# Allergic to hay



## Jessaba (May 13, 2010)

Sooo I'm starting to think I'm allergic to our hay :shrug: ....I've never noticed it before, but the last few days my arms have been itchy and real red after I feed :hair: ....we get our hay from our neighbor who bales the hay...gah! Oh well the things we do for our goaties!  


This is just one of those things that I can't get around  I NEED my goats so I shall suffer!


----------



## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I'm terribly allergic to grass hay...but that's not stopped me from owning livestock. :laugh: During first cutting every year i'm completely stuffed up, itchy watery eyes, sneezing...it's miserable. Luckily I feed alfalfa pretty much year round and it doesn't bother me to much at all.


----------



## Coraxfeather (Oct 9, 2008)

I am allergic to the dust in the hay. I come out of the barn couphing and when I clean up my kid's room in my house I couph up a lung or two. SO I feel for ya.


----------



## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

I'm not alergic to hay but I am allergic to something in the soil on our land and surounding area. If I get it on any soft skin like the back of my knees or underside of my arms or neck I break out in red itchy welps. It really sucks to be allergic to stuff you have to work with often.


----------



## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

Maybe this is what I have?
I have these itchy "goosebumps" on mostly my left hand. It is some sort of irritation and there as many itchy bumps as goosebumps. I am allergic to everything really....people ask me "what can you eat". I am allergic to a lot of strong shop chemicals as well( my head swells up like a balloon.. migraine ).
I am allergic to 9 fruits and veggies and milk and eggs and I am not supposed to have most red meats (beef mainly).
With milk I used to be so allergic to it that if I had some I would throw up like it was 2 weeks past due.
I have since built up an immunity to it and had it for about 5 years. Then switched back to goats milk...then the goats are dry and it took me 3 weeks of stomach problems before I realized it was the store milk.

So what I would do to have goats milk at least 10 months out of the year. Because switching back and forth is something my body can't handle apparently. I am allergic to some weeds (I think rag weed) and I am wondering if it is in my hay.


----------



## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Wear long sleeves and gloves when handling your hay. It won't help with all the other things, but it will help with the hay.

Jan


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Doesnt goat milk help with allergies???


----------



## Jessaba (May 13, 2010)

It doesn't bother me because by the morning my arms are normal....til I feed of course  The dust in the hay makes me sneeze like crazy and even in the barn with all the dust from hay and dirt Im a walking sneezing fit!


----------



## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

I am allergic to hay as well. I own horses and goats, so I guess I am a gluton for punishment. I have eczema, that is irritated by my skin allergies. And that is what causes the red bumps and welts on me. I mostly get it in the inside of my elbows and throat, but I can get it anywhere. 

This is what I do . . . 

Wear long sleeves when feeding or grooming, even in the summer because being sweaty makes it worse! 

I keep certain chore clothes that I immediately change out of after chores even if I can't take a shower.

Shower afterwards, especially after grooming. I use cool water at first to wash everything off because hot water seems to irritate it worse.

I take over the counter Allegra (the walmart brand) as this is the one med taken orally that is good for skin allergies.

Make sure my skin is well hydrated with scentless lotions and body oils as dry skin is more susceptable to irritation.

Treat propblem spots that won't go away with hydocortizone cream for a few days. (I try everything else first)

Don't use harsh soaps (creamy body washes with mild scents and goats milk soap are my favorites).

For me, eating a lot of sugary items seems to make mine worse as well.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Devin has some good advice there.... :thumb: :wink: 



Another thing that may help is to get those masks.... so you don't have to directly breath the hay particles and dust while feeding..... :hug:


----------



## Jessaba (May 13, 2010)

I'll just deal  Its not THAT bad...could be worse....and I have a red wagon so I can just put the hay in there so I dont have to hold it as much...seems to have helped


----------



## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

Also I am saving up for a hay hook...they aren't expensive to get used, they are like $20. But every $20 bill I get my hands on seems to be gone in a few days :roll: .
They are really nice and being that I work with farmers doing hay it would be so much easier.
I get all cut up doing hay from finger tips to past my elbows and the next day I break out with itches...hurts to itch when its already bleeding. During the summer when you are working fast its hard to wear a long sleeve.


----------



## TNP (Sep 26, 2009)

I'm allergic to hay too. Before the fire, I had a set of "barn clothes" and would change out of them as soon as I got back in, and I had dust masks. I also kept my hair covered with a hat so hay dust couldn't get in my hair. Now I don't have enough clothes yet to have separate barn clothes again so I have to wear the same clothes the rest of the day, but it really seemed to help when I did.

I'm allergic to just about everything. Chemicals, anything scented, hay, trees, grass, cats, smoke, dust and the list goes on.


----------



## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

TNP we must be related lol! I too am allergic to everything it seems! Especially grass, trees, and animals. Its too bad as I love trees and animals, and those animals must eat grass ROFL!


----------



## goatshows (Oct 5, 2007)

Know that feeling, only some hay I break out In a rash from but normally if I have contact with it with bare skin. At ADGA nationals this year I was allergic to one of the hays there and was coughing, sneezing and stuffed up for weeks!


----------



## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Me too. I wear long sleeves and am usually sorry if I do not wear a hooded shirt with the hood up. If I happen to lift a fork full of hay over my head some invariably goes down my back. I do not stop itching until I shower and change clothes.
I do believe that drinking milk raw from the goats that are eating the hay and eating local raw honey helps. My allergies are helped greatly with raw colostrum but there is no way to have a year-round supply of that.


----------

