Old hay

[Jenko109]

I just saw a post on fb for someone asking for hay from 2020 or 2021 to feed an old pony.

I'm baffled. Why would anyone choose to feed three year old hay?

The previous years hay, sure.

But three year old hay?

 

[Polos Mum]

Well made and well stored it's brilliant for weight challenged (fat) horses / ponies.

With a low cal balancer it'll keep their gut happy without giving them anything else to speak of.

I'd feed it in a heartbeat if I could get hold of any.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I'm on my last 6 round bales, it's 2 years old. It's been barn stored and is lovely. It was left over from 2 years ago and last years hay was put on top of it. So pleased I have it as we havnt been able to cut this years yet de to the weather.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I much prefer older hay as long as its stored properly its fine mine get to fat once I start feeding new hay.

 

[Burnttoast]

It doesn't matter how old hay is, once it's cured the sugar/starch content will be the same as carbohydrates are stable molecules. The vitamin content will be reduced though, as they do degrade in time. So I'm not sure why, unless they believe it will have less DE.

 

[ycbm]

I don't understand it. If it's kept well it will have lost vits and mins but there's no reason for it to have lost calories. If it's not kept well it will be chock full of dust and mould.

Maybe it works for weight control because it's less palatable when it's that old.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Well whenever I've started feeding new hay especially if it's really green mine just get too fat on it, I'm still feeding last years and it's not dusty and they are finishing it I could start buying this years cut but it was only cut last month.

 

[Nasicus]

I don't understand it. If it's kept well it will have lost vits and mins but there's no reason for it to have lost calories. If it's not kept well it will be chock full of dust and mould.

Maybe it works for weight control because it's less palatable when it's that old.

That was always my understanding, they'll either eat it slower or eat less overall because they're not pigging on tasty fresh hay. I did notice a difference in consumption rate between feeding the same years vs the previous years hay from the same supplier and field.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

When we moved in here the hay barn was full of old hay which had gone horribly musty (we found the mummified remains of several small animals in it) and there was no way even my greedy gelding was going to touch it. We’ve been using it for mulching and mixing it in with the muck heap and it’s gradually reducing ..

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I just saw a post on fb for someone asking for hay from 2020 or 2021 to feed an old pony.

I'm baffled. Why would anyone choose to feed three year old hay?

The previous years hay, sure.

But three year old hay?

nothing wrong with old hay as long as dry stored and no vermin and cut and stacked on pallets. Its ok for laminitics, the proof is in the pudding, if they eat it, why not!

 

[SantaVera]

People tend to think the sugar and starch content in old hay is less than when it was new. This is wrong it's the vitamin that goes down.

 

[Jenko109]

Thanks for the education

 

[JoA]

I'm still feeding 3yr old hay... always steamed (haygain) or soaked. It has been well stored and although the outside of the bale may not look as great, the inside is absolutely fine. I have 10 bales left.....