Chopping haylage into shorter lengths

[Highmileagecob]

Due to hay being an asthma trigger for my old cob, he has to be fed haylage. Now he is starting to lose the grinding surfaces on his teeth and I need to find a way to chop the haylage into manageable lengths for him. Has anyone successfully done this? All autumn I have been supplementing the non existent grass with Silvermoor Veteran Haylage, which is a haylage chop. Very palatable, and he absolutely loves it, but at £13 a bag it isn't a permanent feed option. I buy the quadrant bales, which are made in leaves like large hay bales. Wonder if a sharp knife would be able to cut the leaves into strips before shaking out?

 

[AdorableAlice]

Having just been told my old lad has little to no grinding surfaces left, but he does have incisors, and hay is going to be a problem if he winters this time, I would also be interested in any guidance for hay replacement feeding advice please.

 

[cauda equina]

Could you chop it with a garden shredder?
Or an old fashioned chaff cutter if such things still exist

 

[Starzaan]

We used to have a feed company come and chop bales of haylage for us in bulk. I cannot for the life of me remember the name, but there was a cow on their logo and they were based near Chipping Norton. Let me have a think, and ask some of the grooms and see if we can remember who it was!

 

[SilverLinings]

Chaff cutters sometimes come up for sale on ebay, usually collection only so it's a bit luck-of-the-draw whether you can find one near enough, but worth a look. I have also seen a couple on Gumtree but those ones looked like they might have been beyond repair (I have been keeping an eye out for a functional one for a while).

 

[Highmileagecob]

Thanks! I have been looking out for a chaff cutter, but since they have become a fashionable decorative item, they are asking silly prices for them. I wondered about a garden shredder, and have bought a second hand one. The drawback is that it is on a 2,5Kw motor, which would need an armoured cable and it's own electric supply, a bit like a cooker - not sure if my YO would be happy! And lugging enough haylage home every day to put through the shredder and lug back to the yard would probably not be do able without a trailer, which I haven't got. I am the only person on the yard using haylage, and don't buy in bulk. It's a problem - old horses are common these days and I can't be the only person trying to feed Old Faithful! If all else fails I think I might try to locate a 'Lightening' hay knife, drop a leaf of haylage onto a pallet, and see if I can saw it into strips before shaking it out.

 

[Wizardsnecklace]

I have just joined today after many years of lurking. 3 of our ponies are Welsh C in their late 20's and unable to eat anything other than grass. We bought a pair of Premium heavy duty garden shears from Amazon for £22.99. Our hay is small bale which we make ourselves. My husband grips a wedge between his knees and chops it into approx 11/2-2 inch lengths. We fill a hayne t and soak it for about an hour to soften it and then shake it into feed bowls for them. They eat this easily. Quite a lot of work, but our bales cost well under £2 to make.

 

[cobgoblin]

Probably a daft idea but would an electric hedge trimmer work?

 

[PurBee]

We bought a medium duty petrol engine garden shredder on ebay for about 200 quid. It must have been used for one garden job and then stored as it was practically new and very clean.

Because its a petrol shredder, its portable anywhere. It comes with a massive bag which is about the size of a hay bale - it weighs about 30kg when full of small branch chippings.

A tank full lasts many hours of chipping so its economical to run.

We’ve never used it to chop haylage, only fresh small branches/fresh leaves and would probably take around 5-10 mins for you to start it up and chop 20kg of haylage. You could even do 3 days worth in one go, have the chop dropping into a clean large thick plastic bag inside the chipping bag. Lift it out, compress the air out, and feed the next day. That would save you having to chip daily.

The only thing is that the blade design might need looking into as haylage is soft and long, not stemmy like small branches. There’s the possibility of the haylage wrapping around the blade.
You get different blades, ours is a serrated blade but you can get knife chopper blades.

A medium duty machine would have more power to chop than a smaller powered electric home garden light duty chipper. Its worth you taking some haylage home and trying it in your current chipper.

If youre serious about getting a petrol chipper, ill try my petrol chipper with soft haylage to see how it manages it. Maybe get it filmed to show how it does.

If you find one secondhand, before use for feed, its worth cleaning the entry shute, the blade, and the collector bag with bleach water to thoroughly clean any muck/microscopic moulds/pathogens, before running feed through it,
We cover ours with a clean new tonne bag, its like a huge white tarpaulin material bag - stored outside nothing gets into it to muck it up, and keeps it clean and dry.

Heres one on ebay thats a great quality powerful one for little ££. The only issue is the outlet shute is low down to deposit chipping on the floor:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32539949...hQSH+bhgK4xI3M2/r7w3u33zo=|tkp:Bk9SR_y57KOFYQ

This is similar to what we use with a collection bag:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/25578963...JZvxJsMW2YnzTVfcVqM/Pxeu4=|tkp:Bk9SR-aWtqSFYQ

 

[Suncat]

I've also got the same challenge - beloved elderly horse who's outliving his teeth, plus the increasing and major cost of chop/soakable feeds and how to trickle feed in fibre while you have a full-time job to go to!

