Ad lib haylage woes

I am now wondering whether I am going to some kind of HHO hell because my TB is living out, unrugged, with no extra forage ration, on a short cropped field, high hedge but no actual field shelter, and he is fat as butter, so will stay that way!
 
SpottedCat said:
I am now wondering whether I am going to some kind of HHO hell because my TB is living out, unrugged, with no extra forage ration, on a short cropped field, high hedge but no actual field shelter, and he is fat as butter, so will stay that way!
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OP stated in her first post that the horses were being fed haylage because the fields were so wet - leading me, at least, to assume there was very little grazing and therefore her horses needed the additional support. If this is the case, then I think it bad management to withhold fodder if it's needed.

But, if there's plenty of grazing, then there's no issue.
 
we have 6 horse who do come in at night but they have 10 haynets put out and five pile of hay a day so there is no fighting but enough for them to munch on throughout the day yes it takes time but we choose to take on that many horses we have to make the time to do what is best for them
 
clydesdale said:
it takes time but we choose to take on that many horses we have to make the time to do what is best for them
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if they are youngsters and brood mares then as you say they need the nutrients in the extra forage you are giving and they would need it daily. there is no benefit to a horse in having more than they need for 5 days and not enough for 2.
feeding silage which is wet an easily digestible for 5 days then straw which is dry, course and far harder to digest is setting your horses up for compacted colic. this is especially true for youngsters.
what ever you decide to do needs to be done an a daily basis not weekly.

i would be putting hay out in piles twice daily, yes its more work-but its your decision to have horses so you need to deal with the work load that goes with then or pay someone else to do it.
 
amymay said:
OP stated in her first post that the horses were being fed haylage because the fields were so wet - leading me, at least, to assume there was very little grazing and therefore her horses needed the additional support. If this is the case, then I think it bad management to withhold fodder if it's needed.

But, if there's plenty of grazing, then there's no issue.
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If the horses are doing well weight wise, how can there be a lack of grazing? Genuine question! Our fields are wet - my horse's field has some ducks living on the part of it which is currently under water.
 
OP - why not use electric tape to section off the haylage feeder and slow them down that way. You can keep them off the haylage for a few hours a day each day so that a bale lasts a week then.

Or you could do what our YO does for the horses that have hay in the field, she has feeders but doesn't put out a full bale in one go. She just fills it with a set amount once day (they aren't out 24/7 if yours are you could do twice a day). That way they are getting forage each day so there is no feast or famine but you can limit the amount they get through a bit more. A few hours in each day where they have no option but to pick at the grass is less harmful than them having a total diet change for two days.
 
SpottedCat said:
If the horses are doing well weight wise, how can there be a lack of grazing? Genuine question! Our fields are wet - my horse's field has some ducks living on the part of it which is currently under water.
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You know its a fair point Spotted Cat. In Scotland, the fields have got wetter and wetter over the last five years and it is tempting to assume that there is no grass - I too have aquired a rather fetching set of ducks - when the condition of your horses tells you different. All mine have bedded shelters, are in small herds of 3 full size equivalents and have ring feeders which they do not have to fight for. One set of 3 (full grown ones) have let a bale go off so there must be enough grass. I just can't see it.
 
scarymare said:
You know its a fair point Spotted Cat. In Scotland, the fields have got wetter and wetter over the last five years and it is tempting to assume that there is no grass - I too have aquired a rather fetching set of ducks - when the condition of your horses tells you different. All mine have bedded shelters, are in small herds of 3 full size equivalents and have ring feeders which they do not have to fight for. One set of 3 (full grown ones) have let a bale go off so there must be enough grass. I just can't see it.
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I think you're over thinking it ;)

If the horses are warm enough, fat enough, and cheerful enough, not picking fights with each other or developing hooligan-like behaviour, then they're probably getting enough from the grass. Well that's how I look at it anyway! Don't feed them to make yourself feel better, feed them when they need it - it doesn't sound like they do right now.
 
Straw is a good idea, just make sure it's oat or barley, not wheat. And for gods sake don't feed silage as some one mentioned. It's for cattle only!!!!!!!
 
Posted prematurely

Silage is most definitely not easily digested by horses so worrying about straw causing colic is irrelevant if your also feeding silage, that is pretty much guaranteed to kill them.
 
ribbons said:
Posted prematurely

Silage is most definitely not easily digested by horses so worrying about straw causing colic is irrelevant if your also feeding silage, that is pretty much guaranteed to kill them.
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you know i think i get brain freeze when discussing silage or haylage so can everyone forgive me and from now on whenever i post the word silage read it as haylage then brain me:o

haylage haylage haylage haylage
 
Jools - I read it as haylage - I think you did it on a previous thread and it went wild that time too :)

I take back my earlier comment - op sounds a bit lazy with this dilemma :) op - do what's best for them not for you.
 
It isn't a "ridiculous idea" to put out piles for ten. I used to have to do it for eighteen when I worked at a stud.

As Amymay said, I loaded up a trailer with slices from a large bale, hitched it up to the quad, took a pitchfork out and did half a slice (which is what naturally falls off if you pick up a large slice with a pitchfork) per pile.

It took me a while, but it saved a hell of a lot of waste, and meant that nobody got too fat.

