Feeding Straw - Any Advice

[AmyMay]

Morning All,

I am about to start feeding Amy straw as part of her feed ration, replacing half of the haylage she currently gets. She is just doing too well, and I am anxious that she shouldn't get too fat.

The straw will not be oat straw, however is very good quality barley straw.

Do any of you feed straw as a matter of course. I was just wondering if people think I should give it a little soak or just feed it straight???

 

[sleepingdragon10]

Do you feed your haylage in nets?If so,just mix it half and half and feed as is.

She should be fine like that....I wouldn't soak it first.

Bethxx

 

[AmyMay]

Thanks SD - at the moment I've been lazy and just put the haylage in her rack - but yes I was thinking that I should dig a haynet out for her.

 

[AmyMay]

Bumpted.

Anyone else have any thoughts??

 

[SouthWestWhippet]

I used to keep my horse on a yard where they bedded down on Barley straw (it was actually an inner city small holding and the Barley straw was available cheap and local).

Horses used to love it and we had an awful time putting enough in to make a bed... and coming back the next day to find the horse looking please but standing on concrete.

Never had any trouble with colic or anything like that. And obviously it wasn't soaked/haynet/mixed with hay... just used as bedding.

 

[dressagespain]

I would personally not feed straw, its just not brilliant for them as a subsitute for proper hay. Why not just take your horse off haylage and give him normal hay - horrible stuff haylage IMO. Its just rubbish hay disguished with molasses.

One of my boys could live on fresh air, so he gets proper hay in a small holed net - about 3-4 slices a day and it does him fine.

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
Why not just take your horse off haylage and give him normal hay

[/ QUOTE ]

In an ideal world - yes, exactly what I'd do. I just don't have any access to it. And whilst I could get some - it was all getting a bit complicated (too long to go in to the ins and outs etc.).

Interested that you don't think much of haylage???

 

[the watcher]

I think you could have an impact by simply putting the haylage into a proper small holed net, or one net inside the other, to slow your horse down a bit

 

[ihatework]

But AmyMay ... haylage is just rubbish hay disguised with mollasses

Obviously I'm going wrong somewhere and my £60 a month I spend on buying in good quality haylage is wasted when I could be feeding the hay included in my livery

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
But AmyMay ... haylage is just rubbish hay disguised with mollasses

Obviously I'm going wrong somewhere and my £60 a month I spend on buying in good quality haylage is wasted when I could be feeding the hay included in my livery

[/ QUOTE ]

Oooo I'm a bit confused now

 

[dressagespain]

Haylage is absolute c***!!!!

When I was in UK, I had my horses droppings analysed cos he had a bad tummy. The long and short of it was that Haylage is the rubbish you wouldn't feed to your horse covered in molasses. This reacts and can cause an imbalance of bacteria in the hind gut - which is what happened to my horse. The specialists at this company and my dietician for the horse advised me to NEVER EVER feed haylage, molassed chaff and sugar beet and heavily molassed mixes. I took this advice and have never gone back on it.

I'm just old fashioned in my opinion about feeding and like it to be as natural as possible so feed a good quality hay instead of processed foods - after all, what is good for humans - processed foods or fresh ??????

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
The long and short of it was that Haylage is the rubbish you wouldn't feed to your horse covered in molasses.

[/ QUOTE ]

Gosh, ours isn't - it's beautiful. Grown and cut on the farm with nothing added. Has a very high nutritional content and the horses thrive on it - which unfortunately is Amy's problem.

Many thanks though.

 

[ihatework]

Would you care to enlighten me about the haylage making process then?

 

[dressagespain]

Amy - I am talking about the actual Haylage make!! Its processed with a huge amount of molasses. I just feel that Haylage in general is too rich.
I have a german trainer who I work in close conjuction with and he agrees entirely that natural bog standard good quality hay is far better than anything else.
I stay well away from all things with added sugar if I can and I personally feel my horses thrive better.

 

[sleepingdragon10]

[ QUOTE ]
I would personally not feed straw, its just not brilliant for them as a subsitute for proper hay. Why not just take your horse off haylage and give him normal hay - horrible stuff haylage IMO. Its just rubbish hay disguished with molasses.

One of my boys could live on fresh air, so he gets proper hay in a small holed net - about 3-4 slices a day and it does him fine.

[/ QUOTE ]

As I understood it,and pardon me if I'm wrong, but haylage is just baled earlier than "proper" hay,hence the higher moisture content and higher nutrient values?
My pony can't eat hay,it's too coarse for her,so is fed small amount of haylage,plus a bucket of HiFi light.