As above, I've picked up a decent garden shredder (a secondhanded Bosh AXT 180 for £50) to give it a try - it takes a while (feeding in too much gums everything up) but it works, and we have mains power at the yard. It cuts our haylage, hay and straw to maybe 4" sections, so not as small as typical 'chaff' sizes, but my old boy is eating it. I've also been experimenting with adding mint, sugabeet water, soaking etc to make it interesting/softer. Project Horse Musli, according to husband.
Our Famer is asking about to see if anyone locally has a proper chaff cutter....

Related to that, have also built a battery powered timer gate latch, so I can put him in a mini paddock to eat his extended buffet in peace (his two field mates would love to help!) and then let him out an hour later, without me having to come back. Currently working on building a version of the American style automated stable feeders for the winter to feed at regular intervals when they are in.... both of the above can be bought of course but.... ££££££££££££££££££££££££

 

[Cragrat]

Useful post Purbee - I have similar issues, so this post is very timely!

 

[Highmileagecob]

Thanks PurBee. That is definitely one to keep in mind. I like the electric hedge trimmer idea too, but again, our yard electrics probably wouldn't support it.

 

[PurBee]

I looked on youtube and many used some version of a wood chipper, but those were for stemmier plants like straw, alfalfa etc, rather than semi-moist soft forage like haylage.
i couldnt find videos of anyone shredding haylage with one.

When it stops raining, i’ll try some in my chipper machine 5.5hp, and see how it manages it.

I have a petrol hedge trimmer, that’s a curious idea if that would work! The haylage would want to be fixed in place firm so it could be sliced with the hedge trimmer.

I did think of using a powerful strimmer with strings or a circular saw blade end attachment - a metal dusbin with loosened haylage in it, then slowly drop the strimmer end into in, moving in an up and down fashion to chop it. Being careful not to hit the side of the bin. That would chop it very small. I have all sorts of blade attachments for my powerful strimmer, and i even think the regular plastic string end would likely chop it, without needing to resort to dangerous spinning blades!

Maybe i can try all my various tools to chop haylage, video it and upload to show what works best.

 

[Suncat]

I looked on youtube and many used some version of a wood chipper, but those were for stemmier plants like straw, alfalfa etc, rather than semi-moist soft forage like haylage.
i couldnt find videos of anyone shredding haylage with one.

When it stops raining, i’ll try some in my chipper machine 5.5hp, and see how it manages it.

I have a petrol hedge trimmer, that’s a curious idea if that would work! The haylage would want to be fixed in place firm so it could be sliced with the hedge trimmer.

I did think of using a powerful strimmer with strings or a circular saw blade end attachment - a metal dusbin with loosened haylage in it, then slowly drop the strimmer end into in, moving in an up and down fashion to chop it. Being careful not to hit the side of the bin. That would chop it very small. I have all sorts of blade attachments for my powerful strimmer, and i even think the regular plastic string end would likely chop it, without needing to resort to dangerous spinning blades!

Maybe i can try all my various tools to chop haylage, video it and upload to show what works best.

Thanks Purbee - would love to see the results!
Hope this helps - I did come across a previous discussion about using a strimmer and someone pointed out that the plastic string type of cutting could be a problem as it often breaks away as it wears/hits things and more is fed out - imagine trying to sift the cut forage to find and remove that plastic before its eaten? Not at problem with metal/solid blades on a bigger strimmer though!

 

[PurBee]

Thanks Purbee - would love to see the results!
Hope this helps - I did come across a previous discussion about using a strimmer and someone pointed out that the plastic string type of cutting could be a problem as it often breaks away as it wears/hits things and more is fed out - imagine trying to sift the cut forage to find and remove that plastic before its eaten? Not at problem with metal/solid blades on a bigger strimmer though!

Yes, i agree, plastic debris would be an issue, with more lightweight strimmers especially. It would need testing. I have a industrial high powered stihl that takes thick over 3mm line. The plastic shears off if i hit a stone, or lump of soil, otherwise it stays as original length. My lightweight strimmer would lose bits off the end of the line more easily.

Having bits of plastic in the food wouldnt be good at all!

I wonder if metal line exists and could be used? Nothing that can fray….a solid line, rather than woven metal strands like rope.
You can get a 3 wing metal blade for many size strimmers. I use that for thick brambles etc. That might work well. Like you say, safer than potential line in the feed.

Out of all tools to use, the wood chipper would be fastest and easiest to process many kilo’s. Considering horses eat kilo’s per day it would soon get old to have to spend and hour chopping just 10 kilo’s with a hand tool. Whereas the chipper devours material in minutes, and would process 20kg in mere minutes.

