Haylage - How much to feed?

[Claiired]

Searched google no luck haha. Typical!

I have a 14.2/14.3hh arab, and the new rule on the yard is that we've got to keep an eye on how much haylage the horse eats.

He gets fed 500g conditioning cubes, scoop of sugar beet, and a few handfulls of chaff. Twice daily. And he gets regular daily turnout, unless it's rained too much, but you probably know your self theres not much grass in the fields at the minute!

So how much haylage must my horse need to eat to meet his requirements?

Thanks

 

[imafluffybunny]

Mine eat a lot! I dont know what they get in weight but they eat well!

 

[PennyJ]

Buy a spring weight thingy to weigh your haynets and weigh them before you put them in his stable and then weigh whatever is left the following morning.

How much to feed depends on workload, weight and the pony itself. I feed mine adlib haylage this year due to increased workload and very little grass in field, in previous years they've only had 4kg to last them overnight (they used to be rather overweight) but they did have plenty of grass to eat during the day.

A rough guide would be 2-3% of bodyweight.

 

[sam72431]

Well I know that you should feed more haylage than hay if you go by weight as the moisture content is higher and so weighs more. As as guide my 16.3 eats 8kg of hay a night and when she was on haylage she ate 9kg a night, I had a 13.2 pony and she used to eat 4kg of hay a night and 5kg of haylage, really its just trial and error they shouldn't leave more than a handful or a few strands and they shouldnt be so hungry that there are no scraps at all, I think the BHS has something on there website fo a formula according to weight for how much to feed.