How many KG of hay overnight?

[CobsGalore]

How many KG of hay do you feed yours overnight?

I've just moved yards and he is out during the day on ok grazing, I gave him 4kg soaked hay last night - there was none left this morning (I didn't expect there to be, he is a gannet and will eat anything in front of him) but wondering if this is ok, or too little?

He is a 14.2 cob, good doer but currently perfect weight.

He is also on straw on can pick at that if he gets peckish.

 

[Britestar]

My fatties are now on 2 x 3kg nets of very good haylage, as they were looking a little too well for the time of year! all the others are on 2 x 6kg nets.

Added: There is never a strand left with the fatties!

 

[Ali27]

My two mares (14.2 ,15hh) good doers have 4 - 5 kg of hay at night with one slice of barley straw. They go out at 5.30am and i have been giving them a small net in field - 1.5kg but thinking of cutting that out as there is definately grass coming through the mud! Mine never have anything left in am either! I guess i should start soaking it so I can feed a little bit more! I feed in trickle nets but they still gobble it down way too quickly!

 

[CobsGalore]

Ok so I'm not far off with 4kg, perhaps I will put some dry hay on the floor for him tonight too to make it up to about 5kg

 

[Kokopelli]

Mine who is dieting has 6kg a night and has lost weight slowly and now looks really healthy.

 

[CobsGalore]

Mine who is dieting has 6kg a night and has lost weight slowly and now looks really healthy.

Hmm that's interesting, How big is your horse, and what breed?

 

[muckypony]

My 14.2 welshie has 10-12 kg... always some left in the morning. Grazing is poor and he is in fairly hard work and is an ideal weight.

 

[CobsGalore]

So does the 1.5% body weight rule actually make sense then? This would mean my cob should get 7kg total a day, is that right? So if on good grazing, 4kg should be plenty? Or have u got my calculations wrong?

 

[lhotse]

My 14.2hh arab is currently getting 12lb/5.5 kgs of hay a night. She was on 14lb up until a week ago but the grass is growing and I don't want her to put on weight before the spring flush. She is turned out for about 3 hours a day and has about 5lb of hay through the afternoon. She looks a perfect weight and is in light hacking work at the moment.

 

[AmieeT]

I don't know the weights, but my 14.2 cob type gets 1 1/2 slices of a small bale of hay each night- he's a good weight atm but have cut his hard feed in half as we have lots of spring grass growing already and he's not been ridden in nearly a month (combo of bad weather and lack of time due to impeding exams and driving test!)

Haynet is normally empty in the morning, but there are usually scraps on the floor lol.

 

[LadyRascasse]

1.5% is for an overweight horse, 2% if they are the right weight and 2.5% if they are underweight. With good summer grazing they would eat roughly 0.5kg per hour at grass, I would say it would be less for winter grazing.

 

[CobsGalore]

1.5% is for an overweight horse, 2% if they are the right weight and 2.5% if they are underweight. With good summer grazing they would eat roughly 0.5kg per hour at grass, I would say it would be less for winter grazing.

All ok, that's helpful thanks. I will up his net to 5kg tonight then and see how we get on. The grazing has definitely/is starting to come through.

 

[dogatemysalad]

Mine get between 10-12kg of hay overnight.

If a horse needs 2.5 % of its body weight in forage per day, then excluding grazing time, mine have roughly 2% in forage, which is approx. 11kg for a horse weighing 550 kg.

For good doers and horses not in work, I still give ad lib forage but reduce the calories by soaking it or mixing with straw

 

[PollyP99]

All ok, that's helpful thanks. I will up his net to 5kg tonight then and see how we get on. The grazing has definitely/is starting to come through.

I give about 5-6kg to my 14.3 section d and she has gained slightly I think so I will up her work. Interestingly she eats everything normally but by chance I have given her a large and small hole net 3kg in each, she ate all the big hole and barely any of the small hole, odd because when she has 2 small she eats it all. I may have stumbled on a way to slow her down, give her an easy eat option and a hard and see if laziness counteracts greediness! This is the second day she's done this??

 

[Flibble]

Interesting thread as I now find myself in these shoes 15.3 not grossly overweight but on the portly side. I know he will put on loads on spring grass so I am now weighing all his hay ration and soaking some so that he can have a little more overnight. I am giving him between 6 and 7kg. With 2 to 3 kg of that ration soaked.
He is hungry but not desperate and sometimes has a little left floating around in his bed. I work on the theory if he was really hungry he would scoff every scrap.

