The award for the grossest thing found in hay goes to...

[Seven-up]

ME!


I know there was a thread like this before, but I couldn't find it.

Anyway, I've found some weird things stuck in a bale of hay before, but this morning takes the cake. I'm throwing hay out in the pasture, and I notice a bit of plastic and I grab it to pull it out.

And it was...get ready...a tampon applicator. *GAG*:dead: I tossed the bale, because frankly, if I found the applicator, wouldn't the, uh, contents of said applicator be floating around somewhere too? Sure, maybe it wasn't...used, maybe it just fell out of someone's pocket, and I'm sure those things are biodegradable or something. But ICK!!! I mean, who walks thru a hayfield and thinks, hey, while I'm out here, I might as well take care of business? :no: I'm a girl, I know emergencies happen. But come on!

Have I ruined anyone's appetite for dinner?:winkgrin:

[amdfarm]

GACK, EWW!!!!!!!!! Now that IS nasty.

Appetite is not ruined, I'm actually starving and looking forward to going out for dinner w/ the BF.

[Gem6]

No...you haven't ruined my hunger for supper...but you have made me want to go out to the barn and check all of my hay bales!!! That has to be the grossest thing I have heard in a long time! I've seen wire clothes hangers but never anything like that! Wow!
~gem6

[dawglover]

yep, pretty gross.

I opened a bale one day and found a flattened soccer ball.

Another time I had my wits scrambled when I opened a bale and saw a face looking back at me.
It was a doll, but OMG it scared me.

Hubby's gelding, who always hoovers down every scrap of his hay left some one day. I went out to pick it up along with his poop piles and there was a dehydrated black snake in that flake of hay.

I've found rocks, pine cones, and the occasional golf ball.

[chai]

Ewww. Gross.

The worst things I have found in a hay bale are:
a crow
a snake
barbed wire

I now check every flake before I throw it to the horses.

[EqTrainer]

A whole, dead turtle.

My god, that bale once opened smelled so bad.. it was unreal.

Someone here found money in a bale of hay. Why doesn't that ever happen to me?!!!

[Honu]

I found a flattened snake in a hay bale once. Which was pretty cool because I was still in Hawaii and we don't have snakes. I was all excited and showed everybody, I was also quite young at the time. lol

[suze]

Goat leg.
Birds.
Parts of birds.

That's why I hate cubes - you don't know what got chopped up in the hay & pressed into the cubes . . .

[Seven-up]

Someone here found money in a bale of hay. Why doesn't that ever happen to me?!!!

I know! Or the person with the pot hay bales. I wouldn't complain about either.:rolleyes:

[arena run]

Goat leg.
Birds.
Parts of birds.

That's why I hate cubes - you don't know what got chopped up in the hay & pressed into the cubes . . .


You win.

[CallMeGrace]

Oh, I think my son might win this one. He got to work and noticed one of the horses hadn't touched his hay. He went in to look at the horse and noticed a stick sticking out of the hay rack. He pulled the stick, but then noticed it had hair on it. It was attached to a very dead, smelly possum.....

[mroades]

Just recently, a fully, perfectly mummified RAT

[Just My Style]

The worst ever was a duck. Not pretty. I also found a chopped up turtle, but it was in so many pieces that you couldn't quite piece it togther. The duck- well, it was a duck. :o

[suze]

Originally Posted by suze
Goat leg.
Birds.
Parts of birds.

That's why I hate cubes - you don't know what got chopped up in the hay & pressed into the cubes . . .

You win.

I think the possum & rat would gross me out worse - I hate both!

[BumbleBee]

3 dried up kittens...:(
a bullfrog
and half a lower jaw bone from what our vet determined was at one time a pig.

[mroades]

Although I think Seven Up still wins...all the other items are...ahem...natural....

[butlerfamilyzoo]

Lots of snakes
dead Grasshopers the size of rats
and the worst...

A used pad and a condom...

Got LOVELY hay from this one farm... Unfortunately he also ran a porta potty business and fertilized his field from the "extra" that came back with his porta potties... Prettiest hay you would ever see... But you never knew what you would fine in there.

[MistyBlue]

Found a condom once. :no:
Other than that usually the normal things like flat dried up snakes, rabbits, an entire turkey once, beer cans, etc.

[Seven-up]

A whole turkey? Aren't those practically hay bale-sized to begin with? :eek:

[Foxhound]

A whole, although small and dried up, fawn. :(

[S1969]

Aack! Gross!! I've never found anything interesting in my hay.

But my neighbor owns the property behind my farm and pastures horses there in the summer months. They drive out daily to refill water troughs, etc.

And we walk our dogs there. And one day on the road I found an empty tampon box. All I can picture is my neighbor using the relative *privacy* to take care of some intimate business. Ewww. :eek::confused::no:

[MistyBlue]

Seven-Up...yeah, the turkey was about the same size as a flake of hay. :lol: I don't think it was full grown, but it went from the top to the bottom of the flakes. I found it perfectly preserved, flat and dry as hell between flakes. Kinda looked like it died dancing like an Egyptian. :lol:

[Wallysfolley]

I found several dead baby mice in what appeared to be the remians of a nest. :(

[camohn]

Dead groundhog
Dead rabbit
Deer parts
golfball
polo ball
plastic planter pots from the nursery next door


it is our field that gets baled by our Amish neighbor.

