Horse won't eat new batch of hay.

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Larry

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Is anyone else having problems with horses not eating certain batches of hay. Do you know why this is? I have tried soaking it and also steaming it but they would rather eat their dirty bedding than the hay. Its this years, looks beautiful, smells great and is not dusty. I had a few problems last year with certain batches and most hay producers in this area (essex)experienced problems with some batches their hay. The horse don't even pick through it, they just won't touch it at all. Any ideas.............?
 
Assuming the hay is definitely good quality, as you say it is, try mixing it with some of the old batch if you have any left. Shake it all up together and then gradually increase the proportion of the new hay.
 
Hi, Thank for your help! I tried this to start with and they just picked through it and ate the old, now I've run out of old. HELP ! with the shortage of hay this year this is the last thing I need!!:(
 
I had this problem last year. Soaked, mixed it with old etc. There was no way Jose she was going to eat it! In the end I sold it off cheap to a sheep farmer & changed supplier. :)
 
Do you have any thoughts on why that was. Was the hay course or fine? I would really like to understand why? I had wondered whether the hay had been made too quickly. This year and last year we had some very hot days during haymaking and it would be tempting to think the hay was ready to bale earlier than it was (not completely dry inside the stalks). I have heard that when you think the hay is ready to bale it should be left for an extra day before it is. Any ideas anyone:confused:
 
In Essex too had the same problem with a couple of batches - one was fabulous organic meadow hay - it smelt, felt and looked beautiful and the boys hated it. They'd just drag it about and **** all over it. Not funny!

Have bought some round bales from Byfords this season and so far so good...bloody wants to be considering what it cost!!!!
 
Sometimes, especially if they have access to good grazing, a horse will just turn his nose up at hay that is a lesser quality than the grass. Rest assured, if the horse is only stabled for part of the day and is on good grazing for the rest of the time, he won't starve. If it's good quality hay, he'd eat it if he was hungry. I'd start by only putting a very tiny amount in for while he's stabled, otherwise you'll just waste it. Another thing you can try is chucking a cup of apple juice over the filled net. I wouldn't worry about it. My new rescue shetland is on hunger strike and won't eat flipping Horsehage Timothy. Don't even ask the price! It's brilliant quality and smells heavenly but it's deliberately very stalky and low calorie and I think new tiny ned is managing by stuffing her face in the 2 hours grazing a day she has. My Section D is the same - he comes in for a few hours across the middle of the day and hasn't had a haynet all summer! Before anyone rings RSPCA, he has a tub trug of Hi Fi Lite instead and sometimes will eat the equivalent of an average sized washing up bowl full but usually can't be bothered with even that as his belly is full from good grass.
 
So why does a horse refuse to eat hay that looks beautifull and smells wonderfull. The simple answer is because it tastes bloody awfull.
Try to think of hay as being made up of two distinct components. Grass leaf and grass stem. The leaf is the powerhouse for the growing plant and is high in protein.The stem is where sugars are stored(think of sugarcane).
In a normal year,hay has to be turned and tedded quite a lot to dry it. In a good year it drys quickly without much attention. The thin leaves dry fastest,and in a normal year a great proportion of this is pulverised to dust and lost. This year the hay has retained a far greater percentage of leaf and consequently tastes bitter. A further problem is that the production and storage of sugars will have been reduced by drought stress, adding to the unpallatability. If all this were not enough, if nitrogen fertiliser has been used and there has been insufficient water for the crop to grow and use the nitrates,this will add to the bitter taste.
Dont despair , stack the hay and leave it to mellow a bit.
 
I was told years ago not use new hay until later in the year, but have since been told and found out for myself that this is an 'old wifes tale' and I have never ever had a problem with it giving my horse tummy ache! You do of course have to restrict it as it is usually very palatable and they eat too much!
 
My horses would starve if I didn't use this year's hay.... lack of rain = no grass, plus I couldn't get any 2009 hay after May which was when my hayman ran out. I had a few of last year's bales which only some of the horses on the yard would eat which must have been at least 6 months old, no rhyme or reason to it that I could see!
 
I'm in Essex too and we have one certain supplier in my area whose hay looks/smells lovely yet my girls absolutely will not touch it, was gutted as last year I bought 150 bales off them, this year i've gone elsewhere just hope they like it as i've got 300 coming this time ! - what I did when they wouldn't touch it was left it until the second half of the winter when there was only mud in their paddock, they were grateful for it then and it all went eventually.
 
Providng it is good quality maybe he's not hungry.

I always feed new hay as soon as I get it and never had a problem, as long as it is completely dry and has no heat in it it should be fin, but I always mix it in with the old for about a week..
 
I too had the same problem with my tb. He would not touch very good quality this years hay. Especially cut by my very good friend. I mixed this hay with last years and have gradually introduced this over a period of time. He is now eating this years happily. However, show him grass he will chose that every time over hay at the moment.
 
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