Do horses go off hay?

J

Joyous70

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Just wondering really, my two recently don't seem to be enjoying theirs especially my older pony. I have tried 3 different types of hay so far and am still getting wastage, they would both eat all of their nets overnight, before the frost and snow set in, but now im finding quite a lot left in the mornings, althought they must be eating enough as there is still plenty of mucking out to do. So do they get bored with hay as there is no grass to nibble?

I am considering changing over to haylage to see if they prefer that, but am unsure of how much i would need to feed.
 
If they're stuck in a bit more than normal I think they just get bored, mine is not eating all of what he has during the day by any means and he loves his food but does eat it all up overnight. Also was drinking less when the weather's been very cold as I think they don't drink as much if water is quite icy.
 
If they're stuck in they aren't using as many calories as usual and won't want to eat as much. I wish my lot had read the manual on that:(
 
It might sound a bit obvious but have older ponys teeth been checked recently ? I would be inclined to get some hayledge and mix it with the hay to tempt them, also in cold weather mine seem to drink more, I wonder if the hayledge makes them thirsty.
 
The only one of our 3 still scoffing for england is NH, but as he was very poor when he came nearly 6 weeks ago he is still expecting food to only last a short while.
GF is getting very fussy and picky.

Even Tiny Fuzzy is sticking her nose up at some of the hay & she is the yard gannet. I think she is just sick of hay diet now, even tho she is out 24/7 (with shelter)

I would not worry as long as horse is getting enough to keep going with :)
 
i did think that maybe they get a bit bored of it, and they are in a lot at the moment only a few hours out a day to stretch their legs. I find it quite strange though with the old boy as he used to be a real gannet when he was younger but does seemed to have slowed down wiht age his teeth were done back in November so theyre all fine, and he eats his dinner o.k.

Would haylage need to be introduced slowly? i have a 3yr old whos never eaten it before and the old boy is 26 and never had any before either, don't want to make them ill.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Even Tiny Fuzzy is sticking her nose up at some of the hay & she is the yard gannet. I think she is just sick of hay diet now, even tho she is out 24/7 (with shelter)

I would not worry as long as horse is getting enough to keep going with :)
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:) Mine were out 24/7 but now theyre in as i cannot get down to the field, but they were getting fed up of hay before they had the snow come. They seem to have enough to keep them going i suppose thats the main thing, maybe i'll make smaller nets up and save myself some money, instead of scooping it out onto the muck heap.
 
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