my horse doesnt want to eat his 6 day old haylage, maybe hes not hungry?

smokey

smokey

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So, I was at the haylage today, emptying a net that wasnt finished this morning, and another livery asks me why I'm dumping it. I tell her its not fresh, and she says "I leave it in the net, if hes hungry he'll eat it. I dont think he can be though, coz hes hardly touched any for 6 days" This horse is stabled 24/7, not sure why, hes not on box rest. Am I wrong in thinking that fresh haylage should be offered every day, or am I being wasteful? She looked at me as if I was mad when I ditched my waste.
 
Haylage is fine for a week after opening, especially in temperatures like we have at the moment. Would you query it if it was hay? Except maybe to ask why she is netting so much more than the horse wants to eat, always provided it's not losing weight because it won't eat it because there is something wrong with the bale she's using.

I often leave haylage in the net in a lorry and they eat it on the next journey. It's no different to leaving it in the bale if the weather is either cool or very hot and dry, when it turns to hay.
 
I would say don't give it too much haylage, so you can take some fresh out every day, once it's trodden on they don't really like it. A small bale of haylage will go off, but not in a day!!:D
 
You should smell if its gone off, and unless its become extremely wet it should be fine after 6 days. Sometimes it will be white as well.
 
I have a recycling system where the yard companion gets the left overs as his main hay feed. Perhaps this makes me a very bad person. Small pony doesn't seem to care, saves waste as well. Obviously I would never feed him anything that was off and yes I would be very concerbed if a stabled horse hadn't eaten for 6 days.
 
smokey said:
So, I was at the haylage today, emptying a net that wasnt finished this morning, and another livery asks me why I'm dumping it. I tell her its not fresh, and she says "I leave it in the net, if hes hungry he'll eat it. I dont think he can be though, coz hes hardly touched any for 6 days" This horse is stabled 24/7, not sure why, hes not on box rest. Am I wrong in thinking that fresh haylage should be offered every day, or am I being wasteful? She looked at me as if I was mad when I ditched my waste.
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I don't understand why you do not know why your horse is stabled 24/7. :confused:

You are right about the haylage. It should be changed every day.
 
Blimey - if you were at my yard you would be in BIG trouble for throwing away haylage unless it was mouldy!! :eek: I agree that fresh haylage should be offered each day, but most horses the bit they have left too if there is nothing wrong with it.
 
cptrayes said:
You misread it Wagtail 'snot her 'orse. Easily read that way though :)
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Agreed, lol, I didnt read that back before I posted! Its NOT my horse, he belongs to the lady in question. I think he's stabled coz its easier for her, he never seems to go out. I think maybe after 6 days I'd be changing the haylage and offering fresh, I do sometimes top up a net thats a day old, but wouldnt leave it longer. I know that it will last a week once opened, just interested to see what others thought. The horse is fed bucketloads of hard feed as well, so maybe she feels he doesnt need too much forage.
 
I rarely had that problem, as my boy would inhale every last mouthful, and then go through his bed to make sure not a scrap remained. On the rare occasions that he had some left (usually hunger striking to indicate his displeasure at being clipped) I used to lob it out into the field for a mid morning snack. I would never throw haylage away - it's far too expensive!
If I had any that was mouldy/smelt off - I'd save it to show the guy I bought it from. Didn't happen very often, his haylage was fantastic, but he always refunded me if I had a duff bale - and he'd take it away so that I wasn't left with stuff I couldn't use lying around.
 
spottypony said:
Blimey - if you were at my yard you would be in BIG trouble for throwing away haylage unless it was mouldy!! :eek: I agree that fresh haylage should be offered each day, but most horses the bit they have left too if there is nothing wrong with it.
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YO uses any "waste" for his ponies, so not a problem. I would leave it in the net and top up with fresh in the depths of winter, as I know it would be eaten within 24hrs, but what was in my net today wasnt going to be used in the next day or two.
 
