anybody NOT feeding hay yet??

buddy's mummy

buddy's mummy

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for horses that are out of course?? Buddy doesnt seem interested in his hay, there isnt a hell of a lot of grass out there either..he eats his hard feed with no problem.

anybody not feeding hay yet?
 
Nope! They're out 24/7 - fields are lovely and dry (apart from one gateway which is a bit like toffee :( ). Can't ever remember a year when the fields have been dry enough for them to be out now..... we've got our own land and the field they're in has plenty of grass which they're munching through at the moment.

Fantastic. Long may it continue.
 
It IS lovely at the minute. I was feeding lots of hay in the field until I opened the bigger field up. Now they still get a fair amount as it's their first winter out and I think they need it to keep warm. They eat up every scrap. Probably get around 10 kilos each at the minute. Will double that once the grass goes.
 
My oldie isn't because he has lots of grass and is as fat as a barrel.

My young cushings one, is on a starvation paddock, and as he has come down to the perfect weight now he is getting a decent amount of high fibre / low energy hay every day.
 
I've just put the 2 poorest doers out on 12 acres of rested meadow. The weeds are up to their eyeballs. The others will go over to join them in a couple of weeks, after they've had the last of what they're on at present.

New grass should last until mid Feb at the earliest - all winter if I'm really lucky.
 
I know it's tempting fate but..all ponies naked in the sunshine today, lots of grass, no mud at all and no need to feed hay. Long may it last
 
Three of mine are on 8 acres, there is less grass there than there was because they are big horses, but they have had haynets out for several days and only nibbled them when they are milling round the gate at feed times, so they are saying no thanks, we aren't hungry enough yet
 
I was feeding it while it was really cold and frosty, but now it's much warmer and there is still plenty grass there I've stopped giving it to see what they do.

I'm still in my first year of keeping horses myself and not at a yard full of advice, so I'm still in the trial and error stage! If they start hanging around the are looking suicidal I'll cave and chuck more in haha but I'm pretty sure they will be fine...
 
I am putting some out as ideally I'd like them to save some grass - it gets picked at and mostly ignored. It's taken them 3 days to eat a small bale (between 2.5 of them)
 
We're still strip grazing the winter field and are just under half way across. They'll get hay once the tape reaches the other side unless we have a lot of snow before that.
 
my TB is still living out and no hay, haylage or hard feed. Him and his companion will hopefully stay out 24/7 for the forseeable future, we will give hay when it starts to get really cold and the grass freezes
 
The grass is still growing, the lawns need mowing, I have a yellow rose in full bloom and loads of buds coming through. The fields are spot on for harrowing and rolling, just wrong time of year.

Some of mine have not had any hay yet.
 
We haven't got tons of grass but not feeding hay atm because they don't seem to need it. I'll probably only give it them if it snows or is frosty or if the grass goes really low but they shouldn't run out as we rotate :)
 
I gave my two their first lot of hay today.There is still grass in their field,but no goodness in it.They ate some hay,then went back to the grass,so obviously aren't hungry.
 
I don't understand all these horses not wanting their hay. Mine gobble every last strand of it even though there is plenty of grass in the field. I wonder if it's because it's haylage? But the horses are a nice weight and not getting fat or thin.
 
Not feeding hay either, I offer him some every few days to see his reaction. At the moment he'll pick at a few mouthfuls then ignore it, he is telling me that he isn't hungry :)
 
Ours rotate round so we've had no need to so far (apart from the odd occasion where we've left rotating a few days too late and the grass has been eaten down).

Last year was brilliant, we fed no hay the whole winter but we had a field of untouched grass to ourselves as the other liveries couldn't cope with walking half a mile down the road.
 
I wont be feeding anything other than the handful of soaked fibre nuts my old girl has her supplements and bute in for the foreseeable future unless there is a hard frost or it snows. She is looking 'very' well, and is on about 3 acres with sheep. She is the sort that will stand and eat a net even when there is grass around, so I don't put it out until she really needs it.

At the stud we are haying the outdoor lot, but only 4 small bales between 13 a day at the moment....It's rather surreal to think it is nearly xmas!
 
I did for about two weeks as old paddock was very sparse but luckily we have now moved to paddocks with lots of grass so I don't have to at the moment.
 
We've been feeding hay since October, but only to my mare. Her field companions don't get any. We have plenty of grass too but she's not held her condition as well this year (vet puts it down to her cushings) so we've been giving her a little helping hand. They might be moving field in a week or two as another horse will be joining them - it's 9 acres so plenty of space (there are only 4 of them and 2 are miniature shetlands) but it has been grazed by sheep until a month or so ago, so I'm not sure if she'll still need hay or not.
 
Wagtail said:
I don't understand all these horses not wanting their hay. Mine gobble every last strand of it even though there is plenty of grass in the field. I wonder if it's because it's haylage? But the horses are a nice weight and not getting fat or thin.
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Mine eat any offered but they've got plenty of grass.

Although they've got knee deep grass in places, the grass is old and probably not that tasty or nutritious. The hay offered is this year's stuff and smells and looks nice enough for me to eat, so they've obviously prefer that. They're not hungry though when it is offered and although they eat ever scrap, they're just picking rather than guzzling.
 
Mine wouldn't touch it if I offered. Too much grass.

I have 2 new rescues and I gave them hay as they are in a different field with less grass, but they still haven't touched a bite. And its lovely hay too
 
Not feeding any hay at present, loads of grass, my hunter mare gets a small hard feed & even she has a bit of a belly hoping to get thru winter with no hay needed unless we have a blanket of snow
 
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