He is fed from the floor.

 

[shadowboy]

My 13.3hh NF who weighs 398kg as per the weigh take is currently in all day. He has a 5kg net in the morning that has been soaked for 14 hours and then a compressed hay block that weighs 1kg at 5.30pm and finally a 4kg net of soaked hay at 7.30pm. I know technically it's more than he should have based in body weight but he's bored being stuck in and I need to keep his gut moving so I haven't much choice. he hasn't put any weight on since they came in 3 weeks ago.....

 

[Tess Love]

I give about 5-6kg to my 14.3 section d and she has gained slightly I think so I will up her work. Interestingly she eats everything normally but by chance I have given her a large and small hole net 3kg in each, she ate all the big hole and barely any of the small hole, odd because when she has 2 small she eats it all. I may have stumbled on a way to slow her down, give her an easy eat option and a hard and see if laziness counteracts greediness! This is the second day she's done this??

How bizarre? Might try this but doubt if it would work she just loves food too much!

 

[Ginge Crosby]

1.5% is for an overweight horse, 2% if they are the right weight and 2.5% if they are underweight. With good summer grazing they would eat roughly 0.5kg per hour at grass, I would say it would be less for winter grazing.

LadyRascasse, where did you get this info? Everything I've found so far works off 2.5% as standard. Doing lecture notes and a source for those points would be great for me! Thanks

 

[Kokopelli]

Hmm that's interesting, How big is your horse, and what breed?

He's 14.2 BRP incredibly fine. I went by the 1.5% rule, also work him relatively hard but that's because he doesn't go out much to keep him sane.

ETA: he used to have nothing left in the mornings but not he does.

 

[amandap]

By my calculations an good - over weight 500 Kg horse should get 6.5 Kgs - 5 Kgs in 12 hours (2.5% (min) - 2% per Kg body weight respectively) but ime the theory is not that simple in practice. If they are regularly running out it can be problem, especially if they run out at say 1 am or before, as it means they are effectively starved for a number of hours every night. So soaking and ways to slow horses are useful as more can be given if forage is lower sugar and they spend longer eating it. It's the million dollar puzzle we are faced with for horses stabled or on grass free areas, as they are designed to move whilst nibbling almost constantly low sugar, high fibre forage.
Their stomachs produce a constant stream of acid (unlike us) and they need to chew to produce saliva that, along with the forage, acts as a buffer. Empty stomachs are prone to ulcers and behavioural problems can emerge from hunger, discomfort and lack of meeting a basic need.


In my understanding the 1.5% of body weight should be under vet supervision for dieting.

I do think they calm down about bolting forage if they have sufficient to not run out.

 

[WandaMare]

I give about 5-6kg to my 14.3 section d and she has gained slightly I think so I will up her work. Interestingly she eats everything normally but by chance I have given her a large and small hole net 3kg in each, she ate all the big hole and barely any of the small hole, odd because when she has 2 small she eats it all. I may have stumbled on a way to slow her down, give her an easy eat option and a hard and see if laziness counteracts greediness! This is the second day she's done this??

That's interesting. I have found that my mare eats her hay more slowly when fed from the floor compared to feeding from her trickle net. Give her a net and she grabs it frantically until every scrap gone....fed from the floor she stays more relaxed and picks out all the good bits then she actually leaves the coarser pieces and picks at them through the night.....sometimes there is some left in the morning.

Different from yours but still not what is expected. I think when they can access the hay more easily some of them seem happy to satisfy their appetite (like yours with the big hold net) and then back off and come back for more later. Whereas with a small hole net, the challenge seems to take them over and they gobble until its all gone....mine is definitely more fixated on her hay when fed from a net.

 

[dogatemysalad]

By my calculations an over - good weight 500 Kg horse should get 6.5 Kgs - 5 Kgs in 12 hours (2.5% (min) - 2% per Kg body weight respectively) but ime the theory is not that simple in practice. If they are regularly running out it can be problem, especially if they run out at say 1 am or before, as it means they are effectively starved for a number of hours every night. So soaking and ways to slow horses are useful as more can be given if forage is lower sugar and they spend longer eating it. It's the million dollar puzzle we are faced with for horses stabled or on grass free areas, as they are designed to move whilst nibbling almost constantly low sugar, high fibre forage.
Their stomachs produce a constant stream of acid (unlike us) and they need to chew to produce saliva that, along with the forage, acts as a buffer. Empty stomachs are prone to ulcers and behavioural problems can emerge from hunger, discomfort and lack of meeting a basic need.