 

[TGM]

[ QUOTE ]
The long and short of it was that Haylage is the rubbish you wouldn't feed to your horse covered in molasses.

[/ QUOTE ] I don't know what sort of haylage you were feeding then! Definitely not the case we the stuff I get!

 

[ihatework]

Spot on SD !! And guess what .... no molassess is added to it either

Although it certainly does have a higher nutritional content than hay, and might not be suitable for all horses ... but to brandish it as c*** is a little blinkered IMO

 

[sleepingdragon10]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The long and short of it was that Haylage is the rubbish you wouldn't feed to your horse covered in molasses.

[/ QUOTE ] I don't know what sort of haylage you were feeding then! Definitely not the case we the stuff I get!

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a quote from EH Halage.co.uk

[ QUOTE ]
Haylage is a forage made for horses from grass that is cut earlier than hay, turned until the correct dry matter is achieved and then sealed in plastic. A natural fermentation process takes place, which preserves the grass and its nutrients and results in a dust free forage that is low in mould spores and highly palatable.

[/ QUOTE ]

Says nothing about molasses!

 

[dressagespain]

Blinkered?? There is really no need for that!!

This was the advice that I was given by EXPERTS and I have stuck by it.

I don't feed straw cos it is too coarse and here in Spain could be one of the reasons for a colic. I much prefer hay. Thats just my opinion and my competition horses look fabulous on it.

 

[TGM]

Well said! At the end of the day, haylage is just grass! It is just much closer to the original nutrient content of grass than hay is, as some nutrients are lost during the haymaking process. As with hay the suitability of different haylages for different horses will vary according to the grass types used and the time of cutting.

 

[Theresa_F]

I used to feed a fat pony 50 - 50 straw and hay - just put a slice of each in the net and let them get on with it. It was a little pig so nothing was ever left over.

Miss Delia used to get 50 - 50 hay and haylege - she needed extra weight but just haylege was too rich for her gut. Had to mix it thoroughly and put it in a net or she would pick out the hayledge and leave the hay.

 

[AmyMay]

Thanks TF and All.

Feel reasured now that I am not being the worst mother in the world - even though poor old Amy will.........

 

[dressagespain]

He he, I know what you mean, my fatty (nickname pork pie) has to watch my baby getting stacks of hay whilst he gets a tiny little haynet!!! If looks could kill!

 

[MagicMelon]

Well cant comment on the haylage as I just feed hay. Hay would obviously be better for your ned but if you really cant get it then try straw in a haynet. Just make sure it isnt dusty stuff. I personally couldnt get one of mine to eat it when he went down with laminitis so I gave not-top-notch hay instead (lower nutritional value). You could always try a different type of haylage - like that Horsehage stuff, one of them is for laminitics I believe.....

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
You could always try a different type of haylage - like that Horsehage stuff, one of them is for laminitics I believe.....

[/ QUOTE ]
Nope - can't do that.

Amy'll eat anything.......

 

[aran]

Haylage does not have anything added to it - and definately not molasses - I'm not sure what your horse was being fed - sounds like low quality chaff?

As long as the straw is good quality then I'd just slowly start to add it to her hay ration 10:90 up to 50:50. Just watch out for colic.

 

[dressagespain]

Nah aran, it was defo haylage but it was a few yrs ago now, it was defo defo molassed, it was sticky and brown!!

But now I am in Spain, anything like haylage is bad cos its really too hot to store out here in those plastic covers - so I stick with hay!!

 

[aran]

mmmmm - it sounds like you had a farmer with a money making idea - old hay + mollasses = money from horse owners!!
It's a shame that you got bad stuff as most haylage is lovely (smells great and the horses love it). When mine competed he was on it ad lib and so needed little hard feed. Now he's just a hack he's on adlib meadow hay (which is equally lovely!)

 

[amandaco2]

ive fed barley straw to my ISh.she was fine.i added it in literally a handful at a time though.
she was also on soaked(and then dried hay as she wouldnt eat it wet!)hay from last year.
i would try to get some hay as its easier to feed for good doers as it has more fibre and less calories in it.and saoking it takes all the water soluble carbs out so its basically just fibre then!

 

[cariadssogreat]

Haylage is cut grass just the same as hay. HOWEVER it is baled far sooner than hay (it does depend on the weather) and wrapped. Therefor haylage fermented grass. Its GOOD stuff for horses - allbeit that some horses find it too rich. Oh, and as with hay - you get good stuff and bad - it just depends on the quality of the grass and the skill of the farmer that produces it.