Hay £6.50 on site vs Haylage £5.25 off site

grandmaweloveyou

grandmaweloveyou

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What would you do??

Debating whether to store the haylage at my house (garden) as it is sealed as we are allowed to bring Haylage in but not Hay (sold on site). The Hay on site this year is rubbish (and expensive)

Pros and Cons of feeding either please experts - I have never fed my boy Haylage before.

Thanks in advance and excited to see your thoughts :)
 
In no way a feeding expert but I swapped my ID / TB onto haylage a couple of years ago and really pleased with it.

I use E H Haylage, high fibre one.

She is stabled at night only during the winter and gets a full small haylage net each night.

She is out all day in winter without rugs and receives no other hard feeds - well other than a handful of dengi hi fi light with general supplements in.

Keeps her weight nicely and stops the snotty nose in the morning that she gets from hay.
 
If the hay was really bad I would feed haylage though mix it with straw to make it less rich with our two.

Stinky it the only horse I know not to like it and go for hay everytime given the choice.

I am going to have to pay £6 a bale this year, after several years at £2.50 a bale, this is going to hurt but mine are better off on stalky hay as I like to feed ad lib when they are in, I couldn't do that with haylage with them.
 
Thanks both and more thoughts needed please. Hi Theresa_F: long time no see! (MY fault entirely)
Um so generally can you feed less haylage than you would hay?
I wouldnt mind so much the price if the hay wasnt so bad as it is, he is already turning his nose up at it, and yes before the debate starts, Cobs are fussy eaters (sometimes!)
 
jezzzz 6.50 for a bale of hay :eek: the most ive paid was 4 quid!! Id go for the haylage option if i were you lol as far as i no i think your ment to feed more haylage than hay as theres less dry matter in haylage!
 
OH MY GOD!!!!! £6.50 a bale???? Thank god for living where I do is all I can say.

There is no way on earth I would pay that for bad hay. Or good hay for that matter, while haylage is cheaper.

Our hay is £3 per bale on site. Haylage is £7 delivered, it is small bale but not small like horsehage. (about twice the size of a horsehage bale)

I would go for the haylage.

Its a tough one feeding wise, as it weighs more due to water content, but is also usually nutritionally better. I feed one of mine ad lib haylage as he won;t eat more than he needs (!) (I have haylage in the winter) and the other gets quite a small amount as he is a fat native.

Our haylage bales are made out of bales of hay, if you know what I mean, so the fattie gets a couple of slices.

Still in shock........
 
How good a doer is your horse?

I prefer Haylage for my TB due to the nutritional value as it helps him keep weight in the winter.

If the alternative is bad hay I would say go for haylage even with a good doer but monitor the amounts it would recieve.
 
For our type of chaps, if I fed just hayledge ad lib they would get fat or I would have to really cut down on how much they got. Stinky would also be in out in lumps - he can't have rich hay or hayledge as I found out a few years back. Hence maybe you could mix it with some oat straw as a solution. If I run out hay this year this is what I will do, 50 - 50 hayledge and oat straw mix so they can have plenty of high fibre but not too rich forage.

I just don't like my being in the stable for more than a few hours without access to forage and having always kept this way and touch wood never had any colic etc, want to keep to this routine.

I have been hunting round Essex and bales there are a few bales at £5 but the main price seems to be £6 plus, as said going to hurt this year as Stinky eats half a bale and Farra three quarters of a bale most days.
 
Happy to mix with straw, he will only eat his bed if there isnt anything available to forage on within the stable, but now I have to work out what straw the yard brings in - cos if i start saying i am bringing haylage in, theyll be arsey, if i add to that bringing my own straw in, crumbs ill be homeless!
rumour has it there will be a second cut (i did a rain dance this week and it seems to have worked ;) mostly at night too!) and we could all be panicking for nothing (as we do most years) but never have i experienced such high pricing rumours and yes, ringing around for it, seems to be these prices, unless you can find someone with the big round bales and somewhere to store it / move it :( good luck everyone and thankyou.
 
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