Lucerne Hay - Is it ok as supplementary forage?

[TooManyCobs]

Hi all..

My friendly local farmer has just donated me a big bale of lucerne hay.. never one to turn down freebies i've accepted but just wanted to check if everyone was of the opinion that my plans of how to feed it are safe!

I know its high in protein and low in sodium.. i've got that off the internet.. and i dont plan to feed it to my good doers at all. But for the two that need supplementary feeding in the winter, can i safely replace some of their grain feed ration with a haynet of the lucerne hay whilst maintaining their rations of medow hay? We have poor grazing here so they aren't getting a lot of grass in their diet, and i'll keep one grain feed a day so they can continue to have their multi vitamin.

Can anyone see any harm in giving it to them in this way?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Cortez]

Lucerne, also known as alfalfa, is a legume not a grass and as such should be fed like a grain feed - in small quantities. Some horses are allergic to alfalfa/lucerne, and others can become very fizzy and hyperactive. I'd suggest feeding it like Alfa-A which is chopped alfalfa.

 

[Rollin]

I noticed, when riding at a ranch in the USA, that horses were fed small slices of what looked like hay. I was told it was Lucerne/Alfalfa.

The stud in France who stand Tatianus, EU Shagya champion, also feed lucerne.

I would make your own judgement and try it. If I could find a supplier locally I would certainly feed this hay to one of my stallions and one mare, both of whom need large quantities of hard feed in winter.

 

[amy_b]

I haven't fed Lucerne hay but have had massive success feeding my TB Lucie Nuts made by Simple Systems which as the name suggests are made from Lucerne.
He has got a layer of fat for the first time in four years and is a much happier horse for it, it is the first thing that has added condition whilst keeping him sane.

 

[Circe]

Its common to feed it here, usually 1 or 2 slices a day. As Cortez says its to replace some grain ration, and not to be given as an ad lib hay feed.
Here we get different grades, the more leafy, the higher the grade, and the more fattening.
Its quite fattening, and high in Calcium.
Lots of horses love it.
It was great for my old horse who needed the weight, but my tb can't tolerate it and gets hyper on it. Its quite common for it to cause allergies as well. You might find their droppings get loose on it as well.
I'd say try it and see if your horse can cope with it, if they can, you've got yourself a good freebie.
Kx

 

[maccachic]

I believe up to 20% of roughage requirements is generally considered safe.

But high protein and energy and not minerally balanced so you do need to take these into consideration with the rest of the diet.

 

[BethH]

My horse appeared to be allergic to Lucerne when I swapped him to a different good quality feed - their nuts were made of lucerne, i'm almost certain that it was the cause of a major reaction & terrible hives which went when I swapped him back to his old feed.

I only say this as a word of caution as I have owned my horse for 11yrs and have never come across anything like it. So introduce it very slowly and before you up the amount, give it some time, my horse started minor itching and it took a good couple of weeks for it to really get into his system before it flared up massively. I am sure yours will be fine but some horses even my incredibly good doer can't cope with it.

 

[beryls2001]

A lovely hay in moderation. But don't feed too much. A slice or two a day is fine...

 

[Spring Feather]

Alfalfa hay should be mixed with grass hay if fed adlib to horses. Otherwise you only feed smaller amounts of it neat. We make a lot of alfalfa/grass mix hay and it's terrific for keeping weight on the horses during our very tough winters. Our alfalfa hay at the moment runs at between 15% - 95% in our fields. Each year after seeding the alfalfa lessens and dies off so each year you end up with less alfalfa in the hay and more grasses.

 

[lisalisa1]

Thanks for this tip.

 

[beryls2001]

Lisa thought you'd be interested in this:http://horsetalk.co.nz/archives/2007/12/119.shtml#axzz3KNtoCgCz

 

[thatsmygirl]

I would feed it but very carefully, companies like marksway don't like selling their Lucerne haylage without talking to the customer but can't see you can do much harm just be aware of the protein levels if cause u get filled legs or protein lumps keep it in mind.