[eponacowgirl]

A bunch of friends and I at our college-self-care barn bought about 200 bales of hay, total, from one cutting from our "hay guy."

When we'd picked up the PRIOR load of hay, he asked us if we'd bring our horses out and ride his property and try to find his goats.

In the 200 bales we bought, the next time, we carefully pieced together almost 2 whole goat skeletons.

[Seven-up]

A whole, although small and dried up, fawn. :(

Awww, how sad! And to think, his mom probably told him to be very still and don't move...:(



My dad was mowing one of the pastures and noticed the dog very interested in a particular spot. So he got off the tractor and went to investigate. It was a completely undisturbed nest with 3 baby rabbits inside. It was amazing they didn't get shredded. I assume mom took off when she heard the tractor and hid, since we didn't find any rabbit parts strewn about. I checked the nest a few days later, but it was cleared out. I like to think mom took them somewhere safer. That's a kinder, gentler thought than thinking my dog enjoyed some very realistic squeaky toys.

[sublimequine]

Severed deer leg. :dead:

[Pennyhill]

I'm pretty sure I've told this one before -

Nicely preserved puppy, except all of his paws are gone. Which of course compels me to tie a piece of baling twine around his neck and drag him around the barn for a few days, merrily singing -

"I'm looking over my dead dog Rover
Who I overtook with the mower.
One leg is missing, the other is gone,
The third one is scattered all over the lawn.
Theres no use explaining
The one remaining
'Cus it isn't there anymore
I'm looking over my dead dog Rover
Who I overtook with the mower"

Sick, I know, but what are the odds of finding a pawless dog AND knowing a song about a pawless dog? I just couldn't pass up the opportunity.

He could do tricks too - stay, lay down, play dead....

[twofatponies]

Dead groundhog
Dead rabbit
Deer parts
golfball
polo ball
plastic planter pots from the nursery next door


it is our field that gets baled by our Amish neighbor.

Baled by horse drawn vehicle, and the rabbit & deer couldn't get away? I'd have to assume they were already dead before getting baled.

These are really gross and weird, guys. I'm never going to grab a few flakes again without checking in between them!

[shade]

I know! Or the person with the pot hay bales. I wouldn't complain about either.:rolleyes:

Wait..pot hay bales????? please explain...

[Seven-up]

Wait..pot hay bales????? please explain...

There was a thread awhile back about someone who cracked open a bale and was met with the overwhelming smell of marijuana. I think the concensus was that someone thought they had a prime growing spot hidden in a hay field. All I know is I would've paid to see the look on that guy's face when he rolled up and found the field mowed down!:eek:

[carla54]

A dead skunk (nephew saw it coming when the bale was flying at him from the baler, so it never got to the barn) Various snakes, parts of rabbits and 1/2 of a child's shoe.

[shade]

There was a thread awhile back about someone who cracked open a bale and was met with the overwhelming smell of marijuana. I think the concensus was that someone thought they had a prime growing spot hidden in a hay field. All I know is I would've paid to see the look on that guy's face when he rolled up and found the field mowed down!:eek:

You and me both...that is funny..thanks

[unbridledoaks]

Oh Wow! This is so interesting!!! Who knows what is hidden in hay! LOL! I think the grossest thing that I have found in our hay has been a dead bird. It was a crow. OMG the whole thing smelled so bad. I just threw the hay out back.

[Paige777]

I now have a lifelong fear of feeding hay. ICK! I've been feeding for years; no one ever mentioned ever having found anything, and I'd never found anything myself, aside from the occasional stick. EWWW

[Peggy]

In addition to the pot bales, I remember something about a large iguana from the other thread. All I've ever found is the occasional small rodent and small pieces of paper.

[Aussie_Dog]

I don't remember where I read it, but someone once, on a forum, posted that they found a whole calf in a bale. I think there were even pictures. This thread made me remember that.

[susanne]

My favorite "find" wasn't gross as much as it was unnerved -- at least in retrospect.

Living in NW Oregon, we rarely see poisonous snakes and only have a couple species of poisonous spiders, so I'm not all that careful opening bales of hay.

One day, I took a flake of from a bale of very tightly compressed Eastern Oregon Timothy, shook it out for my miniature stallion, and out fell a very tightly compressed Eastern Oregon rattlesnake. At first I was simply surprised and fascinated...then I thought about how I had carried the flake, snake and all, in my arms against my chest...

[mandalea]

In our small bales:
A dead mouse
A live mouse, that was almost dead :confused:
A cows ear tag, with the ear still attached
A sheep's hoof
A horse shoe (now hangs above my barn :D)


In our 1 tone bale:
A 2m King brown snake
An inner tube from a tyre
A 'husk' or tooth, from a wild boar

[pippa553]

In random bales:
a flattened dried possum
a flattened dried rat
a bag of funyons
and a shredded up glove

fun thread :0)

[Seven-up]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Funyons. :D

[mybeau1999]

I started the "What's in YOUR hay" thread a while back and I remember someone said they had a live snake in the hay one time:eek:

Now, all you guys on here... when you say you're finding snakes, they are all dead, right?

[allpurpose]

I started the "What's in YOUR hay" thread a while back and I remember someone said they had a live snake in the hay one time:eek:

Now, all you guys on here... when you say you're finding snakes, they are all dead, right?

