Low calorie hay alternatives?

[Fjord]

I normally feed soaked hay all summer and restrict my mare's grazing, she gets fat very quickly and has been close to laminitis in the past. Unfortunately, I'm struggling to buy any more hay and I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out. I don't think she will just eat chaff on its own (currently feeding Top Chop Zero with speedibeet for supplements) and I'm wondering what's best to do?

Any ideas?

 

[Equi]

Have you looked around for some straw?

With the way things are going im SURE there is a market somewhere for someone to soak hay, dry it out again and bale it to sell as pre-soaked lol

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

If there is no alternative and she is hungry she will eat plain oat straw chaff. If she refuses to eat it, she must be finding enough grass somewhere.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I normally feed soaked hay all summer and restrict my mare's grazing, she gets fat very quickly and has been close to laminitis in the past. Unfortunately, I'm struggling to buy any more hay and I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out. I don't think she will just eat chaff on its own (currently feeding Top Chop Zero with speedibeet for supplements) and I'm wondering what's best to do?

Any ideas?

I use Timothy haylage for my Lami horses.

I had her on Top Chop zero but she got bored of it and stopped eating it, also I changed from Speedy beet to Purabeet, less energy less calories safer for lami horses

 

[laura_nash]

HorseHage Timothy and Low Fibre both worked for my good doer, though it's a pricy option. If you can get some barley or oat straw you could mix the two, straw is fine up to 50% in my experience.

 

[ycbm]

I feed timothy haylage (or soaked mixed grasses haylage) when my mare needs some decent food and force her to eat barley straw that she won't eat unless she's got nothing else when she doesn't really need feeding.
.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I also buy from Devon Timothy Haylage it is much cheaper for ponio and Gelding and I use Marksway Timothy for my mare.

 

[Fjord]

I've never fed haylage before, do you feed the same amount as hay? I was going to try and find straw as well, she is normally fed some during summer months and she's usually quite keen to eat it.

 

[Zuzan]

I've never fed haylage before, do you feed the same amount as hay? I was going to try and find straw as well, she is normally fed some during summer months and she's usually quite keen to eat it.

Haylage contains more water so per weight compared to hay there is less feed ... but it is also consumed more slowly as it's also bulkier due to added moisture.. low cal / timothy halage + straw would be a good solution.

 

[PurBee]

Ill second horsehage marksway timothy haylage - its very stemmy, nicely fermented, properly - keeps them busy chewing due to texture. Their bales are properly heavy - at least 20kg, often more - their uk price is very competitive per kg compared to many other known brands. Often other brand bags are 15-18kg.

Timothy is so low in sugar anyway, so fermented it really is as low as you can get.
Feed-wise use the same volume of haylage you currently feed in hay. forget weights, as some haylage is dry, some really wet. I use a large tubtrug and fill with haylage the same amount they had of hay.

 

[meleeka]

I know here in the South, straw is more scarce than hay this year.

 

[minesadouble]

I know here in the South, straw is more scarce than hay this year.

I'm in NE England and it's the same here. We are currently hauling straw from Aberdeen.

 

[rextherobber]

You can use Fast fibre as a partial hay replacer too. I really hope we get better hay/ straw reserves this summer!

 

[Fjord]

You can use Fast fibre as a partial hay replacer too. I really hope we get better hay/ straw reserves this summer!

So do I, I've never had this panic before!

Unfortunately, fast fibre tends to give her explosive poo, I have fed it before. She was getting a little each day, I increased it slightly and it became unsafe to stand behind her! She was fine, but it clearly didn't agree with her.
I'm going to try her on some Horsehage Timothy haylage and if she's OK with it I'll stock up on that. If I can get straw as well then hopefully I can get enough to keep her going. I'll also feed a bucket of chaff, if she doesn't eat it she can't be too hungry.

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

Where are you based OP....hay is being advertised in north Yorkshire/County Durham and in Scotland?

 

[Fjord]

Where are you based OP....hay is being advertised in north Yorkshire/County Durham and in Scotland?

I'm in Cambs. My friend has just managed to order 2 big bales (I've no idea who from!) so I'm breathing a big sigh of relief! I think I will also get some haylage too, to make the hay last longer, and also try a couple of buckets of chaff around the track. It's all variety for miss Fatty and if it means my hay lasts longer then even better!

 

[Sail_away]

I used easy pack Timothy haylage for my asthmatic good doer, they also did wrapped hay so that could be an alternative if you ever struggle to find hay bales again? I did also try horsehage which he loved but found it richer so I kept it as a special treat.

 

[HollyWoozle]

Old Manor Farm here in Beds also make a Timothy Lite Haylage if that's any good: https://www.oldmanorfarm.com/haylage

We buy our hay from Mark there and the quality and service is exceptional.