hay vs haylage

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myhorsefred

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Hi all,

Just wondering really, what do you prefer and why?

I've always fed haylage (quite dry haylage, don't like wet smelly stuff). Was thinking this year about buying some hay in. Some friends say haylage can go 'through' them, little nutrient value, can make some horses grumpy etc.

So i was just wondering, hay or haylage?
 
Feed haylage to my tb as she is a fussy eater and needs it to help her weight gain.
Hay and haylage to the 3 year old to help with weight gain but not let her get too hot.
and the fatty one just gets hay... Cos he's fat lol. Although he dreams of having haylage at night and sometimes tries to steal it out of my other two mouth.
 
ha, my fatty tries to steal anything too, lol.

See, I'd heard recently that hay can help horses gain weight, and haylage can go through them too quick.

But I'd always been taught at pony club (many years ago now) that if you wanted to gain weight then feed haylage.
 
I feed hay because it is slightly cheaper, and also stores better and doesn't 'go off'! The boys love hay and I prefer them having it to haylage which can sometimes make Bailey silly and a bit hyperactive!
 
Depends on horses.

If fatties, hay only. Haylage if wet and cold in small amounts.

Needing condition. Haylage is good for keeping condition but goes straight through them. Add hay in the mix and it settles their stomach.

Vet recommendation to always serve haylage with hay and bloody brilliant one at that.
 
Mine will be on haylage this winter because;

  • it has high moisture content so i dont have to worry about how much my horse is drinking as the water is abit cold so he wont drink as much as he would normally
  • it is not as dusty as hay can be so wont make him cough
  • my horse loves haylage but is really fussy with which hay he will eat
  • it is good for weight gain

for me haylage every time! :)
 
I have fed haylage for the last 3 yrs and much prefer it to hay, for several reasons:

- Easier to get hold of and less weather dependant when harvesting
- As we have 3, a large bale of haylage works out cheaper than small bale hay
- We have one who coughs on hay and would need it soaking which is a pain
- I find it cleaner to deal with and less likely to blow around the yard
- As good haylage has a higher nutritional value than hay we feed less hard feed
- Easier to store as is wrapped
 
Normally over the winter I would feed haylage as MM is a poor doer. However I've had to swap onto hay because suddenly she will not eat haylage - she would literally rather starve overnight than eat it! I've tried different bales and different suppliers so its not just a bad batch, but she will not eat it!

Our hay is reasonable quality but not amazing because of the weird weather this year, but if she'd rather eat that then I'll just have to feed ad-lib and have done with it! Strange mare :rolleyes:
 
Thanks all for your comments.

My warmblood will be on hay as he coughs too on hay. Think I will put the others on mix of both. I make my own haylage, but will buy a bit of hay in.

Thanks again.
 
My 2 both had haylage all last winter and did really well on it and I found I had to feed little hard feed until Feb when we started team chasing again. I didn't find it went through them at all and neither ever really had loose poo

They are in a fair bit in winter and I like them to have access to ad lib forage and I did find they got to the stage where they would only eat so much of it. Whether that's because they got a bit bored of it or because of the high nutrient content, they just didn't "need" it, I'm not sure


I should say they are worked 6 days a week and hunting/team chasing fit over autumn/winter .... I'm not stuffing ad lib haylage in to horses not in work :o
 
Haylage. At my old yard they were both on hay but my TB coughed constantly, despite soaking it (wasn't the best quality, but wasn't awful). At my new yard they are both on haylage. Haven't noticed any difference in their behaviour but HAVE noticed much better condition and not heard even one coughing fit yet! :)
 
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