Nope. We were helping the BO put up hay one year and one of the guys pulled a big, live garter snake out of a bale. The BO baled her own hay so it had been a matter of hours since that snake had been crawling around with all its snakey friends in the field.:uhoh: We let him loose, natch.;)

Mr. Allpurpose (brave in every way except baled snakes) quit his haymaking duties on the spot and sat in the truck the rest of the afternoon :lol::lol:

[Tamara in TN]

Mr. Allpurpose (brave in every way except baled snakes) quit his haymaking duties on the spot and sat in the truck the rest of the afternoon :lol::lol:

we have brought bales from the field with the snakes APO and striking at whatever/whomever they could get near...we figure if they survived all that we let them go about their business....

but it is entertaining to yell "SNAKE" with a bunch crowded around some fresh hay :lol::lol::lol::lol: gotta do something to detract from the workload!

best

[allpurpose]

but it is entertaining to yell "SNAKE" with a bunch crowded around some fresh hay :lol::lol::lol::lol: gotta do something to detract from the workload!

best

Luckily, garter snakes are harmless but can grow quite big by Michigan standards...I can't imagine baling poisonous snakes and finding one! :eek:

[CLB15]

...One day, I took a flake of from a bale of very tightly compressed Eastern Oregon Timothy, shook it out for my miniature stallion, and out fell a very tightly compressed Eastern Oregon rattlesnake. At first I was simply surprised and fascinated...then I thought about how I had carried the flake, snake and all, in my arms against my chest...

Was it still alive?! 8-O

[jubilee43]

Since we bale hay commercially, I wanted to let you all know that some of the non -natural things you have found in your hay probably started out as litter along the road. It then blew into the field and was baled up. I have seen many things out in the center of our fields that were brought there by the wind, and originally dropped by someone out their car window. Sometimes you can stop the equipment in time to pick it up and sometimes it is too late.

[twofatponies]

Since we bale hay commercially, I wanted to let you all know that some of the non -natural things you have found in your hay probably started out as litter along the road. It then blew into the field and was baled up. I have seen many things out in the center of our fields that were brought there by the wind, and originally dropped by someone out their car window. Sometimes you can stop the equipment in time to pick it up and sometimes it is too late.

Thanks for the explanation! I figured as much. But what about the animals, birds, etc? Were most of the rabbits, turkeys etc. already dead, or do the balers run too fast for them to escape? Or do they just get confused and stand there like they sometimes do on the road?

[Hilary]

Half a woodchuck

The other half of the woodchuck.

Lots of snakes, although I try to notice them and fling them out of the way before I bale.

A rake tine.

And I FAR prefer finding the rake tine neatly in the flake. Otherwise I will find it when my baler breaks....

And I agree -most of the trash you find in hay probably blew in from the roadside. So I actually would not expect to find the used tampon in the flake next to the applicator.

But that would be REALLY gross.

[Doodlebug1]

This is a great thread!!

In the UK we get mainly rats, rabbits and grass-snakes, most of which I've found in bales.

Saddest prize goes to my friend Teresa who found half a Jack Russell - it was the back half.

Whoever, asked the question - when you're combining, you're so high up and have so much equipment to front and back, you can't really see what's coming so if fawns, dogs, goats, calves etc are in the way... Dogs generally race after the rats etc fleeing the combine and farmers encourage them to catch and kill the vermin. Sadly in Teresa's case the dog must've run under the combine. Luckily it wasn't a dog she knew.

Despite that, and the absolute horror I would feel if I found one of my own beloved JRT's in a hay bale, PennyHill's story has to be COTH's funniest ever - well, and the pot bales. No. Actually Penny wins.

[Tamara in TN]

Thanks for the explanation! I figured as much. But what about the animals, birds, etc? Were most of the rabbits, turkeys etc. already dead, or do the balers run too fast for them to escape? Or do they just get confused and stand there like they sometimes do on the road?


for the turkeys normally the hens will NOT flush up off a brooding nest...they lay down and then are hit by the mowers...the same for fawns...bigger deer pieces are normally someone who was brightlighted out of season and then died in the field...

best

[RockingN]

The grossest thing I have found would be a broad-head from a hunting arrow. I about died when I found it. If one of the horses had found it you bet that would have been the end of it!

[QM2]

The worst - 3 used condoms! ughh!

[Indy]

Wow...after reading all of your posts, I'm glad the only thing I've ever found in a bale of hay was a dried up baby snake.

Now, I don't do snakes at all, so this was definitely a little freaky for me - but much better than the time I found an actual alive snake in my kitchen. I will take dead haybale snake over live kitchen snake any day!!

[mybeau1999]

[QUOTE=Indy;3868587]
Now, I don't do snakes at all, so this was definitely a little freaky for me - but much better than the time I found an actual alive snake in my kitchen. [QUOTE]

:eek::eek:I think I would have died!!!
It's bad enough when they are in the barn and my older brother has to come remove them for me before I go back in... pretty sure I'm phobic.

[WaningMoon]

Thanks for the explanation! I figured as much. But what about the animals, birds, etc? Were most of the rabbits, turkeys etc. already dead, or do the balers run too fast for them to escape? Or do they just get confused and stand there like they sometimes do on the road?

When we were farming and baling hay we had older equipment. We had the old type mower that has the long cutting bar that extends out and the animals never even heard it coming. We have twice cut the legs off of our own cats that were out hunting in the fields, baled a fawn, and other small animals. It is awful to find your cat lying there with no legs, in horrid pain. Those older mowers though, were just about silent. And the baby animals just get baled up, they dont know to try and escape, old or new equipment.

