Any ideas on Hay the horses won't eat?

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thezulu

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My local farmer has supplied me with hay for 3 years in large bales and is an old man and would say very traditional. He keeps it by for me in his barn and delivers (bless) once a week. He also charges me a very reasonable price in todays current market. But......

I am getting bales that my horses just wont eat at all or they just pick at? I would be expecting to go through 3 big bales a week for the 5 horses in the yard and its lasting about 2 weeks and then I am throwing away a lot and supplementing with the other hay that I have stored for when my local farmer runs out. One of the horses is totally food orientated, 16.1 ID who would normally eat 20lb a night and is eating about 5lb if that...

It doesn't look or smell bad.... infact it looks like the best I have had from him. Funnily enough if I get a bale from him that I think looks naff and a bit mouldy they can't eat it quick enough!!

Any ideas? Can I get it analysed from somewhere? I have tried mentioning it too him (not wanting to upset) and he just laughs and says they will eat when they get hungry enough.... but that does not appear to be happening. I am worried we might start getting colic etc because they are not getting enough fibre... and maybe there is something wrong with it?
 
I have had the same problem this winter- my two greedy boys will eat ANYTHING.. but wouldnt touch the stuff we have had from the same farm for 2 years or so.
Finally came to the conclusion (by ousting the truth out of the farmer!) that he had upped his pesticides/treatments on the hay this year...

I threw the rest of mine away and found a different supplier, although at twice the price. I decided that it was a good enough reason they wont eat it, obv got a funny taste even though its green and smells amazing!

Does your farmer use/spray anything on the fields??
Might be worth mentioning to him... :)
 
What a dilemma! I have had this problem before. In fact, I amgetting the odd bale of haylage that the horses are turning their noses up at. It smells an ooks beautiful. However, the first time it happened I decided that if they still had not eaten up by the time I went to hay up at 10 pm, that I would take it all out and open up a new bale. When I looked, all the horses had eaten every scrap. I guess they just preferred the other bales as they'd been spoilt. However, a few years ago, when using hay I had a big delivey of lovely looking and smelling hay. It was slightly courser than the thin madow hy but looked excellent quality. But the hoses would not touch it at all and I had to ask the farmer to take it back, which he reluctantly did. I don't know what to suggest really. Could you say to him 'I know this sounds silly, but my horses actually prefer the hay that doen't look so nice'? And show him what you mean?
 
We have had some hay this year that the horses won't eat. We made it so I know nothing has changed.
My farmer (husband) tells me that as the grass grew a lot after the hay was cut and he didn't top it in the autumn, when he made the hay next (last) summer there is a lot of old 'rank' grass in some areas of the meadows which doesn't taste nice.
If I soak it they won't even touch it but will pick if its dry. I tell them many a starving pony would be delighted to see it. I mix a bit of haylage in to make it nicer (only a tiny bit).
 
Cant really help, but my cat loves chicken. At least he loves the horrible gristly / fatty bits, the actual meat he wont touch.

All I can suggest is that your horses aren't used to it. Try to continue mixing until they get used to it. Otherwise, try taking a net to a friend & see what their horse makes of it.
 
I had this one year. I always buy from the same people, it is very nice meadow hay. For some reason that particular year it had no "nose" and by that I mean, usually their hay was fragrent and had a lovely grassy, sweet smell and the horses loved. For some reason this batch did not smell of anything and they just would not eat it. In the end I rang the farm and explained and they took it all back and swopped it for something else. They agreed it was not dusty or mouldy, it just had no smell. Their cows ate it quickly enough.

This years hay is much the same, it was very hot when they made it, so it is really hard and brittle and doesn't have much smell. They are eating it, but they don't really tuck into it.
 
Thanks at least I am not the only one!!! I will try asking him again. But again it just seems so wasteful. I have tried throwing around the edges of the fields thinking they will eventually eat and they won't. So I am getting to a point when I may have to start burning it to get rid of it. I really don't want to upset him as he is a dear thing and as I say is saving me a fortune.... but would rather have horses eating!
 
Hi,

Just a thought, are your horses drinking well? A common complication resulting from inadequate water consumption during cold weather is decreased feed intake. Even if good-quality forage is offered, the horse will cut back on consumption if it is not drinking sufficient water. One reason for this is the lack of saliva to mix with the feed as it is being chewed. A normal adult horse in a state of good hydration will secrete up to 10 gallons of saliva per day to help soften its food as it is chewed and swallowed. If a horse does not drink enough water, it will eat less because it cannot digest the food easily. It has been observed that dehydrated horses will not eat due to their instinct that water is required for their digestion. Especially during unusual weather changes, horses can back off drinking, for instance a horse that is chilled by a sudden cold spell may not drink enough.
 
This is so interesting. We had this for about a week some time before Christmas. The boys are kept at livery with about 14 others and they all refused to eat one load of hay consisting of about 8 large bales. It looked and smelled absolutely fine. In the morning all 16 horses had full haynets. One of our lads will eat ANYTHING - skanky old hay in the poo-picking skip, wet muddy hay on the floor, but he wouldn't touch this. After about 3 days of this I dug around at the back of the barn and found some nasty brown looking stuff which they would eat as they were all starting to drop weight. Once we got through that particular 8-bale load of hay (most of it thrown away) they started eating the hay again. What on earth was wrong with it?? PS the yard makes all its own hay.
 
My friend had this problem and I suggested soaking the hay (only for a few mins) with a gloop of molasses in the water - problem solved and pony will now eat the hay. Obviously no good if you've got a laminitic etc

Maybe water down some molasses and spray it on............?
 
ive had this problem too .strangely the nicest looking hay ive had but again all 3 sniff and wont touch it ,yet other bales will rip it out of my hand . have no exclamation for it but strange that a lot of people have the same problem.
 
Bizarre

We have one bale siting to the side they just won't touch - yet the other bales in the same batch have been devoured.

It looks just the same and smells the same. The gobbled up a bale with a mouldy patch instead.

it's a nice bale - no weeds, softish and sweet smelling meadow hay - just like the others!
 
I find that if I steam the hay my horses will eat almost anything - stick it in a wheelie bin and pour boiling kettles of water over it - 3 for a bit load - and leave for about 20 mins - bring out when still steaming and they can't get enough
 
Can I just ask stroppy why you ask if sheep had been grazed? It's just that we have been having the same problem with hay produced by our yard, most bales are fine but some the horses are just refusing to eat and sheep are grazed in some areas of the farm.
 
I have tried steaming and this doesn't work. Yes interesting about sheep. I would be interested to hear what the answer is, as that is a possibility.
 
Mine have been the same this year....one bale they will eat, one they won't....I can't see *any* differences between what they will and wont eat!!!

I have been hard on them and emptied their nets out into the field rather than giving them fresh....they seem to eat it when they are all competing for it outside!!!

Mine comes from a farmer who doesnt have sheep.....

Thankfully, none of mine seem to have lost any weight, so they are obviously getting enough anyway.....
 
mine eat same bales as other farm animals, and a rank bale gets put in feeder in field and that goes betweenn 3 horses and one cow and calf, cant afford to be fussy, as short supply and if hungry they will eat it.
 
Can't help on why they're not eating it, but if they're not just use it as bedding, more or less the same idea as straw and stops it being completely wasted :)
 
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