haylage costs

[annetownsend]

Can anyone help me?
My horse is on grass livery and I pay a monthly amount which includes adlib hay. This year he has gone on to haylage and I am to pay the difference in price between the two. The haylage costs are split equally between all horses in each field. I have just received bills of £50 for December and £50 for January, this seems a lot to me, but as a novice owner, have nothing to compare. Thanks.

 

[_daisy_]

how much haylage is your horse eating? £50 seems excessive to me for 1 horse.
how many horses are in your field? how much wage your hay bill previously?

 

[annetownsend]

Hay is included in the livery costs, so I only pay the additional cost per bale over the hay price. In December he was in a field with 6 other horses, but in January he was moved to a field with only two others! Not sure how the two months came to exactly the same amount!

 

[_daisy_]

well up here there is hardly any difference in cost between hay and haylage so i cant personally see where they have got the £50.
I would ask them how much they have been giving the horses and ask them how much they were given for each month as from what you were saying its sounds like they are taking the p*** and hoping you wouldnt notice and just pay it.

my horses live out 24/7 and have adlib haylage and they go through (between the 4 of them) they get through 1 large round bale per week. so realistically (unless your horse is mega greedy (i have 3 out of the 4 that are) you shouldnt be paying for much more than 1 bale per month for your 1 horse at a rough cost of £25?

 

[annetownsend]

Thanks, I was pretty sure they were they were taking the p***, but with no previous experience just needed confirmation.

 

[eoe]

I think that is rather high, I use just over two rolls a month for 3 horses at £22.50 per roll. I get around 45 normal size haynets from them which feed 3 x 16hh horses.

 

[Nickijem]

I use the small round bales of haylage that cost £7 a bale. Jerry eats 2 of those a week costing me £56 a month so it is possible to spend that amount.

 

[TURBOBERT]

I pay £20 delivered - a bale when I need one - it lasts two horses a month. I think I am on a winner though as someone near me pays £45 for a large bale of hay delivered.

 

[pennyh]

i pay £25 per large bale for haylage , if i really did do ad lib my 16.3 warmblood would definately eat 2 bales & more per month (eg if he just had the bale to trof from)

i give it to him in hay nets , he eats about 1.5 bales per month that way

so £50 for haylage is fine BUT as an add on is taking the p*ss

 

[Angua2]

I collect my bales of haylage. My large round bales are £15, and two last my two 1 month fed adlib.

 

[missnellpell]

Slightly off topic but I have been buying small haylage bales at a cost of £5 a bale. My 16.1 TB can get through one of these in 2-3 days so it's fairly expensive. What I would like to know is how long haylage can be used for once the bale has been opened-I was thinking of buying a much larger bale as it is more cost effective but I was under the illusion that you should use it within a week or so of opening-is this correct?

Many thanks

 

[jewel]

we pay between £5 and £6 a week for ad lib haylage. scrumpy haylage needs to be used between 7 to 10 days after opening

 

[Sarah060581]

I thought exactly the same, but have found that not to be the case with the supplier that I use. I believe it entirely dependant on when the grass was cut and how its been baled. I pay £30 for a large rectangular bale, and that usually lasts me 2-3 wks feeding one horse

 

[Vicki_Krystal]

My big round bales are £15 and they last a week with 4 horses on them.

Your bill seems steep to me!