Anyone else horses fussy with this years hay?

Thank you all so much! I have been going mad this week with my greedy boy who is leaving his haylage. It is very out of character for him and as he is 21 I was starting to worry. He has come in this week at night and wasn't really eating so I tried him on his hay he has been having previously and not interested in that either. He is still wolfing down his bucket feed and grazing happily so I am guessing that the grass is still doing ok and he is not that hungry. Or at least I hope so.
 
Have had to give in and get haylage :(

Hay just too inconsistent - they'd eat hay from one bale, but then not touch stuff from next two bales for instance. Given fields were under water/mud and they had to stay in for few days, can't have them not eating and they really were eating very little. They're eating haylage fine but I've noticed it's not as good as last years from same supplier. Must have just been a crap year for hay/haylage generally I guess


With mine, it's definitely not good grass filling them up! Limited turnout and if anything field is over grazed and horse sick - there is NO grass out there, hence I need them to eat planty of forage when they're in. Thankfully they move to spring/summer grazing in March so this hassle will all be a painful memory!! God - how long is it til March??!!
 
I posted previously about the poor quality of our home-grown hay this year. I now have to cherry-pick the bales, but the problem is that despite visual examination, I don't know how good/bad it is until I open it!! I now have several opened bales that are very stalky & "bottomy". Any ideas about what I can do with these opened bales or the ones that really look poor? I hate to waste this hay and would be happy to give it to someone for their sheep/cattle. I'm in Suffolk, so any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
I posted exactly this last year!
We made hay from the same field we have used last ten years, it looked and smelt lovely but horses wouldn't touch it, even when there was no grass or in all night. I tried all sorts, soaking it, spraying it with mint tea and molasses and nothing worked. They would eat the few horrible old dusty bales from the previous year and I ended up buying some two year old hay that really didn't look that great but they loved it.
Hayman said other people tha had bought small bales from same field also took it back. We ended up giving him most of it back for his cows and buying haylage.
This year they are eating it no problem (though I kept less thinking they wouldn't and hence buying haylage as well grr!)
 
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