If you don't have time to do that, then say that, rather than telling people their ideas are "ridiculous". People are trying to help you, and offering advice. If something won't work for you, explain why politely, and then people will be more likely to think on it and come back with a suggestion that may work for you, rather than rolling their eyes and leaving you to it.
 
Jools1234
Thank god it was a slip up, I was worried about the thought of people thinking silage was fine to feed.
I hadn't seen you make the same slip of the keyboard previously, sorry.
 
Putting piles for 18 when it's your job and you have a quad and trailer is easy. Trying to do it along with a job elsewhere and not have the luxury of equipment is quite another.
Unless any of you know op personally I think it's bang out of order to accuse her of being lazy. For all you know she works twice the hours you do. And no, I don't know her anymore than you do.

There is absolutely no problem with feeding a mix of haylage and oat/barley straw. The big bale net covers sound interesting, may be your answer.
 
ribbons said:
Putting piles for 18 when it's your job and you have a quad and trailer is easy. Trying to do it along with a job elsewhere and not have the luxury of equipment is quite another.
Unless any of you know op personally I think it's bang out of order to accuse her of being lazy. For all you know she works twice the hours you do. And no, I don't know her anymore than you do.

There is absolutely no problem with feeding a mix of haylage and oat/barley straw. The big bale net covers sound interesting, may be your answer.
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there is a problem with feeding straw to foals their digestive system may struggle to cope with feed that is not easily digestable resulting in compacted colic.

op do your horses get hard feed and supplements?
i am not criticising, mine did not as she had good grazing, its just if not feeding straw has very little vitimin and mineral content
 
I think you need to critically examine your grass supply. I had the vet for my 2yr old Dartie's jabs at the end of last month and she suggested I ought to cut down her feed as she is decidedly plump. To which I had to admit she gets nothing but 24/7 grass and a handful chop with pink powder in, so restricting grazing would be the alternative as the grazing is obviously more nutritious than it looks. I know she, and the other 2 small ponies, are doing quite well enough on our wet, grazed down small paddocks that I don't need to supplement with hay/haylage in the fields yet.
Unless your fields are total quagmires of mud I would guess they are still getting enough from the grass to keep their gut motility up and provide enough calories.
 
Big bales of haylage are a pain to move and ration. I've four youngsters eating a large bale in a feeder right now and I know it is not going to work! (It's 2011 haylage and in excellent condition. Who said it doesn't keep?).

What I've done in the past is to put a big bale of haylage into the quad trailer with the tractor fore loader and then split the bale at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock with a hay knife. Then fork off sections to feed on the ground.

I've got the ponies in three lots. One lot of four (with a big bale), two mares and a stallion who get small bales of hay, and a mare and foal on five acres of aftermath who don't get any extra fodder yet (she's as fat as a pig anyway)!

When I feed big bales of hay or straw I put some fishing net (1" to 1"?) over the top to stop the wind blowing it away. The net is not expensive and I don't see why it shouldn't be used as a giant hay net, but I usually put some big bales through the small baler anyway which makes them easier to store and handle.

How you get big bales of haylage into a quad trailer without a tractor and loader is a problem. But it is surprising what can be done with a second vehicle, a long rope, and a bit of imagination.:D Then I suppose I could cut the bale in the yard and fork it into the trailer....but that is double handling and I'm lazy sod.
 
I'd go with the piles too. And yes, I've done it for a herd of 12, of which only 2 were mine, before & after work. And not being mine, the manners of a few left a lot to be desired. Haylage bale was fenced off, I went in & threw 13 piles over the fence at various points. One owner was 13, & also managed to do her share without being in danger with this method. Just make sure fence is high enough to put off jumpers.
 
ribbons said:
Putting piles for 18 when it's your job and you have a quad and trailer is easy. Trying to do it along with a job elsewhere and not have the luxury of equipment is quite another.
Unless any of you know op personally I think it's bang out of order to accuse her of being lazy. For all you know she works twice the hours you do. And no, I don't know her anymore than you do.

There is absolutely no problem with feeding a mix of haylage and oat/barley straw. The big bale net covers sound interesting, may be your answer.
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I wasn't for a minute suggesting that the OP is lazy - I was merely saying that it isn't a "ridiculous" idea to put out piles for a large number of horses. If the OP doesn't have time to do that, then she should say so, rather than telling people they're being "ridiculous". I know what it's like to fit horses in around other things, and believe me I know what it's like to not have equipment to make things easier. I still tell my quad that I love her every time I use her! I remember all the winters struggling without her!
 
Could you section your field off so that they only have access to haylage for night time? When I've bought in round haylage to share with my liveries my OH has cut them up with his chainsaw, could you do this as I know how incredibly time consuming and messy it can be to pull apart the rounds?
 
scarymare said:
Yes, me too, I've always shied away from working yearlings :D:D. Funnily enough when I posted this there was another thread about a haynet topper for big bales which I think I am going to get 3 of. Putting out in piles? For 10 of them? Seriously?????. As for the poster who asked why feeding haylage when there is grass, WHAT ??????? - Obviously I don't feed hard feed so of course they need the additional nutrients of first cut forage DOH

I think half the problem is the quality of it, which is much better than the stuff I used to make. Would love to feed hay but there isn't any up here due to crap summer.
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Is there any need to be so rude?

DOH yourself complaining your stock is too fat while feeding adlib haylage.
 
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