hay or hayledge? And big or small bales? And cost? Oh, lots of Qs!

[tillyd]

Hi, my mare is going to be wintering out this winter, with one other. I haven't had to buy my own hay in for ages as have always been on a yard I got it from, so am i best off buying large round bales of hayledge or traditional small baled hay?

Big bale sounds appealing as less work! But if there's only two of them will the big bale get ruined before they get through it do you think? And then what about cost? Can anyone tell me how much one of those big round bales should cost?

And finally (sorry!) do you always go and see hay before you buy it, so you know what the quality's like? And (definitely finally now) what's the difference between haylage and silage?

Apologies for numpty post.

 

[michelleice]

if you have a bale holder they last or you could try pallets to keep them off floor im planning on gettting big hay belivered and keeping it in hay room now field and string up haynets in park that way i know hes not eating to much

dont know diffrence i know haylage is sweet smelling

 

[Finlib]

Hayledge once opened should be used in 5 to 7 days so the large bales would be too much for 2 horses {though depends I suppose on how large they are.}
I wouldn't want to leave hayledge for longer than a week though I know some people do.
A friend using hayledge had problems with colic when she used hayledge for 10 days and because she had only one horse had to throw what was left after a week away.

 

[spacefaer]

Big round bale haylage lasts my 5 horses 5 days when they're in at night - so one horse would take 25 days to eat it..... would be well bad by then! Don't feed it when it starts to get hot, mouldy or smell bad.

Mine costs £18 delivered.

Small bales are better for one horse - but £5-7 each - mine eat one of those in about 36 hours.... ouch!

Big bale hay would probably be the cheaper option for you with less waste if you have somewhere to store it under cover. It'll last and big bales are normally cheaper than small ones - approx 10 small bales in a big one so you can work out the comparison.

Haylage is semi wilted grass, cut as hay but baled and wrapped earlier than hay to stop it drying further.

Silage is chopped semi wilted grass, usually taken off the field wetter than haylage and either stored in a clamp, heavily compressed and well covered or baled and wrapped.
If the wrapping is pierced, then anaerobic bacteria will start to break the haylage or silage down and fermentation takes places (starts to smell like vinegar)

I would go and see hay if I was buying it privately but not if I was buying from a repuatable contractor.

Hope this helps!!

 

[kerilli]

big bale is great if you have a round bale holder, and a tractor with prongs to lift it into place (or a nice reliable farmer with one!), you'd prob only need 1 every 10 days for 2 horses. hay not haylage, they wouldn't eat it fast enough. usually about £20 a bale ish, ask specifically if they checked the fields for ragwort before cutting, if not, don't go there.
otherwise, small bales are much easier. i had big-bale for 1 winter and had to put it into bags to take up the field to the horses, quite a hassle. taking a small bale up once or twice a day is much easier.
definitely build a cage or similar to put the hay in, or they'll waste loads and drive you crackers!
a reputable hay seller will replace any bad bales, so you have that guarantee. decide if you want seed or meadow hay, it affects the price obv.