In my understanding the 1.5% of body weight should be under vet supervision for dieting.

Agree with this. Forage should be ad lib not restricted. There are better ways of controlling a horse's weight than by leaving it with an empty stomach.
Vet bills are expensive.

 

[LadyRascasse]

I found with my Tb the first few days from the floor he went mad and ate it all as quickly as he could then after a few days he settled and there was always some left.

 

[RobinHood]

My 14.3hh connie was getting 22lbs (10kg) at night but I've just reduced it to 18lbs (8kg) as he's looking rather well covered. He gets a third of it at 5pm when he comes in and the rest at 10pm, and although there's rarely any left in the morning I know he only finishes it about 6am.

He also gets 2kg in the morning and then 8hrs grazing.

 

[touchstone]

By my calculations an good - over weight 500 Kg horse should get 6.5 Kgs - 5 Kgs in 12 hours (2.5% (min) - 2% per Kg body weight respectively) but ime the theory is not that simple in practice. If they are regularly running out it can be problem, especially if they run out at say 1 am or before, as it means they are effectively starved for a number of hours every night. So soaking and ways to slow horses are useful as more can be given if forage is lower sugar and they spend longer eating it. It's the million dollar puzzle we are faced with for horses stabled or on grass free areas, as they are designed to move whilst nibbling almost constantly low sugar, high fibre forage.
Their stomachs produce a constant stream of acid (unlike us) and they need to chew to produce saliva that, along with the forage, acts as a buffer. Empty stomachs are prone to ulcers and behavioural problems can emerge from hunger, discomfort and lack of meeting a basic need.


In my understanding the 1.5% of body weight should be under vet supervision for dieting.

I do think they calm down about bolting forage if they have sufficient to not run out.

Feeding 1.5% of bodyweight is the recommended amount for overweight horses; it is feeding 1% of bodyweight that is recommended to be under vet supervision as a recent study found that some horses only lost weight when intake was reduced to this level, but obviously there are other health implications from such a reduction. I'd estimate a 500kg horse to need 7.5 kg of dry matter if fed for weight loss btw. I'd agree that slowing down intake/reducing calorific intake is what is needed, I've had ponies that will continue to bolt forage when fed ad lib, so the individual horse needs to be taken into account too.

 

[amandap]

Feeding 1.5% of bodyweight is the recommended amount for overweight horses; it is feeding 1% of bodyweight that is recommended to be under vet supervision as a recent study found that some horses only lost weight when intake was reduced to this level, but obviously there are other health implications from such a reduction.

You're correct! Must have been wishful thinking on my part.

 

[honetpot]

A pony I had came back off loan with laminitis, and grossly over weight, she was put on the 1.5% diet but it was made up of soaked hay, soaked barley straw and a kg of low calorie chaff. She lived for her food but would often leave the soaked barley straw unless she was desperate. She would eat a whole bale of dry barley straw or even dirty straw off the muck heap if she got the chance. On 1.5% she stabilised her weight but did not loose much, a winter out with no rugs and mainly straw to eat did the trick.
I am pleased there are people who are actually weighing their hay, so many people moan about there animal being fat but have no idea how much they are actually feeding or the DE content of the feed.

 

[Arizahn]

2.5% for growing youngsters too Great thread.

 

[L&M]

Our 2 cobs get 6 kg overnight, and if the weather is poor and come in at lunchtime, they get a 2 kg net for the afternoon.

One is a 15hh good doer, weight approx 500 kgs, the other at 14.2hh not so good doer at approx 450 kgs.

I don't feed haylage in the field unless there is a heavy frost or snow cover.

 

[Flibble]

I am pleased there are people who are actually weighing their hay, so many people moan about there animal being fat but have no idea how much they are actually feeding or the DE content of the feed.

I used to be a non weigher until I owned such a good doer. I rang one of the welfare lines to double check the weights I was planning and for advice. She asked How do you weigh his hay? And I answered I pile it in the corner and give it a kick to see if it feels about right.
I soak half so he can have more bulk and being a contrary chap sometimes he tosses the dry aside and starts on soaked and vice versa and some days he looks at me and says 'are there apples?'