With all ppl are reporting finding in their hay it is no wonder the dangers of botulism in the larger bales where gthey are not seen as well for sure. IN the smaller bales you usually end up seeing the dead carcass and throw out the bale. In the larger round ones you may never even know it is in there until your horses have eaten most of it. That is why the round bales are more dangerous. AFter watching my neighbors 2 horses die of botulism I have always checked each flake of hay and never feed the round ones.

[diKecnadnuS]

Mine aren't nearly as exciting (please note, all animals were flat and dry):
-A squirrel (only semi-flat)
-A snake
-A bull frog (a few of these)
-Lots of huge crickets (not flat)
-The plastic ring thingies that hold soda cans together
-A 2 liter pepsi bottle
-A tennis ball
-A thin cotton rope

[CenterStage123]

thanks for this thread guys:)
the WHOLE ENTIRE TIME i was mucking I got soo paraniod when trwoing hay:lol:

[2DogsFarm]

I FAR prefer finding the rake tine neatly in the flake. Otherwise I will find it when my baler breaks....

:mad: Since I just picked a nice 6" tine from a bale, I beg to disagree.
I'd rather my hayguy broke his baler than feed this tidbit to one of my horses!

I've had a really crappy run of bales lately - full of what looks like rosebushes and various branches as thick as my finger (the middle one).
What hay is baled with this crap often shatters too, so I have been thinking evil thoughts of my hayguy.
I admit to hoping - evilly - that the tine came off a broken baler.

FWIW: in 5 years of buying hay from this guy this is the first load that contained so much inedible crap and mediocre hay :no:

[equusvilla]

:mad: Since I just picked a nice 6" tine from a bale, I beg to disagree.
I'd rather my hayguy broke his baler than feed this tidbit to one of my horses!

I've had a really crappy run of bales lately - full of what looks like rosebushes and various branches as thick as my finger (the middle one).
What hay is baled with this crap often shatters too, so I have been thinking evil thoughts of my hayguy.
I admit to hoping - evilly - that the tine came off a broken baler.

FWIW: in 5 years of buying hay from this guy this is the first load that contained so much inedible crap and mediocre hay :no:

This last year was not a good hay year for those that grow it in South Texas. Maybe your hay guy baled much closer to the borders of the property than he normally does - hence getting road trash and such... just to compensate his loss if he also had a harder than normal year. I would say something to him...but politely.

[Home Again Farm]

A flattened can of beer and a condom. Ick.

[Guin]

The grossest thing I have found would be a broad-head from a hunting arrow. I about died when I found it. If one of the horses had found it you bet that would have been the end of it!


? Was the arrow embedded in something?

[Foxhound]

My husband and I are building a little farm. Reading this thread makes me think that sometime in the near future, I will have to call in sick to work because I've found part of a small fuzzy animal in my hay bales and am ralphing.
Ew.

[kookicat]

I've never found anything but a few sticks in my hay. Man, am I happy about that!

[2DogsFarm]

This last year was not a good hay year for those that grow it in South Texas. Maybe your hay guy baled much closer to the borders of the property than he normally does - hence getting road trash and such... just to compensate his loss if he also had a harder than normal year. I would say something to him...but politely.

It was not a great year for the Midwest either.
My thoughts were the same as yours - mowed too close to the edges.
But when the stuff was tedded/raked wouldn't he have noticed?
Not the miscellaneous garbage, but those really hefty branches?

I've already politely asked him if he made a record of where he cut what he sold & to whom and to please not offer me anything cut from this particular field.
I have also set aside a growing pile of inedible crap I've culled from the bales to show him what I'm talking about.
If he thinks horses can eat this junk I will politely suggest he keep it for his own horse.
I'll also be investigating the pricier competition for this year's supply. I will not deal with another winter of garbage hay just because it is bargain priced.

[Nun Ya]

3 dried up kittens...:(
a bullfrog
and half a lower jaw bone from what our vet determined was at one time a pig.

I would have cried all day long over those kitties. :(
I love cats and I really can't stand to see them hurt or worse.

[Tamara in TN]

[QUOTE=2DogsFarm;3871562]It was not a great year for the Midwest either.
My thoughts were the same as yours - mowed too close to the edges.
But when the stuff was tedded/raked wouldn't he have noticed?
Not the miscellaneous garbage, but those really hefty branches?

really large branches run the risk of killing the equipment more than being nasty in a bale of hay...in very tall windrows (some of ours are four feet tall going into the balers) it can be hard for a rake crew to see branches of any kind....also if the hay is sold as discounted there is a reason...bargain hay is just that...

best

[Tiki]

I found a complete, completely desiccated fawn at the end of a square bale not too long ago.

I was driving out to visit my horses one day and there was a brand new baby fawn in the middle of the road - a very lightly used road. When it saw me it did what little fawns are supposed to do. It lay down in the middle of the road and became completely immobile. I had to get out and quietly shoo it off the road.

[starrunner]

A beheaded flattened grey kitten.

I think this was right around the time I found the dead crow in the water trough. Not a good time for me.

Turkeys in the hay is pretty normal, but the kitten..uck.

[happyrider]

Beer cans
Plastic DVD box from ...an "adult film".....guess it went with the beer cans? (and no, there was no actual DVD in the box)

[AppJumpr08]

OMG Pennyhill you totally made me snork my beer!!!!


