Hay v Haylage

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NooNoo59

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Hi, just moved my boy to haylage, getting conflicting views about how much to feed, more than hay, less than hay?? He is a good doer, nearly 15, in at night, have haybar but use haynet inside it as he chucks it everywhere. Farmers i have spoken to say haylage is much better feed for horses and this is good quality and reasonable. Any advice?
 
Because haylage has a higher water content, you need to feed more by weight than hay. My horses average 16 kg of haylage a day, but that is without grazing as they are turned out in the all weather at this time of year.
 
It's higher in protein than hay but more acidic. We feed it as well as hay. Is particularly useful for horses with dust allergies.
Horses digestive systems require that there is something in it at all times. As a good doer you may find he puts on weight easily on haylage so you could try adding hay or a small amount of straw. Alternatively use a haylage net so it takes him longer to eat it.
 
I feed it because my boy is fussy and won't touch hay - although he would happily munch on his bedding when he had straw so I've changed him to shavings.
The general rule I remember hearing a few years ago was that it should take 1 horse 1 month to eat an entire round bale to itself. I'm not sure if this is with or without grazing though, I just remember hearing it a few years ago.
HS x
 
I feed my guys hayalge as its soooo much better than hay, you have to feed more as it contains more water than hay (at least double the amount) then what you would do hay. Haylage is less in sugar too only holding about 5% sugar content when Hay is about 10% sugar so brillaint for lami ponies etc. I find it works out cheaper for me to feed mine hayalge (brought in very large bales) then hay, and i have no horses coughing!!!! x
 
you should feed more haylage than hay due to water content of haylage meaning by weight you would be getting less actual haylage than hay. Typical moisture content of haylage is 35% so you would need to work the amount you need to feed. You will also need to take into account the energy content of haylage compared to hay and adjust hard feed, you may get away with only having to feed a haylage balancer to get all the vits & mins if you have a good doer and cut out hard feed all together.
 
xDENISEx said:
I feed my guys hayalge as its soooo much better than hay, you have to feed more as it contains more water than hay (at least double the amount) then what you would do hay. Haylage is less in sugar too only holding about 5% sugar content when Hay is about 10% sugar so brillaint for lami ponies etc. I find it works out cheaper for me to feed mine hayalge (brought in very large bales) then hay, and i have no horses coughing!!!! x
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Ooooh, I didn't realise this!! One of the horse on our yard ahs just been diagnosed with Lami. They have swapped him from Hayledge to Hay... Does this mean actually, he should have stayed on the hayledge??

Also, I have a fatty and have changed him from hayledge to hay, as I thought there was more sugars in hayledge??

Thanks! :)
 
Huge fan of haylage. Had to go on to it as my mare became allergic to hay (soaked or not) and I'd never now go back to hay:

No wastage - they eat every last blade
Heavier than hay - so doesn't blow about the yard
No coughing, runny noses - totally problem free
No dust spores
Haylage nets keep them busy for longer (though I do feed a thin TB chaser off the ground to get plenty into him)

Only snag I've had in 3 years was when local friendly farmer made haylage for the first time - he made it like silage and my mare got lami (though have to say it smelt so wonderful I could have eaten it myself). Hope you find it's the right thing for your horse.
 
Some interesting views on here.
I also had a lami pony and was advised to feed soaked hay and not haylage by the vet.
I also know net for net, my two balloon on haylage. They definitely prefer it to hay though.
I'm now at a yard where haylage is the only option, but its not a rich type so I will be monitoring their weight carefully and adjusting accordingly.

I do find my chest is better with haylage, both straw and hay set off my asthma so I can see how haylage is better for many horses.
 
xDENISEx said:
Haylage is less in sugar too only holding about 5% sugar content when Hay is about 10% sugar so brillaint for lami ponies etc.
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Is that really the case? Most people I know with laminitics (I have one myself) feed hay rather than haylage believing it to be lower in sugar.
 
I personally don't feed it because....

....its higher is proteins....my good-doers would explode unless I restricted intake drastically....I prefer mine to have access to ad-lib hay.

(I'm talking about 'farmer-haylage' here- not the commercial high-fibre ones like Horse-hage 'blue' and Equilage 'blue'- I've used them in the past with no problems)

One of mine doesn't tolerate it...it makes him grouchy and hyper.

I know others who do feed it with no problems.....and others who'se horses end up with diarrhoea from it...

Personal choice and whatever suits your individual horse, as ever.:)
 
I've always fed my cob on a mixture of haylage and hay as he used to cough if on hay all the time and got very runny back end if on haylage all the time :(
I've now got an ex-racehorse as well and was told it's best to feed him on hay as with his background he's more prone to gastric ulcers and haylage is more acidic than hay. Based on that I decided to just feed hay this year to both of them, they were doing fine but I have hit a dusty batch and my cob has started to cough :( I am now soaking the dusty hay and have got the cob on NAF breath easy and he seems to be doing ok. The Tb has been fine throughout. I have to admit I do prefer haylage as it's much less messy than hay and they do eat every scrap but at least with hay I'm keeping clean back ends!
 
