Horse that won't eat hay

[Little megalodonen]

We changed the hay a couple of months ago. It reminds me of the hay that cows usually gets. The analysis was good, its a H1 hay with lot of proteins and less sugar. But the hay is really wet. It lacks a little bit of solids (is this the correct therm?) so the horse don't eat much of it. He is visibly thinner and we dont want him to get thinner than he already is. Until we get something new, what could be done so he isn't loosing all is weight?

 

[cobgoblin]

I'd buy a few bales from somewhere else to tide you over.

 

[Twohorses]

You say the hay is "really wet". The hay analysis can be perfect as far as a horse goes but it doesn't matter if the hay has gone bad or was not properly cured.

Its my guess the hay is turning sour, and will go to flat out moldy from there.

The horse would rather starve than eat something sour and/or moldy.

As the previous poster said, buy some new hay and give that raunchy stuff to someone with goats or cattle.

I am sure you can buy bagged forage to feed the horse in the interim but him on it slowly if you do. Bagged hay will cost a fortune but the horse has to have forage, u til you can replace your hay with something better

 

[Shay]

Could you have got silage by mistake? Silage is what is fed to cattle - and can be poisonous to horses. But as others have said - if the horse won't eat it you need to get rid of it.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Hay shouldn't be wet at all it could be haylage or silage? I wouldn't feed it there is usually a reason why horses won't eat something.

Buy something else if he doesn't need to loose any weight! I am a bit shocked you have had to come on here and ask that tbh.

 

[Little megalodonen]

The thing is that the other horses on the stable do eat it.. There is only him and one/two other horses that don't eat it. Maybe I was a little bit to fast when writing but he does eat it but not enough. We have always bought hay from the same deliver for years. Last year the weather was really bad and the hay was poor. We needed to import from other countries. As I could see there is only a ball left or so until we get something new. Seems like the hay was turned into a ball too quick. Looks like it hasn't´t been dried properly. A lot of green grass in it.

 

[Shay]

Doesn't sound like you are in the UK OP?

 

[Little megalodonen]

Doesn't sound like you are in the UK OP?

Nope

 

[twiggy2]

Change the hay, it does not matter what an analysis says if the horse says it does not like it

 

[Shay]

Might help to know where you are? (Not specifically - just the country!!) Without knowing what might be available to you the best we can do is the standard advice of ditch the hay and find a different batch