jules9671
Well-Known Member
hi, how long after hay has been cut and baled can you feed it to horses, my neighbour is taking his bales in from field wondering if i can ask to pop a few into my garden
thanks
thanks
new hay
- Thread starter jules9671
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Sarah_Jane
Well-Known Member
At least 6 weeks
kerilli
Well-Known Member
someone i know paid for regular testing of freshly baled hay, from baling onwards, and there were no more changes in the bale from 3 weeks after baling onwards, so i think it's fine to use from then on.
i wouldn't feed it before then though.
i wouldn't feed it before then though.
MillionDollar
Well-Known Member
You can use it straight away as long as its been baled proberly
Just remember it has higher calories in it.
TURBOBERT
Well-Known Member
So why did we keep it six months before use in the olden days? I use haylege now anyway but I thought there was a risk of colic if it was fed earlier that six months. Are there any nutritionists/vets out there???
Tia
Well-Known Member
Because we knew no better back then....and because there weren't any nutritionists back then.
Nowadays research has gone a long way to dispelling these old myths. Providing hay has been cut, turned, baled and stored correctly it can be fed straight from the field if necessary. As Claire says, the nutritional values will be greater in freshly baled hay so you need to adapt your hard feed around it.
We have all of our hay analysed so for our customers this is easy for them to adjust. Personally I never use any of my new hay on it's own until it has lain in the barn for about 3 or 4 weeks mainly because I have a lot of youngsters here and I don't like to switch feeds just like that - I start to gradually introduce the new hay alongside the older hay once it has been in the barn for a couple of weeks.
Nowadays research has gone a long way to dispelling these old myths. Providing hay has been cut, turned, baled and stored correctly it can be fed straight from the field if necessary. As Claire says, the nutritional values will be greater in freshly baled hay so you need to adapt your hard feed around it.
We have all of our hay analysed so for our customers this is easy for them to adjust. Personally I never use any of my new hay on it's own until it has lain in the barn for about 3 or 4 weeks mainly because I have a lot of youngsters here and I don't like to switch feeds just like that - I start to gradually introduce the new hay alongside the older hay once it has been in the barn for a couple of weeks.