Alternatives to hay for two fatties- struggling for storage

basilcob

basilcob

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So I rent a small yard with two stables and a sand arena. I have one small shed for storage which holds 10 small bales of hay max. I'm looking for an alternative bagged and sealed forage to store outside to; allowing me to buy larger quantities of a consistent quality. The other issue would be that I have two ponies prone to weight gain and although they've never had lami I would imagine they'd be ideal candidates! I've found the blue bagged marksway horsehayage (high fibre) and was wondering if it's any good? Or if they're are any other similar products out there? Wrapped hay being ideal!
 
You can get wrapped hay - I've used it in the past. Soaked for 12 hours for fatties and I've even used straw for serious fatties

Eta - that blue stuff is lovely but awfully rich!
 
basilcob said:
Yeah I've tried oat straw previously but again struggle for storage. Where do you source wrapped hay? Is it straight from a farmer? I'm in Lancashire :D
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I'm in Lancashire too (Rossendale). I've previously got it from farmers but now I have enough land I'm making my own. I did haylege this year and I'm not totally in love with it. Next year I'm going to try either small bale haylege or wrapped hay. I only got one cut this year and I'm hoping for 2 next year so I have a surplus.
 
Ah I'm in Preston. Local feed merchants sell either small bale haylege or traditional small bales of hay at a ridiculous price too! Most farmers I've found either sell small hay bales or large round haylege which is far to rich. The latest batch of hay I've bought is beautiful and they love it but she only had 40 surplus bales. I've not found any suppliers of wrapped hay, which is why I was wondering about the blue bagged haylege. May have to have a trip to Rossendale next year!
 
I wouldn't advise feeding haylage of any kind to good doer ponies. When I bought my Draft mare we were using big bale haylage and she was very overweight, I had to feed her oat straw chaff to keep her digestive system moving and her weight down. We have changed now to big bale hay, which we keep outside, under a tarpaulin in wet weather. Her weight is stable, I can give her ad-lib hay and she is fine. We have our big bales delivered weekly by the farmer, one bale feeds 4 big horses for about a week.
 
Theoretically haylage is less rich than hay made from the same grass because fermentation uses up some of the sugar. I guess though since it's so yummy they tend to stuff themselves more and it's usually made of rye grass. However I have fed the Marskway stuff (timothy and high fibre) and another brand of meadow haylage without problem to my good doer mare last winter when we couldn't use the field.
 
Palindrome said:
Theoretically haylage is less rich than hay made from the same grass because fermentation uses up some of the sugar. I guess though since it's so yummy they tend to stuff themselves more and it's usually made of rye grass. However I have fed the Marskway stuff (timothy and high fibre) and another brand of meadow haylage without problem to my good doer mare last winter when we couldn't use the field.
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This

Haylage can actually be better than hay
My Shetland was on marks way high fibre haylage for 10 weeks on box rest with no problems at all.
If you're not sure, get it tested :)
 
Yes I've used large bale haylege before from a farmer and even fed in smaller amounts they ballooned. I have trouble storing outside as the yard owner is not horsey and does not like any hay dregs at all. The advantages outweigh the bad though as we get sole use of facilities. Just been reading the analysis of high fibre marksway and high fibre wrightpak which seem to compare favourably but perhaps are no comparison to soaked hay. Thanks for your help
 
I feed a packaged high fibre haylage to a good doer with no problems. I would probably feed soaked hay if it was more practical purely for cost reasons, I supplement the haylage with a high fibre chaff and also add fast fibre in the depths of winter.
 
Check in Yell.com for agricultural contractors and ring and ask them. If they don't make and sell their own they will probably bale and wrap for farmers who sell, they'll point you in the right direction. I'd go with wrapped hay, and make sure you have rat and mouse bait under and between - the little boggers love it.
 
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