"I'm looking over my dead dog Rover
Who I overtook with the mower.
One leg is missing, the other is gone,
The third one is scattered all over the lawn.
Theres no use explaining
The one remaining
'Cus it isn't there anymore
I'm looking over my dead dog Rover
Who I overtook with the mower"

[Tamara in TN]

Beer cans
Plastic DVD box from ...an "adult film".....guess it went with the beer cans? (and no, there was no actual DVD in the box)

they left that in the minivan in the backseat player;)

best

[SuperSTB]

Oh gross!

I'm thankful I've only come across a couple dried frogs, small birds and mice.

My 'hay people' sell the bales from the field edges as cattle or construction hay so the horse hay is pretty clean. Back in MA most of the hay we purchase came off of fields not near major roads so again... pretty clean.

I would think it's pretty dangerous to feed out hay with the potential for so much garbage or dead animals- I'd probably freak out. Now watch since I've heard these stories now I'm going to find weird stuff. (always happens)

I'll wish to come across money or some mari-ja-wana :)

[Seven-up]

I'll wish to come across money or some mari-ja-wana :)

I'm picturing a new kind of hay...you could call it Space Hay...market it to hard keepers to increase appetite...mellow out those nervous types...offer to throw in a free Bob Marley or Dave Matthews Band CD with every ton sold...:lol::lol:

[SuperSTB]

I'm picturing a new kind of hay...you could call it Space Hay...market it to hard keepers to increase appetite...mellow out those nervous types...offer to throw in a free Bob Marley or Dave Matthews Band CD with every ton sold...:lol::lol:

LOL- it's bad enough that my cats get the munchies after their "catnip funtime", I guess the horses could use a little something too :winkgrin:

Well- okay- my gelding is spaced out enough...

OOOH but WAIT! I live in Cali, I could grow it and say it was for equine medicinal purposes!!!

[Valeureux]

Wow. Some of this stuff makes me cringe.
The worst thing I've found was a live baby mouse when we were unloading hay from the trailer at a horse show. No idea how it got there, but needless to say we threw that bale away.
I still feel bad for the mouse though :(

[tuppysmom]

Not gross, but plenty exciting!

We were rolling bales down from the stack, loading them in the tractor bucket and hauling them to the barn. One bale broke and inside it was the biggest hornet nest that I have ever seen. Those buggers were hopping mad too!

We ran for our lives and delayed feeding time til we could find out what to kill them with. The regular wasp spray just made them more mad.

[allpurpose]

Not gross, but plenty exciting!

We were rolling bales down from the stack, loading them in the tractor bucket and hauling them to the barn. One bale broke and inside it was the biggest hornet nest that I have ever seen. Those buggers were hopping mad too!

We ran for our lives and delayed feeding time til we could find out what to kill them with. The regular wasp spray just made them more mad.

One of our feeders once pulled a bale off the stack and got a face full of hornets for her trouble. It was scary for her (and us in the barn at the time) and to this day she won't pull a bale that's over her head. Can't say that I blame her in the least!

[2DogsFarm]

[quote]
really large branches run the risk of killing the equipment more than being nasty in a bale of hay...in very tall windrows (some of ours are four feet tall going into the balers) it can be hard for a rake crew to see branches of any kind....also if the hay is sold as discounted there is a reason...bargain hay is just that...
best

I agree - but in the past 4 years his hay has been of good (notice I don't say "great") quality. It keeps my horses healthy and that's all I ask. If I had performance horses or breeding stock instead of my pasture puffs, I might have to shop for richer hay.

And, yes, I understand sometimes you get what you pay for.
He sells to me for the same price he sells to the dealer - so the discount is to me, not to him and I appreciate that.

This is the first load that I've had any sort of problem with.
He always offers to take back unacceptable bales and I always made sure to let him know I hadn't found anything return-worthy. In 4+ years I've had to toss 2 or 3 bales that were "iffy" as far as mold and that is it.

I've seen his fields cut before they're baled and the windrows are never more than kneehigh.

I'm thinking he is getting older (78 by now) and his helpers aren't dependable - he never seems to have the same kids working for him 2 years in a row. I know making hay is hard work, but he pays the kids $10/hr - more than they'd make slinging burgers.
Of course he can be an irascible SOB to work for...but the kids can make good money if they care to.

Last year I got some bales that were baled really loose and when I mentioned it he said he'd let one of the new kids run the baler.
So I imagine a newbie did some mowing for him and cut this crap.

I really do appreciate him and others like you who do this hard work so my horses can eat.
But I don't appreciate having to go through each flake to get out the thorny branches and other crap I just end up raking out of the stalls uneaten anyhow.
At their last vet check my older gelding had some lacerations on his gums & tongue that the vet couldn't attribute to hooks or edges on his teeth.
I have to feel the thorny crap was at least part to blame.
If that makes me an overprotective owner, so be it.

[chai]

Ugh. And I thought a few snakes and a dead crow were bad. But the poor little fawn and the headless smushed kitten win hands down. It's enough to make you switch to dengie...

[MunchkinsMom]

Wow. Wish you could see my face right now, totally grossed out! The worst I ever found was a gigantic turkey foot!

[Tamara in TN]

[quote=Tamara in TN;3872024]


I've seen his fields cut before they're baled and the windrows are never more than kneehigh.

