does custom baling.
Think there's a guy right over here on the highway that advertises that. :D

[Terri]

Eventually seed heads DID form, but they got sticky mouth right from the begininng when the grass was new. I read somewhere the grass itself was sticky, can't remember where I read that.