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Just wanted to clarify that when people say you need to feed more haylage than hay, they mean BY WEIGHT. However, you should still feed a similar VOLUME of haylage as you did hay, but it will weigh more than the same volume of hay because of the water content.
 
I prefer hay but my two don't need it soaking and have no dust problems. I like that I can feed more hay than hayledge. I get the rougher stalky hay so they can have ad lib but not pile on the pounds.

Stinky is very odd - given the choice, he goes for hay every time.
 
All a hay and haylage is different in its content and depends on the grasses used, when it was seeded, was 1st, 2nd or even third cut.
If you've never used it before I would try out with a branded product as they will give you a nutritional analysis.
http://www.efeed.co.uk/products/haylage
I use a farmers meadow haylage, made from old pasture, with no fertilizer, so basically its just like feeding hay with non of the storage problems as its kept out side, and no waste.
 
Yes thats what i have access to, and seems to be going well, just dont want to feed too much or dont want him to go hungry. Have ordered a weight tape to monitor the situation and will see what hes like to ride, hopefully this afternoon if i get to the yard early.
 
I fed the same volume of haylage compared to hay, but the haylage would obviously weigh more - so for example if I fed two nets full of hay (which weighs 19lbs), I would fill the nets the same with haylage, and that would weigh 22lbs.

I fed haylage thorughout all of last year, and didn't have any problems with regard to weight gain or altered behaviour. However the palets of haylage I bought recently to see me through the winter seem to be much richer, and it seems to have more rygrass in than last years batch, (same supplier, supposed to be same quality and type), and this new batch has definately had an effect on my warmbloods behaviour (turning him into a figity stress head, culminating in him taking off and dumping me a few weeks ago).

So...I've put him onto hay and I have to soak it as he coughs otherwise - it's so time consuming, and backbreaking doing that. However he has calmed down already.
 
I tried mine on haylege this year. For 2 reasons, it's cheaper and she had a bit of a cough.

However it made her hyper and spooky! although she did eat every last bit of it as she loved it. I am back on hay now, although I feed it wet and the cough hasn't come back and my mare has gone back to her laid back self.
 
Our vet also said hay not haylage for laminitics.
We were on a livery yard where we had to feed haylage, our old horse lost so much weight because he woul;dnt eat the stuff! Our others werent keen either, put them back on hay last year and they all looked great.
 
HarlequinSer said:
I feed it because my boy is fussy and won't touch hay - although he would happily munch on his bedding when he had straw so I've changed him to shavings.
The general rule I remember hearing a few years ago was that it should take 1 horse 1 month to eat an entire round bale to itself. I'm not sure if this is with or without grazing though, I just remember hearing it a few years ago.
HS x
Click to expand...
I would think without as I go through a round bale of hay a month between two - one of which is a skinny TB on pretty much ad lib hay (in a haynet big enough to get a whole small bale in!)

Why are you feeding a good doer haylage? Surely hay would be a better bet?
 
classicalfan said:
It's higher in protein than hay but more acidic. We feed it as well as hay. Is particularly useful for horses with dust allergies.
Horses digestive systems require that there is something in it at all times. As a good doer you may find he puts on weight easily on haylage so you could try adding hay or a small amount of straw. Alternatively use a haylage net so it takes him longer to eat it.
Click to expand...


I disagree here slightly. you can make the same grass into either hay or haylage. Which it becomes simply depends on the process, There is a common preconception that haylage is always "richer" than hay but this isn't actually true. It depends whether you are looking at protein, energy or sugar levels and it depends on what types of grasses your hay or haylage was made from.

Hay has more spores/dust than haylage so should be soaked or steamed before feeding;
can be high in sugar/starch (water soluble sugars can also be reduced by soaking);
is lower in digestible energy and protein than haylage made from the same grass.

Haylage is partially dried (as if for hay) but is baled earlier and immediately wrapped. Good haylage can therefore be made where weather conditions are not ideal as for hay making. It does not contain the level of spores/dust found in hay; It has a lower level of non structural carbohydrate than hay made from the same grass; this is because the fermentation process converts sugars into fatty acids. Haylage must not be soaked because (a) high levels of water soluble sugars are not present and (b) once wet, it goes off and becomes unpalatable extremely quickly; but it provides more digestible energy and protein than hay made from the same grass.
 
Just reread this thread, hay at the moment is not good quite soft and dusty so am having to soak it. The haylage is a very good quality and not too rich, only problem was the yard run out and had to get some dodgy stuff!! Anyway the haylage is now the most consistent quality, as the hay can change depending on which field it was cut from, some is dusty and soft and some is firm and crisp, my boy does not cough on this and it does not need soaking but the other stuff does need soaking otherwise he is snotty and coughing. He is off at the moment due to lameness but is still going out everyday. So haylage in a small holed net (poss two) or carry on soaking which is going to get pretty tiresome in the winter due to ice etc. Its a problem that needs a decision and i am struggling to make one!!
 
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