I'm thinking he is getting older (78 by now) and his helpers aren't dependable -

But I don't appreciate having to go through each flake to get out the thorny branches and other crap I just end up raking out of the stalls uneaten anyhow.
At their last vet check my older gelding had some lacerations on his gums & tongue that the vet couldn't attribute to hooks or edges on his teeth.
I have to feel the thorny crap was at least part to blame.
If that makes me an overprotective owner, so be it.


I do not recall saying anything about your protectiveness....as to what you have relayed, it sounds like someone has neglected either the weedkilling or the fertilizing or both... as weeds cannot exist in the presence of properly fertilized and sprayed ground...both were ignored by many many farmers last season and now the reward is being reaped

best

[4whitefeet]

In almost 40yrs of horse ownership and picking up hay out of the field, I have come across hay bales with:

small birds, snakes, rats, baby rabbits, a kitten or two, half of a golf club and about 20 bales later, the other half of the golf club. Needless to say there's not a golf course for 30+ miles of the hay fields.:lol:

[2DogsFarm]

[quote]


I do not recall saying anything about your protectiveness....as to what you have relayed, it sounds like someone has neglected either the weedkilling or the fertilizing or both... as weeds cannot exist in the presence of properly fertilized and sprayed ground...both were ignored by many many farmers last season and now the reward is being reaped

best

Tamara;
Absolutely no offense taken!
I just realize that I probably sound like an overprotective weenie - going through the flakes for my wittle pone-pones...:rolleyes:

I'm thinking this hay probably came from a neighbor's field - this guy has ultralight aircraft and just uses his field (when it's not in hay) for landing or takeoffs so he could care less what grows there.
I looked at some hay my guy cut there - pre-baling - and it was fine 2 years ago.

[AppJumpr08]

My boyfriend and his brother were stacking bales on a trailer in the field, and came across a bale that had a momma snake's body in it... the head was cut off, and when they grabbed the bale, all of momma's babies came pouring out of momma's headless body! :eek::eek:

They left that bale in the field :lol::lol:

[lizathenag]

dead skunk

[Vandy]

Not gross, but disturbing - a few bales with large pieces of rusty barbed wire :(

And now for the gross:
- numerous dried out huge black snakes
- a whole litter of kittens :dead:
- something unidentified: furry, flat, with big teeth and stank to high hell - possibly a coyote head?
- an eye of something (sheep?) looking out at me. By far the worst I've seen, as it was actually someone else at the farm who discovered the kittens, which would have scarred me for life.

My SO grows hay and tells about one year when they found skunks in numerous bales. For some reason, the heads were sticking out the sides of the bales, eyes and mouth wide open as if they were screaming. How's that for gross?

[worth_the_wait08]

My boyfriend and his brother were stacking bales on a trailer in the field, and came across a bale that had a momma snake's body in it... the head was cut off, and when they grabbed the bale, all of momma's babies came pouring out of momma's headless body! :eek::eek:

They left that bale in the field :lol::lol:

GROSS!!!!!!!!!

[MunchkinsMom]

I've got to stop reading this thread, it's going to give me nightmares!

Makes me glad that my horses are on a complete feed and pasture grass diet! I guess that colic surgery and ileal impaction were a blessing in disguise.

[twofatponies]

I am scarred for life! I now open bales the way I turn over rocks in the garden - flip rock with one finger, jump back in case it was hiding spiders, wasps or snakes, then flip it a few more times just to make sure the varmint didn't crawl real fast and hide on the other side of it... *then* pick it up!!! My DH used to laugh at me, but now he's opening bales with great caution too!! :D

[KnKShowmom]

And people at my barn laugh at me for shaking out my horses hay before he eats it........:eek:

[Go Fish]

I'm surprised to hear people discovering dead skunks in bales. I had to drive a baler as a teen and let me tell you, when you ran over a skunk, you knew it right away. I'd be running across the hay field for the hose in the barn lickety split. Didn't matter if you were in an open or a/c cab. I hated hay season. :lol:

[allpurpose]

My boyfriend and his brother were stacking bales on a trailer in the field, and came across a bale that had a momma snake's body in it... the head was cut off, and when they grabbed the bale, all of momma's babies came pouring out of momma's headless body! :eek::eek:

They left that bale in the field :lol::lol:

OMG, Mr. Allpurpose would have had kittens if that had happened to him!! I can't imagine what that looked like...don't think I want to, either! :eek:

[AppJumpr08]

OMG, Mr. Allpurpose would have had kittens if that had happened to him!! I can't imagine what that looked like...don't think I want to, either! :eek:

Yeah I gather it was an impressive sight!! Both my BF and his brother are tall - like 6'5 and 6'6 kind of tall, and his brother is BIG guy. I can just imagine the two of them jumping away from a bale like little girls! :lol::D:)

[fanfayre]

So far, I've read some preety gross things, but...
My worst, by far, was fresh layer hen :dead:
One summer, our baler wasn't working properly, or our hay wasn't dry enough/too dry, but the bales kept breaking as we were stacking them in the mow. We decided to park the baler in the loft and rebale the broken ones to get rid of the big pile of loose hay we had there(to close the doors, too). Anyway, all morning we were working and one of my Mum's layer hens kept nosing around us and getting in the way. We stopped for a quick drink of water and shut the baler down. 15 minutes later, when we started back up the hen was nowhere to be found, until the 2nd bale came out of the baler. I went to grab it, but recoiled because her guts were squishing out the top with a feather:dead: :dead:. Stupid bird didn't even give us an egg that day! Non of us could remove it out of the loft- we had to get friends to do it a couple of days later.

