Hay really seedy

A

auntienutnut

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 July 2010
Messages
107
Visit site
We have just had a change of hay suppliers.

The new hay is really seedy is this ok?

Horses really like the hay but loads of seeds to sweep up come morning.
 
Grass is a plant, seeds are part of the plant when mature. It is just a different variety of grass, and has been cut when late in the growth stage.
For horses you are more interested in quality ie no mould or dust, the diet can be adjusted to make it balanced using hard feed, horses need fibre, lots of it, that is the main thing, yes you have paid for hay and some has to be thrown away, but that s life.
 
Bonkers2 said:
Grass is a plant, seeds are part of the plant when mature. It is just a different variety of grass, and has been cut when late in the growth stage.
For horses you are more interested in quality ie no mould or dust, the diet can be adjusted to make it balanced using hard feed, horses need fibre, lots of it, that is the main thing, yes you have paid for hay and some has to be thrown away, but that s life.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply.

Im not too worried about the waste side of it, on a old yard I had to buy hay that the horses wouldn't eat, although it looked and smelt fine, used to chuck hay away all the time.

Im aware you don't want dusty hay and mouldy hay, but wasn't sure about seedy hay as not had it before.
 
Seeds are good, seeds are where most of the protein is. June cut hay is best just as the flowers have gone to seed, if the seeds are dropping out it is just a tiny bit over the very best time. Great for feeding on bare fields too - the seeds drop on to the ground and hopefully germinate when the ground gets warm and damp. You can use your sweepings for the same thing :)
 
As it is late cut, it will be stalky, ie high in fibre, the leaves which are normally higher in sugars will be more fibrous, and also more "brittle".
When grass grows in the UK, after 22nd June,, it starts to reduce in sugar content and increase in fibre content. Generally seeds will form after late June, but Ryegrass grass species, and Meadow Fescue species do not tend to shed a lot of seeds, Timothy grass which looks like a sort of "stub of seeds" will do so.
First cut hay is from a sweeter grass, late cut hay is rather stalky but will be fine for horses, in your case the grass is late cut, ie probably from a field which has not been grazed or cut till late in the year.
Agree with saving the seeds for throwing on to grass fields, they will store in a dry place over winter, and germinate in spring.
 
Ive found last years hay cut is really seedy but I think its because it was such a great year for hay..Im going to throw it into field for natural reseeding..I think that's a great idea.
 
Bonkers2 said:
When grass grows in the UK, after 22nd June,, it starts to reduce in sugar content and increase in fibre content. .
Click to expand...

That's far too prescriptive - it very much depends on how early or late spring was, how ideal the weather is in the growing season and how much sun and rain there has been. Some of mine had barely set flowers by the end of June in not very good years, so the seed would not have been set until mid July. And it does not just become stalky and high in fibre - it begins to regrow from the base after the seed has dropped, which is why it is possible to get a second cut of newer growth, mainly new leaf, in late August or September.
 
I was under the impression that young plants (and animals!) were richer in protein because of the higher content of nuclear material in the cells as opposed to carbohydrate because they are growing and therefore the cells are multiplying? Plants (and animals) store food in the form of carbohydrate, i.e. starches, fats, sugars, and oils. The aim of all living things is to reproduce and multiply. Grasses do this in two ways, first by tillering (vegetative reproduction) and by seed (sexual reproduction). Young growing grass (and so hay or haylage made from it) contains more protein which is what growing and breeding animals need, older grasses will be forming seed heads with seeds that are storing food for when they germinate as starch. Decide what your horse needs and buy hay to provide for that need.

What would you be throwing away in seedy hay? Do you throw out oats or feed it to your horses? Grass seed is just grain and so long as it is clean, it can go in the feed. Or you can sweep it up and reseed the bare patches in your field as has been mentioned.

If hay is mouldy or dusty, that is an entirely different thing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top