Anyone feed hay/wheat straw?

kellybee

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I'm planning on mixing hay and straw for my two good doers (not a blade of grass in the trash paddock and the summer paddocks haven't really come through yet)

So... I've read conflicting info about feeding straw, some say wheat straw can cause impaction colic, others say its barley straw thats the problem as they can get choke on the whiskers, others say oat straw only - what are your opinions and what do you feed? I have two large rounds of wheat straw that are going to waste in the barn, but I'm reluctant to start feeding it until I've got my facts straight!

Thanks
 

shadowboy

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I feed wheat if soaked first to soften it and in very small quantities mixed thoroughly with the hay. Been doing it for 2 years with no problems
 

YorksG

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We feed one of ours on Barley staw mixed with haylage, but the other one colics with it, she has to have expensive oat straw chop, as we can't get baled oat straw :(
 

kellybee

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Id soak/wet anyway as the hay is sometimes dusty and im so paranoid about little un's weight/lammy. Thanks :)
 

LD&S

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From what I've read you can feed 100% oat straw, 50% barley straw but you shouldn't feed wheat straw.
Mine have almost always had wheat straw though, tried oat straw and they wouldn't touch it, they have it in nets alongside hay nets and they will often choose to leave the hay or grass to eat it, I guess the texture is differant
I've also noticed that my little mare who has a tendancy to mild copd will sometimes cough depending on the hay but there has never been an issue with straw making her cough.
 

kellybee

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Thanks :) i think im going to use it in small quantities mixed with hay and increase slowly to 40/50%

I realise theres little feedvalue but thats the whole point - my ponies are putting weight on but dont want them going hungry. My appy is aggressive at feed times so adlib is better for everyone if its not calorie loaded.
 

lachlanandmarcus

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I only feed oat straw, up to a max of 50% of forage ration (rest is soaked hay). I wouldnt risk wheat or barley.

I found the best way to find bales of oat straw is

(i) look at fields around the end of the wheat and barley harvest. Fields still remaining uncut and looking rather like a failed crop (bit thin and greyish looking more than golden) worth a closer look (oats are harvested later than the other crops). Once confirmed as oat ( looks more like meadow grass on steroids than wheat type ear), find the nearest farm and find out whose it is.

If you are lucky it is an old boys field and he may have a small baler tucked away in the shed, and will be able to either bale it in small bales (ideally as wont get wet) or rebale a few round bales into smallies (less ideal as may be stood out a bit when in rounds before it gets rebaled so risk of wet/weathering.

(ii) ask local agricultural auctioneer if they know of anyone that grows it
nb sometimes there are fodder auctions which occasionally have oat straw (altho this will normally be large rounds not small squares)

TBH tho last year was so appalling weather for harvetsing anything esp by the time the oat straws turn came that there was very little around and barely anything of eating quality, I bought some with a bedding mentaility and used a bit of the better bits for eating, the rest for bedding the big chap who isnt fat/lami prone.
 

honetpot

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This year I could not get any barley straw and could only get wheat hestons. From the ponies point of view they like it just as a much as the barley, infact my old mare likes to eat the botttem to pick out all the loose seed that is in the bales this year.
I have been feeding straw to ponies for 20 plus years and never had a problem. They even have it in summer when there is little grass , it stops them from grazing the field bare.With all feeds its how you phase it in, if you put a hungrey pony in a straw bedded stable it will try and scoff the lot and give its self tummy ache, if you start giving it a slice with its normal hay and adjust accordinly or put a bale of straw out in the field they will only eat what they want.
 

freckles22uk

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Mine have barley straw, I dont have a lot of choice here (Spain) I have no grazing at all, so they get straw for overnight in a very small holed net.... they also get a slice each of a type of hay or alfalfa at lunch time and 2 small hard feeds a day... and all still look porky! Hate to think what mine would look like if they had hay ad-lib..

I hear a lot of horses here get colic from feeding it, but with a lot thats ALL they get, and its not fed in nets, which I think is better as they trickle feed, not gorge..
 

BWa

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Mine will regularly eat his bed which is sometimes barley straw sometimes wheat straw depending on which bale is open. However if I mix it in with his haynet net he is disgusted and picks out all the hay!
 

serenityjane

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Mine eat Oat, Barley and Wheat straw mixed with hay/haylage depending on what I can get- they prefer barley, then oat, then wheat. It is excellent for good doers that would happily munch all day as they always have something to eat but it is not necessarily calorie rich. I give mine a 40% straw/ 60% hay/haylage mix in double netted hay nets and have done for the last 3 years. Just introduce it gradually and there should be no problems.
 

kellybee

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Thats fab, thanks all for your help! Mixed a bit in with their haynets this morning which they troughed through merrily and a little more in tonight's... I have to say instead of getting through a haylage net in 2/3hrs they were still munching when I gave them their hard feeds at 3:30.
 

Polos Mum

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Glad they are enjoying it, one of mine will come in and eat his fresh wheat straw bed when there is also fresh hay in his stable. Horses have been eating their wheat straw beds for years.

Oat is softer and so more easily digestable but most cope fine with wheat.
 

Fjord

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I feed my mare barley straw. I had to take her off wheat straw bedding because she treated it as an all night buffet and was putting on weight. Introduce it gradually and you should be fine.
 
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