Anyone who uses 'branded' haylage - Horsehage, Silvermoor etc Please help!

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Darkwater

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Also in feeding (Hope its okay to put this in here too)

I have a pony who has problems with her jaw and I am struggling to find a suitable haylage for her that she can eat happily.

I have run out of the lovely second cut stuff from a brilliant local supplier, which is what I have been using for most of the winter, and after going back to try and get more of the same I found out it is from a different batch so is drier and coarser which isn't suitable for my pony. Now kicking myself extremely hard for not buying as much as I could of the first batch as it was perfect!

This supplier has a few other different grass types of first cut haylage but again none are suitable and neither is hay. Currently steaming the drier second cut stuff i've just bought which helps but isn't perfect and not really a good enough solution but all I can do for now, apart from worry!

Only other suppliers near me other than feed shops only do large bales and even if they were perfect I wouldn't use it fast enough so it would be a huge waste. I'm also thinking into more long term and really want to find something that will be a consistant quality so I don't have to worry with every bale I open, which I am thinking will be more likely with the branded types?

Went to local feed store today to see what they have and they sell the Silvermoor and Horsehage ranges. I have no experience of either of these and can't really afford to buy one of each range if some are obviously going to be completely inappropriate, hence I am after a bit of advice.

What I am after is something soft, sweet, quite 'wet' and as short as possible. Protein, sugar, etc in a pefect world would be as low as possible but this is not really a priority at this moment in time. Does anybody that feeds silvermoor/horshage or anything similar think that one of them might match this description?

I am very very grateful for any help. Many thanks for reading
 
when I used branded haylage I always used Silvermoor, the purple one. Mine were never keen on Horsehage & left a lot, there was never waste with Silvermoor :)
 
I use silvermoor lite for mine that are in light work or fat .
It might be what you need but it quite dry all the silvermoor is.
I would drop them an email there's a link on the web site and they will get back to you.
 
Why don't you give the companies a call in the morning and ask them which one of their range most fits your description - they may even be able to send you a small sample to have a look at
I've always found the feed co's to be really helpful with that kind of thing.
 
I have emailed them both, but obviously not expecting a reply over the weekend and i'm just trying to get as much info as possible in the mean time :)

It seems a lot of people are fans of Silvermoor so I am tempted to try it.

Thanks for all the replies so far
 
They are still quite coarse, the only soft haylage is 2nd cut timothy and horses love it because it is leafy and still green, i buy it in the big green haylage bales and it lasts me a month feeding two, i keep it in a cool place in a barn, with the wrappper off so it doesnt sweat.

Even if i lose 1/3 of it because it has gone off, i am still scoring because there is more than ten bales of hay in there and the haylage is only £30 a bale. Do not soak haylage.

Other alternative is chaff or simple systems luci nuts which is all fibre in fact lucerne.
 
We've tried all sorts of hay replacers - fast fibre, soaked grass nuts, chaffs etc and most recently soaking hay bricks, and they basically turn into a chop/chaff and my mare wasn't particularly interested in them either soacked or unsoaked. She also has diastemas within the teeth so chop and similar feeds get stuck in the gaps if I feed it in large quantities, hence why i'm really looking for an appropriate haylage if possible. Thank you for the suggestion though
 
The horsehage is beautifully silky but it isn't a short cut, same with haysoft. What about something like mollichop with hot water to soften it? Although not a long term solution I guess. What about seeing if thorowgoods do something suitable? As such a huge company the stock is pretty much guarenteed and you could get a years worth in?
 
Both are not short cut at all so I wouldn't waste your money trying them if they do need to be short cut.

I would really not be steaming or soaking haylage either ;)

Agree with big bale comment, even if some wasted still cheaper than buying horsehage at over £8 per bale
 
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