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Post by penny70 on Jan 8, 2011 11:48:47 GMT 1
Have just been informed by our YO that he will only be able to supply 2 bales of hay a week per horse due to shortages...I know that we are lucky that he does his own hay, and Mouse tends to get through only 2 bales or so a week depending on how tight the bales are. So much as we are not as stuck as some of the big horse owners who will definitely have to buy in hay, I don't have the transport to bring in the odd bale.
Therefore, I'll use a hay replacer daily for part of Mouse's forage ration so we should manage (as long as it doesn't snow again, fingers tightly crossed). At the moment he gets 2 heaped large scoops HiFi Lite in the morning to carry his supplements, and 1 heaped scoop HiFi Lite in the evening which he's happy with, as well as 2 slices hay every morning while he stands in to dry his feet off.
Question is - what do you all use if you use hay replacer? Unmolassed sugar beet? HiFi? Would be interested in your opinions of the best hay replacer. Not sure that haylage would be suitable as he can get footy if I'm not careful, and I definitely don't want laminitis striking...
Many thanks.
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Post by julz on Jan 8, 2011 11:55:15 GMT 1
Hi, in my feild we have jay who's a gypsy cob and two shetlands, one of which is also lami prone. They are fed just one slice of hay a day when snowy (two if it's really deep) I feed Jay (my loan) one or two cups of speedi beet and some Safe and sound (which is fine for lami's) between three.... Jay gets the bigger amount and the Shets get a handful each. He was on that for the four weeks or so of the really bad weather and I honestly thought he would put some weight on (due to lack of excersize) but when ridden last week his girth went up to the same holes.
So long as they have a good amount of fibre going through thier systems they will be fine.
Also due to Kellys post about horses not drinking enough water and becoming colicky i drown the speedi beet to make sure they are also taking in fluids when eating.
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Post by specialsparkle3 on Jan 8, 2011 12:17:16 GMT 1
I am horrified that a yard owner would say something like this. How much hay a horse eats per week depends on so many things -----------------it's size, it's breed, it's condition, the amount of grass available etc etc etc. If your pony needs more hay than 2 bales a week, surely you can find someone to fetch it for you?
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Post by kirsten on Jan 8, 2011 13:02:52 GMT 1
I don't know if this will help, but I have just started feeding Fibrebeet (mix of Speedibeet and Alfalfa). I called the company and its a complete feed (inc hay replacer, if you feed enough of it) as long as you ad a vits and min supp. My 3 absolutely love it and even my old boy has put on weight, so you only need to feed small amounts - in fact I feed less than half the recommended amount! Its marketed as a fibre based conditioning feed without fizz. This is only our second month on it but so far I am impressed.
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Amanda Seater
Grand Prix Poster
Listen to your horse you may be surprised what he may tell you about yourself
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Post by Amanda Seater on Jan 8, 2011 13:17:44 GMT 1
I think the cheapest hay replacer aside from sugar beet would be blue bag grass nuts and chopped oat straw. If using straw or sugar beet only it is important to make sure that vits and mins are added at a required rate. HAy will have some but the other stuff won't have as much. Grass nuts should be ok but always worth a check. I use alfalfa and grass nuts- but I haven't always been able to use alfalfa due to different grazing and conditions.
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allyny
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Post by allyny on Jan 8, 2011 13:43:50 GMT 1
I too am amazed that your yard owner has told you hay is to be rationed and echo SS3's suggestion that you buy in your own to make up any difference. Surely this would be better than having to buy extra feed?
If others are buying in extra hay on your yard, can you not come to an arrangement with one of them to buy X amount off them so you can stick to the diet your pony is used to ie hay plus Hi-fi Lite for his supps.
What was the ruling on hay before this?
I must admit I have no experience whatsoever of "hay replacers" (so probably speaking a load of rubbish) but can they really be as long lasting and occupying as a bale of hay?
Fingers crossed you don't get any snow!
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Post by Zuzan on Jan 8, 2011 14:43:14 GMT 1
we're feeding add lib straw which seems to be fine...
I also have grass chop.. Readigrass / Justgrass which is great... but do feed it wetted as otherwise might wolf it down too eagerly and get choke...