[Silver Snaffles]

- Crushed up Beer can
- Strip of random material
- Trojan condom wrapper.. (Was scared every time a new bale was opened to find the used condom, never found it thank god)
The ickyest?

A bunny which hadn't been able to outrun the bailer.
Opened up a bale, and there smack bang in the middle of the hay, squashes rabby. :eek:

A skeletal leg of an unknow creature was a close up.

[poltroon]

Since we bale hay commercially, I wanted to let you all know that some of the non -natural things you have found in your hay probably started out as litter along the road. It then blew into the field and was baled up. I have seen many things out in the center of our fields that were brought there by the wind, and originally dropped by someone out their car window. Sometimes you can stop the equipment in time to pick it up and sometimes it is too late.

Yep. And it's not always deliberate litter - sometimes it just falls out of a truck on the way to the dump.

I've also found a severed deer leg.

[poltroon]

My husband and I are building a little farm. Reading this thread makes me think that sometime in the near future, I will have to call in sick to work because I've found part of a small fuzzy animal in my hay bales and am ralphing.
Ew.

Darlin', sadly, there's nothing like owning a farm to significantly up your tolerance of dealing with cute dead animal bits.

I cannot tell you how many times I have scraped deer and cats off the road in front of my house. :( But if I leave them there, more animals will be hit and die.

I do keep thinking I've got to learn to put up roadkill venison in my freezer.

[amastrike]

:eek:

I will never, ever, ever complain about the random sticks that I sometimes find in my horse's hay.

The dead kittens and the dead fawn are the worst, I think. Poor wittle baby animals :(.

[Foxtrot's]

For once I am glad to have nothing to contribute to this thread. I delight in the boringness of my hay having never found anything remotely worth mentioning here :)

[ReSomething]

For once I am glad to have nothing to contribute to this thread. I delight in the boringness of my hay having never found anything remotely worth mentioning here :)
Same here!

[Foxtrot's]

But there seems to be a fair amount of rolling in the hay and making whoopie from what we read here!

O.K. Seven-Up - who gets the award? I'm voting for the headless snake that produced the live babies.

[ticofuzzy]

I've found all the normal things - dead animals, litter, etc.... but the best was:

4 HUGE Goldfish !!?!?!?! (6 inches long each)

[Here Comes Luther]

Oh my gosh...I'm going to be thinking of this thread every time I feed now! I'm terrified of snakes, and everything else you guys have seen is just icky! I think I'm scarred for life, but like Foxtrot, I'm glad I have nothing to contribute!

[caffeinated]

The grossest thing I have found would be a broad-head from a hunting arrow. I about died when I found it. If one of the horses had found it you bet that would have been the end of it!

A three bladed broadhead, still attached to most of a hunting arrow shaft (and another piece of the shaft) somehow found its way into a shavings delivery, landing in my horse's stall.

I had a lot of trouble sleeping that night and was really glad I chose that day to work on something in my horse's stall. *shudder*

[MSP]

Wow, I can't believe I have never found anything but hay in my bales!

Once I opened up a bag of Blue Seal grain and a live Chipmunk jumped out!

I hope this doesn't mean I am over due, yuck! :no:

[kellyb]

Dead cat. :no:

[Tazzie]

My boyfriend and his brother were stacking bales on a trailer in the field, and came across a bale that had a momma snake's body in it... the head was cut off, and when they grabbed the bale, all of momma's babies came pouring out of momma's headless body! :eek::eek:

They left that bale in the field :lol::lol:

I reading all of those, this particular post is going to give me nightmares! :eek:

[Tazzie]

Wow, I can't believe I have never found anything but hay in my bales!

Once I opened up a bag of Blue Seal grain and a live Chipmunk jumped out!

I hope this doesn't mean I am over due, yuck! :no:

And now I'm giggling at the images in my mind from this post! :lol:

[Seven-up]

Well, since I started the thread, of course I'm going to say I win the award for the grossest thing. :cool: Now, if the award was for the weirdest thing, I'd have to give it to tico here...


I've found all the normal things - dead animals, litter, etc.... but the best was:

4 HUGE Goldfish !!?!?!?! (6 inches long each)

:confused::lol: I'm guessing they were koi fish, maybe? But that doesn't lessen the confusion about how they got there in the first place.

[Foxtrot's]

They died and the neighbour chucked them over the fence??

[Foxtrot's]

You picked your own post for grossest thing found in hay?? Isn't it a bit, er, illegal to pick your own post, like you are biased or something? Now I have to put up a smiley or somebody will think I'm being serious :D :)

[HoofHeartSoul]

My boyfriend and his brother were stacking bales on a trailer in the field, and came across a bale that had a momma snake's body in it... the head was cut off, and when they grabbed the bale, all of momma's babies came pouring out of momma's headless body! :eek::eek:

They left that bale in the field :lol::lol:

Ya..... i submit this for GROSSEST story ewwwe *insert puking/gagging face here*

[dani0303]

I think Penny's story wins. Omg I was in TEARS laughing so hard at that. I could just picture her in my head frolicking along with a flattened, footless dog behind her. Hahahaha omg :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[MidlifeCrisis]

He was found in a haybale at about 4 weeks of age. Sometimes he does gross things and I get angry at him:lol:

[okggo]

I keep finding dog toys in ours. We have found 3 to date, and the dogs love it!!

