Nitrogen

[fuzzy9]

My hay supplier let me know that he sprayed nitrogen on the hay to help it dry faster because of all the rain we've been having here lately. Will this have any ill effect for the rabbits.....or the ponies for that matter? I've never bought treated hay before.

Typically we'd wait till fall to buy hay, but they are saying because of the freezing cold temps we had without snow cover, and then rain in February, alot of farmers lost their hay crops, and had to reseed everything. Hay will be like gold around our area again this year, and to buy early if you can. I don't know if this is true or not, but I don't care to chance it, and am going to fill my hay stall now.

 

[Prisma]

I've never purchased hay with nitro sprayed on it...for that matter I've never heard of any one doing that either. I have seen some spray fertilizers or other things on them though. I avoid hay that has been sprayed with any thing when it comes to my hay though just for safety's sake.

 

[fuzzy9]

Thanks Rebel!

Anybody else have any thoughts on this?

 

[Miss M]

I do not know. :shock:

I know that air is ~78% nitrogen.

I know that the boiling point of nitrogen is way, way down the thermometer into "beyond cold" territory.

Did he spray with nitrogen fertilizer? Or fog it with pure nitrogen (I doubt it)?

 

[fuzzy9]

Thanks Miss M. I'm not sure, all he said was "he hit it with some Nitrogen to help it dry before it rained". But he also said he didn't need to do that, because the rain held off, and he was able to flip it again to let it air dry.

He sprayed it yesterday early, and is baling today if that makes a difference?

 

[TMTex]

It sounds like he used nitrogen gas to dry it. We use it to dry large electrical cables when we suspect moisture intrusion. It takes hours for us, but I guess hay doesn't need to be completely desiccated.

 

[fuzzy9]

Yes Tex.........that's probably what it was, it was used just to speed dry it.

Well, I called my vet, and she said she wouldn't worry about feeding it at all, we should have no ill effects from it. She said it's widely used in this area. I'm leaning more towards trusting her, and just buying it. Hay from this year is already at $5, and my supplier is charging me $3.50 off the wagon.