Haylage in the open bale, haylage in the net, it's all the same age since opening. It's fine for a week, sometimes longer in cool weather. I make up nets for several days at a time. I don't understand how anyone can think there is a difference between it sitting in a bale or hanging in a net. But if a horse has not touched any AT ALL in 6 days I'd be concerned but if it's just not clearing it's net all up your giving it to much.
 
Agree I wouldn't change it every night, but it's not a problem I would have, unless there was somethign seriously wrong with my horse :eek:
 
smokey said:
why on Earth do you think this is a spoof? Totally genuine post, dont understand what makes you think otherwise
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Me neither!

If the YO feeds it to his ponies, why is it not fit to leave for your equines?? I agree with whoever said that haylage from an open bale is the same in the net as in the hayshed on the bale!
 
I would'nt worry too much about just topping up the net if what's left has'nt gone off, and as for a horse being stabled 24/7 just because it's easier for the owner, that I would worry about !!!
 
Honey08 said:
Me neither!

If the YO feeds it to his ponies, why is it not fit to leave for your equines?? I agree with whoever said that haylage from an open bale is the same in the net as in the hayshed on the bale!
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I was throwing it because I knew my horse wasnt going to have another net of haylage in the next few days, if I had been giving her more in the next 24 hrs I would have topped it up. I agree its the same on the bale as in the net, but if mine hadnt touched their net for 6 days I would be wondering why. My point was that I was always taught to feed fresh every day, and this woman was doing the opposite of that and wasnt getting that maybe a fresh net would be welcomed.
 
I personally wouldn't be giving my horse a net of haylage that had been sitting there for 6days in its stable being compacted by possible new hay and slowing going manky. Regardless of livery haylage or haylage I buy direct if it hadn't been eaten for a few days I would wonder why ! Either it's gone rancid, the horse doesn't like it or it's being fed too much.
 
ribbons said:
Haylage in the open bale, haylage in the net, it's all the same age since opening. It's fine for a week, sometimes longer in cool weather. I make up nets for several days at a time. I don't understand how anyone can think there is a difference between it sitting in a bale or hanging in a net. But if a horse has not touched any AT ALL in 6 days I'd be concerned but if it's just not clearing it's net all up your giving it to much.
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I disagree that it's exactly the same in a bale or net! In the wrapping when you pull out a new section of an opened bale it's still so sweet and yummy, it soon dries spread out in a net. Just feed the amount your horse will eat simples!
 
I could understand YO's being thoroughly pissed off with liveries throwing away haylage not eaten.

When i have haylage left in a net i take it out, put in fresh and add the old to the top and it's eaten the next day, and doing it this way, haylage is never more than a day old.

I suspect if people were buying by the bale very little would get thrown away.
 
Welshie Squisher said:
I could understand YO's being thoroughly pissed off with liveries throwing away haylage not eaten.

When i have haylage left in a net i take it out, put in fresh and add the old to the top and it's eaten the next day, and doing it this way, haylage is never more than a day old.

I suspect if people were buying by the bale very little would get thrown away.
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We used to get hay and straw included within our livery until some T*** dumped a whole bale of hay on the muckheap :( YO understandably went nuts and then we had to buy our own hay - with no reduction in livery :mad::mad::mad:

But aside from that, surely the owner should be more concerned that the horse hasn't touched it's haylege? What other sources of fibre are provided ? Is the horse on straw and maybe eating that instead?
 
Mine would never have his left overs again the next day. If I was being particularly thrifty I would lob it out in the paddock for him to pick at but never back in his haybar. Personal choice i guess
 
I don't feed haylage but surely if it goes off in a net overnight it will have gone off in the bale? Perhaps he's leaving the same bit each day if it hasn't been emptied?

When I have fed haylage in the past it's gone in a flash. lol

ps. If he never gets out of his stable perhaps he's loosing the will to live.
 
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