Haylage for a good doing barefooter?

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Mongoose11

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:confused:

I have been soaking hay but stopped due to the cold weather, started steaming a few months ago, it has taken a while to get the technique right, the bin right, the timing right, the steamer right and even then occasionally some of the hay won't have quite cooked through and she scares me to death with a cough :(

Steamer has now burnt out and I need to buy a new one, not expensive BUT YO has said I can get haylage in if I want to.

So, I was loving how much hay I was now able to give her and it had built up to a decent amount despite trying to balance her weight. I will have to cut the amount down if giving haylage right? So less chomping which means more time overnight with nothing to munch, which I don't like.

Also, how does haylage fit in with her being barefoot? She has grass, hay, fast fibre, pro hoof, linseed and a joint supp.

So do I just bite the bullet and go to haylage despite the obvious issues or do I carry on and soak/steam hay. Vet says haylage as apparently every time she develops a niggle or a cough it is just exacerbating the mild COPD and it will build up to get worse and worse.

Advice please? :)
 
I managed my fatties wieght lose ( over 200 kilos ) with haylage as his main forage source, in summer he was never without something to eat for more than three hours he was grazed on a bare strip and was given oat straw chop straight onto the grass when out when I was going for maximum wieght lost I soaked the haylage for two hours ( vets advice as the research she looked up said that enough to get rid of most of the sugars ) he got lots of exercise he's now thin I can see all his ribs ATM but spring is coming so I'm not worried , now he's on as much haylage as he can eat he's so happy.
He was BF till October when I really needed to shoe him as hunting hard was more than he cold manage BF.
Exercise is the key .l
 
Not sure form a good doer point of view but I feed my barefoot poor doer hayledge without any problem the barefoot fatty pony gets hay, but as I'm fast running out of hay I will follow this thread with interest
 
What type of haylage is it ? what grass ?

A mix of meadowgrass should be ok, ryegrass would be a no-no, is the haylage always the same grass and quality ?

I had to start feeding my 2 haylage last April, 1 good doer, both are barefoot and if the haylage is a mix of meadow grass, quality haylage they're both fine.

Can you test the haylage before switching to it ?
 
Mine is ryegrass haylage I buy two sorts lite which is cut early morning or late evening and is lower in energy as a result and recreation the company also makes an active I have never needed to feed any one rocket fuel yet !
 
Thanks for the advice so far guys, place I would get it from has production of hay and haylage as their main business and they supply most of newmarket so the supply would remain constant but unfortunately I can't get it tested. Will have a check on their website to see if it is rye and bear that in mind thank you!
 
Look for Timothy haylage, Horsehage do one but it's pricey but you can sometimes get local versions.

It's a better grass for horses than ryegrass and ryegrass mixes being higher in fibre and lower in protein.
 
Hang on a blinkin' minute - problem can be solved. They sell 45kg bales of 'dry' under their haylage heading. I am thinking this would be bales of wrapped 'hay' a dry version of haylage but a silky version of hay? Will have to give them a ring!
 
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