Age of hay

Paint it Lucky

Paint it Lucky

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 March 2007
Messages
3,587
Location
Surrey
Visit site
Just a pondering post!

When I was young and learning about horse management I remember being told how you shouldn't use hay less than six months old as it needs time to mature/dry out properly and ideally hay should be a year old or more (correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure this is what I was taught)!

Now with all the bad weather we've been having and hay shortages what hay there is seems to be from this summer and so not very old and in my case still quite green and young looking. Neither of my horses are very keen on it.

Does anyone else remember being taught this (I may just be making it up!) I know there's not much that can be done to change the situation so bit of a pointless post really. Is old hay really better/and is young hay harmfull in any way?
 
In the olden days we were told not to use the season's hay until after Christmas but I've always fed new season's hay almost straight away with no ill effects. I'm surprised your horses don't like it as it's a bit like eating warm cake from the oven apparently!

I use haylage now and am feeding this season's.
 
I think my horses are just fussy! One now accepts it and eats it, the other would much rather tuck into his nice clean straw bed than my nice fresh pile of hay!
 
Paint it Lucky said:
Just a pondering post!

When I was young and learning about horse management I remember being told how you shouldn't use hay less than six months old as it needs time to mature/dry out properly and ideally hay should be a year old or more (correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure this is what I was taught)!

Now with all the bad weather we've been having and hay shortages what hay there is seems to be from this summer and so not very old and in my case still quite green and young looking. Neither of my horses are very keen on it.

Does anyone else remember being taught this (I may just be making it up!) I know there's not much that can be done to change the situation so bit of a pointless post really. Is old hay really better/and is young hay harmfull in any way?
Click to expand...
Put itdown to experience, you were clearly taught by someone who knew nothing about hay. What you were taught might well have been true when hay was put into ricks and not baled. It is not true now.Like so much horsey Bol+++s that gets passed around,too many people teach things without the faintest idea if they are right.Its good that you ask questions!
 
This is interesting as all of the horses on the yard are refusing to eat this years hay.... so we now have 200 bales that no one will eat!! Even the fatty laminatic will eat anythings wont touch it!!

really really weird!
 
Because of the drought ,a lot of hay has a high "non protein " nitrogen content. This and a lot more leaf than usual makes the hay taste bitter.
 
In the 'old days' hay took much longer to make, the machinery wasn't as good so often hay was not as dry as it could have been before it was baled and stacked so it was possible the bales were still making and there was heat in the bale.
I can remember climbing stacks to check for heat. This summer it was so hot so hay was cut,turned, baled and stacked in 48hrs and some haylage was cut and baled on the same day.
Most years I have had to feed new hay, you just have to remember that if its early cut June hay it is full of goodies and the equvaalnt of turning them out in a grass field so intruduce slowly and I mix it with straw.
 
I was always told at least 6weeks, but mainly i think it needs to be dry. This summer we had baled a couple of fields and it was during the heatwave we had it dried a lovely green colour and was bone dry when it came in, we left it a couple of weeks in the barn and then fed it in small amounts with last years hay to the ones who were in, They loved it! we now feed haylage form late summer, it is fine and they love it. I think hay just needs to be bone dry,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top