how much haylage?

E

emalou2

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 October 2008
Messages
224
s400.photobucket.com
I have a 16.3 TB mare who is in light work.
Occasionally (mainly due to hot weather) she comes in during the day. She is quite a good doer and has a bit of a belly on her, nothing major.
How much haylage should she be having?
Ive been giving her 4-6lbs in a net on the days she is in. Is this sufficient as ive never used haylage before, ive always had hay.
And.. during winter months for her nightly haynet what should she have? again light hacking and schooling 2-3 times per week.

Any ideas welcome thanks xx
 
The rule used to be feed more haylage because of its high water and lower fibre content but nowadays most haylage is drier than it used to be. Ours at the moment looks like very clean soft hay.
Im useless with kg but my 16.2 who is overweight gets a small net overnight, probably as much as you could get in the smallest haylage net they do.
In winter I dont worry as much and he gets a decent net full. It hasnt ever made my horse fizzy.
 
Thanks its difficult to know how much isnt it? there doesnt appear to be much in her net but i suppose there is its just me thinking im being mean!
 
I feel really mean at the moment as I know it will be gone quickly but he cant afford to put any more weight on. Hes out during the day and in at night but there is so much grass at the moment. Its difficult as another lady feeds her bigger horse less than me yet someone else feeds there smaller horse probably double what I give. Im just trying to stop him getting any bigger
frown.gif
 
sounds like your doing your best hun, its always difficult with good doers, ive never had one before so i worry about laminitis and allsorts esp with all this changeable bloody weather!
 
Snap, hes the first good doer Ive had too. He was bought as a leggy 4 yr old sports horse and now is a 10 yr old tank with his legs quickly dissapearing lol.
 
I found a chart on the net and it works on the body weight of the horse so here goes :-

400kg 12.00kg
450kg 13.50kg
500kg 15.00kg
550kg 16.50kg
600kg 18.00kg
650kg 19.50kg
700kg 21.00kg
750kg 22.50kg
800kg 24.00kg
850kg 25.50kg

Hope that helps.
 
I suspect those figures may be for 24hrs with no turnout.

Some years ago when I changed from hay to haylage I was struggling too, and was giving them far too much. I bought one of those weigh things that you just hook through the net, and then started working out how much to give.

My lad is 17' 1" and weighs roughly 640 kg (done by tape), and is also a good doer. If he was kept in during the day at the moment, I'd give him about 6 lbs, during the winter he has 20lb maximum over a period of 24 hrs.

I do tend to be a little on the mean side though as don't like him to put weight on.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I suspect those figures may be for 24hrs with no turnout.

Good Point i think you are right. I just found it and thought it might give a rough guide but thinking about it i dont think my horses get that much in winter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top