Cant find any Hay

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Jillian

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I am struggling to find any hay from last year. I have about a weeks supply left. I have to give it to my 2 laminitic mares.
I have been offered this years hay, but dont I have to wait 3 months for it to be dry and ok for them to eat ? Farmer says not ! Does anybody know of any suppliers in cornwall with old hay
 
We are now having to feed this years hay, have a few bales of old left so have been mixing it in gradually, so far no ill effects or weight gained - fingers crossed. Not sure if it would be ok for laminitics though.
 
at least 6 hours as you are trying to get rid of the sugars to be safe - you are after fibre for the horses and not necessarily protein so although soaking does get rid of some of the nutritional value for laminitics and in a desperate situation where you cannot get the old hay....
 
We can't get any either in Surrey- real pain because Bailey won't eat this years stuff
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we have managed to get some at our yard but it is really dusty and got a bit of mould so we have to pick out the best bits and soak really well - its a real worry!
 
I am going to start feeding this years hay in a couple of weeks. Mine was cut in April so will have been off the field for three months so hopefully ok
 
I just got some at the weekend - cut and baled end of last week - having to really restrict the rations as it is very rich hay as not yet fully dried out - but it was that or lose it to the storms last sunday. Pleased to get it but I've changed the rations and cut back the hay and upped the hi-fi a lot - this isn't mouldy or dusty - just very rich

still waiting .....and waiting......for mine to be cut and baled and not sign of that any time soon ;-((

farmer said that there had been virtually no hay made anywhere recently due to this bl**dy weather
 
I've managed to get some 2yr old hay. Hopefully will get enough to last the rest of summer and winter.

edited to add:

if this year's hay, soak it like hell (I soak mine for 12 hours if it's v. good hay), then rinse it through with a hose. You can feed Hi Fi as a hay replacer, or lite for laminitics. Works out pricey, but well worth it.
 
Thanks everyone . I am still waiting for our 2 fields to be cut but dont know when it will be with all this rain and plus the farmers will be too busy cutting their own. How much hi fi lite can I use to replace the hay
 
my farmer has only made 600 bales this year so far, this time last year (and then there was a shortage then as well) he had made 6000.this time 2 years ago he had made 8000
 
If you use hi-fi lite how do you feed it as you obviously can't put it in a net or rack! Do you just stick it in a big bucket or what?

I believe that an 'average' section of hay weighs 2 kg and that you just replace hi-fi weight for weight, might be wrong. The problem is that they will eat the hi-fi quicker than hay in a net.
 
In our area we have a double problem....there's hardly any of last years about & this years is still in the fields uncut! I dread to think what will hapopen if the rain persists!
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Guys don't forget D&H "Just Grass" - you can feed it by the bucketful and it takes a lot of chewing so is good for the neds too
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Also, for those with good doers, why not try and source some good barley straw to feed with the hay
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I have the same issues ~I have started feeding this years hay as it is all I can get. Also i can only store 20 bales at a time so cant buy my years supply. The farmers around me have not cut still and some dont recon they will get a second cut. The rest of my yard feed haylague but I dont want to its more expensive and my pony is lively as it is.

i did not soak it when I first started feeding but he had lost some weight so it just helped him put it back on admittadly the stuff I got is not excellent quality so that may have helped

good luck hay hunting I am too!!!!
 
Mine hasn't been cut yet, very little round here has! However due to over production for the past two years I have masses of one and two year old hay left. No-one wants it as it's in round bales. I offered some free to a girl in the village who was moaning that she's had to buy really expensive hay (£4 per small bale) but she "can't be bothered with those big bales".

So if anyone's desperate enough to come to North Cambs I have plenty going at a very reasonable price.
 
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How long should I soak new hay?. At the moment I soak old hay for 30 minutes to get rid of dust .

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My vet advised to soak my boys hay for 12 hours (hes a ex lammi)
 
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We can't get any either in Surrey- real pain because Bailey won't eat this years stuff
crazy.gif


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where abouts in Surrey are you Lillie07?
 
my horse is fed haylage but my supplier ran out of that in big bales months ago as well so have had to feed small bales which is costing a fortune. sounds like it will happed again this year tho :-(
 
Do you know frosbrys? I was in there yesterday and they have stacks of hay, I'm pretty sure I overheard the shop assistant telling another customer that they have some of last years left.
 
Thats where I normally get my hay from but it was crap, then they ran out, and have just got a supply from abroad- at a cost of £5.35 a bale
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im worried about our hayfields not getting cut at all now, its starting to look tough and stalky anyway but i'd be better than nothing. weve got a loosebox half full of last years left and thats all
 
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