When the weather clears i’ll attempt to trial methods.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Woohoo! Yard owner says plug it in and see what happens! If it trips the electric, then I'll know....Just have to wait until we fetch them up for winter before I can open the bale. I've dug the manual hedge shears out of the shed and sharpened them, and also have a bowsaw standing by so hopefully, I can feed Old Dobbin this winter! My son has pointed out that heat generated from the appliance, and moisture content of the haylage will both affect the cut, so trial and error is the order of the day. Many thanks to all who are sharing ideas, it's always good to have Plan B to turn to!

 

[PurBee]

Woohoo! Yard owner says plug it in and see what happens! If it trips the electric, then I'll know....Just have to wait until we fetch them up for winter before I can open the bale. I've dug the manual hedge shears out of the shed and sharpened them, and also have a bowsaw standing by so hopefully, I can feed Old Dobbin this winter! My son has pointed out that heat generated from the appliance, and moisture content of the haylage will both affect the cut, so trial and error is the order of the day. Many thanks to all who are sharing ideas, it's always good to have Plan B to turn to!

Fab news your YO is on board ? let us know how you get on!

 

[Highmileagecob]

Update. Old Dobbin has been enjoying a bucket of Silvermoor Veteran every day, then going back out on the pasture. At £12 a bag, it is not a viable option for long term use, so I purchased a cheaper bag of haylage to have a play with.
Brand new garden shears simply would not chop the haylage. The soft, damp fibres kept sticking in the blades, and the blades are not set up for grasses.
Checked the wiring of the plug socket my YO has said it's safe to try, and there are bare wired visible at the junction. Err no thanks.
Pruning saw. Yaay! Some success. Easier than I thought it would be, although time consuming. Pulled a good armful out of the bag and rolled it up tightly like a swiss roll. Laid it on a pallet and sawed it into slices through the gap between the slats - keeps the blade from slipping and keeps away from fingers. Hopefully I have managed to post some pictures. The slices vary between two and four inches in length, but Old Dobbin managed just fine, and even cleared up the dropped bits from around the bucket.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Further update I took the electric shredder home with a bag of haylage, and it would not chop it. The slot to feed material in is too narrow, and obviously, I'm not going to push it through with fingers!
The pruning saw is an option, and I have also resorted to the kitchen scissors.
Now trying to source a bagged grass based haylage that is soft, and fairly short. He cannot manage ryegrass any more, and anything timothy based sets off his asthma.

 

[Highmileagecob]

2023 update.
I have bought a pair of 5" hand shears, the sort you can shear sheep with. Best option yet! They cut effortlessly, and can be sharpened too. Bit labour intensive, but he's worth it. I won't be feeding from a big bale any more as he is now on more forage replacer than anything, but at least a chopped leaf of Horsehage makes him feel that he has something to nibble at.

 

[Esmae]

Further update I took the electric shredder home with a bag of haylage, and it would not chop it. The slot to feed material in is too narrow, and obviously, I'm not going to push it through with fingers!
The pruning saw is an option, and I have also resorted to the kitchen scissors.
Now trying to source a bagged grass based haylage that is soft, and fairly short. He cannot manage ryegrass any more, and anything timothy based sets off his asthma.

We adapted a garden shredder to give it a bigger aperture. Do you know a tame engineer type person who could sort that for you? It worked really well on coarser hay, but struggled on softer hay. I also find that my hedgetrimmer can't deal with soft thin stuff. It just binds.

 

[Esmae]

What about this? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...nt=548-301-0399&slnk=&plac=&mtctp=&albbt=Goog

 

[Landcruiser]

My old lad really struggled with normal chaff when his teeth "expired." I kept him going with big tubs of speedibeet with added grass chop such as Dengie Meadow Grass with herbs and oil to give it a bit more texture for him. A big tub would last him a good few hours. I gave him Coolstance copra too, for added calories. Easier than cutting down haylage!

 

[Lurfy]

My old boy has also got very worn down teeth and can't really eat long stem hay anymore. I am very interested in the 5' shears you found useful Highmilieagecob, would you be able to post a picture of them please?

 

[Highmileagecob]

Thanks Lurfy, haven't really mastered sharing photos to the forum yet, but if you go on eBay and search for hand shears sheep, that's the route I took. it's the ones that look like big scissors with a sprung handle.

Thanks Esmae. Really tried with the garden shredder, but due to feeding haylage it just would not shred. The damp stems were an issue and I am reluctant to remove the guard. Cannot feed baled hay as it one of his COPD triggers.

This year he has had four teeth extracted, with a further loose tooth on it's way out. We are now down to Fast Fibre and sugar beet mixed through damp Graze On, with well soaked hay cobs and chopped haylage on the side. He thinks it is his birthday and can't wait to come in!