This wasn't in the hay, but for oddest thing in the pasture....we had a REALLY windy day the other day. As in, super winds. I was feeding and our one yearling filly was running around the field full gallop, absolutely SCREAMING. She was terrified, that was pretty obvious, but I couldn't tell what was going on and none of the other horses were bothered at all. Anyway, she is running laps bucking and bucking and bucking and finally I see this black thing fly off her hind leg and land in a heap in the pasture. She immediately started to calm down, so whatever it was, was attached to her at some point. So I go out in the field and what do I find in the middle of February......a witches hat!!! Some how it blew into the pasture and that filly managed to step her hind leg through it! I saved the hat to show my husband, because I figured nobody would ever believe me (it was one of those, really wish you had a camera with you moments!) And some how I was left with this eerie feeling that maybe I should be looking for a house with legs sticking out of under it.

[2DogsFarm]

Most Adorable Thing Found in a Haybale :winkgrin:

Please tell me he isn't named Alfalfa...or Timothy...

[MidlifeCrisis]

Most Adorable Thing Found in a Haybale :winkgrin:

Please tell me he isn't named Alfalfa...or Timothy...

No, he's named Munchkin. It's a huge misnomer since at 10 months, he's 14 pounds of pure muscle.

[2DogsFarm]

No, he's named Munchkin. It's a huge misnomer since at 10 months, he's 14 pounds of pure muscle.

Ha!
Cats will teach you to name them Cute!
If you had named him Bruiser he would have remained a Petite Catkin just to spite you. :yes:

Meet my Independence - she was a standoffish kitten, now I can't keep her out of my lap. She is convinced I am Cat Furniture.

[amdfarm]

He was found in a haybale at about 4 weeks of age. Sometimes he does gross things and I get angry at him:lol:

AWWW, he's adorable. He should get that award and for surviving being squished in a hay bale. One tough kitty.

[MidlifeCrisis]

I don't think he was squished. I think his momma made a nest in a bale after the hay was baled and stacked. She just forgot to move him when she moved the rest of the litter. He kind of popped out of the stack which had been delivered a few days earlier. We found the bale with the nest but no sign of the rest of the litter or mom.
So now, I excuse his bad behavior with having lost his mommy at a young age:lol:

[MunchkinsMom]

This wasn't in the hay, but for oddest thing in the pasture....we had a REALLY windy day the other day. As in, super winds. I was feeding and our one yearling filly was running around the field full gallop, absolutely SCREAMING. She was terrified, that was pretty obvious, but I couldn't tell what was going on and none of the other horses were bothered at all. Anyway, she is running laps bucking and bucking and bucking and finally I see this black thing fly off her hind leg and land in a heap in the pasture. She immediately started to calm down, so whatever it was, was attached to her at some point. So I go out in the field and what do I find in the middle of February......a witches hat!!! Some how it blew into the pasture and that filly managed to step her hind leg through it! I saved the hat to show my husband, because I figured nobody would ever believe me (it was one of those, really wish you had a camera with you moments!) And some how I was left with this eerie feeling that maybe I should be looking for a house with legs sticking out of under it.

That was funny! My horses have been terrorized by inflatable pool toys, the kids leave them in the pool, the afternoon t-storm blows in, and floating rings go sailing! One went so far, we never did find it!

[Seven-up]

He was found in a haybale at about 4 weeks of age. Sometimes he does gross things and I get angry at him:lol:

Did you make that picture into a lolcat? I remember seeing it; caption said something like, "what do you mean, watch where I'm going?" :lol::lol:





And yeah, I picked my own post. I'm not much for legalities. ;) So, uh, suck it :winkgrin:;):lol: or something. :D:cool:

[MidlifeCrisis]

Did you make that picture into a lolcat? I remember seeing it; caption said something like, "what do you mean, watch where I'm going?" :lol::lol:



Yep, that's him. Now that he's a celebrity, he's absolutely intolerable:lol:

[mandalea]

Not gross, but plenty exciting!

We were rolling bales down from the stack, loading them in the tractor bucket and hauling them to the barn. One bale broke and inside it was the biggest hornet nest that I have ever seen. Those buggers were hopping mad too!

We ran for our lives and delayed feeding time til we could find out what to kill them with. The regular wasp spray just made them more mad.

We just got a one ton, and it had a massive live hornets nest on it - luckily we started pulling it apart in the middle of the paddock :D

[AmandaandTuff]

Nothing in hay except sticks and one bad batch of hoary allysium in some round bales (did I spell that correctly?)

I found many hunting arrows in the pasture this year near the hay feeder. There were some words exchanged with the hunting neighbors about what would happen if I found one of my animals with an arrow in it.

[wateryglen]

LIVE Copperhead snake.......for those of you from not around these parts...thats a poisonous one. Hubby was throwing squares down from the loft and one broke open and there he was!! He didn't move so we thought maybe he was dead....nope! Just stunned I guess.

[Seriously_Hunter]

Did you make that picture into a lolcat? I remember seeing it; caption said something like, "what do you mean, watch where I'm going?" :lol::lol::


HAHAHA... This was my first thought too!! He is one CUTE kitty :D

I've got nothing to add except the usual chip bags, dead mice, wire etc...

Penny~ your post made me HOWL!!
Appjumper~ umm... EEEEEW!!!!