Grass nuts / Alfalfa / lucerne nuts are also good soaked .. If it snow again you could give a half / bucket twice a day and I exect that would pretty much replace the snow bound grazing .. string your hay out longer...
I had a hairy cob on loan many moons ago and he lived happily on beet pulp in snowy / icy patches..
The up side of beet and grass, alfalf / lucerne nuts soaked means you can be sure they are taking liquid on board too.
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allyny
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Posts: 791
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Post by allyny on Jan 8, 2011 14:47:52 GMT 1
we're feeding add lib straw which seems to be fine... I also have grass chop.. Readigrass / Justgrass which is great... but do feed it wetted as otherwise might wolf it down too eagerly and get choke... Grass nuts / Alfalfa / lucerne nuts are also good soaked .. If it snow again you could give a half / bucket twice a day and I exect that would pretty much replace the snow bound grazing .. string your hay out longer... I had a hairy cob on loan many moons ago and he lived happily on beet pulp in snowy / icy patches.. The up side of beet and grass, alfalf / lucerne nuts soaked means you can be sure they are taking liquid on board too. I'm finding this thread really interesting Zuzan - you say you feed adlib straw and don't mention hay. do you not feed hay at all? Is hay really that expensive/rare in the UK? I had no idea there was such a market for hay replacers. Well if theres one thing I'm learning today, its that you never stop learning!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by jes on Jan 8, 2011 14:50:05 GMT 1
At a yard I used to be on, we were allowed 1 haynet per night and no more, which wasn't enough for my lad, so I used to give him a large tubtrug with a mixture of HiFi Lite, Readigrass and speedibeet, plus he was bedded on straw so I always made sure he had fresh straw down daily too.
The Timothy Horsehage is suitable for laminitics if you can get hold of some.
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Post by Zuzan on Jan 8, 2011 14:54:37 GMT 1
Hi yes we have small bale hay too... but we're stretching it as it looks like we're in for a long winter... the grass wont get going here until April / May.. to put it in perspective last spring we had blizzard conditions ( roads blocked etc ) in late April...
Ours will also graze the gorse bushes around the field perimiter..
I really like feeding grass chop up here because of our long hard winters... often weeks with no green at all....
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allyny
Olympic Poster
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Post by allyny on Jan 8, 2011 15:00:32 GMT 1
Golly, yes, that does put it into perspective! That late snow and the fact that your grass starts growing late obvioulsy affects your potential hay crop too.
Interesting stuff!
modified to correct my spelling!!!!!
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Post by Zuzan on Jan 8, 2011 15:05:14 GMT 1
we actually have really good hay (quantity and quality in Easter Ross.. good soil and good growing conditions) ... too but we just need more winter forage as it is that bit colder and winter lasts longer..
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Post by holi on Jan 8, 2011 15:13:27 GMT 1
hay advertsied this week in local paper was £8 a small bale!!
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Post by Furiey on Jan 8, 2011 15:51:18 GMT 1
Yikes!
I'm collecting 2 bales at a time in the boot of my car as the local supplier won't let out a load in one go. Still paying £5/small bale for it.
I have never known hay this scarce. The cold winter followed by the hot, dry summer meant that the grass just did not grow around here. I cut my lawn twice in the whole of last year! It's definitely not usually like this and I so hope this coming year will be better.
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Post by horsefeed on Jan 8, 2011 16:58:32 GMT 1
Its tough this year... as a horse owner I would never want my horse without hay but as a yard owner hay prices as crippling this year. I run a grass livery yard and hay is included within the livery the problem being is my horses come in daily for a feed and for several hours after feed they only pick at hay, I would say mine eat a 1/3 less hay a day from just have 1 reasonable feed, they are all holding weight and none are fat but one of my liveries never gives any additional feed and when you suggest it she says they have hay, I have tried explaining to her that all though I include hay she has to supplement it but she doesn't. I normally feed large round hay in field but from last week I have swapped to large squares and feeding one large slice per horse per day, the ponies eat slightly less and the horses slightly more so work out about right, my horses are not hungry when I bring them in and 2 of them are even leaving feed when I feed them, and I am using about a 1/3 less hay although, I feel slightly mean in doing so I need to preserve my hay as if we run out completely we will be completely stuffed!
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