Please help -hay/eating advice

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almrc

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Hi All

I need some reassurance please :) I have big round bales of hay for 3, 2 good doe-rs (cob types-14.3hh and 15.1hh) and one rising 4 TB X. When I had small hay bales, I was feeding 1.5 bales a day and there was always some hay left in the morning.With the big round bale, I have been filling a big builders bag with hay and giving it to them over night. It is always gone in the morning. So then I give them half of the big bag of hay, and it gets munched up in no time.cDo horses living out HAVE to have ab lib hay? The field is ok, its not muddy and horrible, there is grass but not long flowing grass.

Why I am asking too, is of course I want the best for the horses, but I am aware hay is scarce so I would like a big round bale to last a week between them if possible (which it will if I feed one big bag at night and half in the day time). Are they just being greedy or what? The lady across the way has less grass than me and feed a small amount of haylage to hers each night and morning. Sorry for the long post, I just worry far too much about them :(
 
Hi :)

I don't think all horses need ad lib hay if there is grass, but as yours are eating it all it sounds like they're hungry. I would have thought a large bale would last you a couple of weeks. Mine are only getting ad lib hay as we've so much snow, there's nothing else for them to eat.

Is your hay from a different farmer than you got your small bales from? It could be tastier hay and that's why they're enjoying it more?
 
My advice would be to weigh the haylage to see how much you are actually feeding.

To give you some idea I have 2 horses and 2 ponies. Both horses are good doers, one cob weighs about 470kg and a dutch draft that weighs between 700 and 800kg. the Cob is having around 20kg of Haylage a day and the draft is having around 35kg. If we had no snow and they had access to grass during the day it would be about 15kg and 25kg. This is not ad lib!!!! they would be very fat otherwise!

Guess it all depends on each horse- how are they looking weight wise?
 
Oh I see that makes a lot of sense weighing it thank you. The hay is from the same farmer but I have noticed that the hay in the round bale smells a lot nicer (not that the small bales dont) but I think they are enjoying it a lot more! Yes it has lasted me a week-just! They are hoovering it up. They are all looking good, all carrying a little extra weight as I would like but none of them are fat or skinny just 'normal'. Asking a stupid question, how do you weigh your hay? How do you work out also, how much hay they should be getting from their weight?
 
You can pick up a cheap balance scale from a tack shop- not much money! I was always taught never feed less than 1.5% body weight in forage so a 400kg pony would need an absolute min of 6kg- but i would be feeding more than that in this weather. You can see mine get a lot more than that at the moment- i just keep an eye on their condition and adjust accordingly- mine don't get any other feed just vits and mins.
 
I just found this off a vets website, does this sound right? 2 of mine are really in light work according to below. One is at rest.

1. Maintenance: horses and ponies at rest.
2. Light work, this includes: hacking for 1-2 hours/day, novice dressage, novice show jumping, novice show level.
3. Medium work, this includes: affiliated working hunter classes, endurance horses (up to 50 miles), intermediate dressage, intermediate show jumping (foxhunters, Grade A and B, etc), novice and intermediate one-day eventers, racehorses (fast canter work).
4. Hard work, this includes: advanced dressage, endurance horses (up to 100 miles), hunters (1-2 days/week), racehorses in training/point-to-point/National Hunt/Flat racing.

Now you can calculate the feeding rations - see below for estimated concentrate feed/forage ratios in kg depending on your horse's bodyweight.


Bodyweight - 350 kg
Maintenance/light work - 1.75 kg feed; 5.25 kg forage
Medium work - 3.15 kg feed; 3.85 kg forage
Hard work - 4.4 kg feed and forage

Bodyweight - 400 kg
Maintenance/light work - 2 kg feed; 6 kg forage
Medium work - 3.6 kg feed; 4.4 kg forage
Hard work - 5 kg feed and forage

Bodyweight - 450 kg
Maintenance/light work - 2.25 kg feed; 6.75 kg forage
Medium work - 3.95 kg feed; 4.95 kg forage
Hard work - 5.6 kg feed and forage

Bodyweight - 500 kg
Maintenance/light work - 2.5 kg feed; 7.5 kg forage
Medium work - 4.5 kg feed; 5.5 kg forage
Hard work - 6.25 kg feed and forage

Bodyweight - 550 kg
Maintenance/light work - 2.75 kg feed; 8.25 kg forage
Medium work - 4.95 kg feed; 6.05 kg forage
Hard work - 6.9 kg feed and forage
 
Feeding 1.5 small bales per day sounds about right,but I think you are possibly being a bit optimistic on how much is in a round bale. There are probably nearer 9 bales than 11 in one.Because conventional bale sections are in handy compressed chunks it is easier to give more, by the time you unroll from a round bale ,the hay has fluffed up and while it may look a lot,it probably is less than you expect. I am a firm believer in adlib hay (but am not averse to adding a bit of good clean feeding straw to make it go further)
 
Are your horses actually in light work at this very moment though, or has their workload diminished due to the weather? Even if they are working at the moment, I wouldn't want to feed the amount of hard feed given on those charts unless it was really needed to maintain or gain condition or the horse lacked energy. As an example, our 16hander (so probably 550-600kg) who hunts and competes only gets 1.6kg of hard feed a day when working, and half that when the weather stops play. The rest of his needs are supplied by hay.
 
From memory a bale of hay weighs roughly 56lbs so you are going through 84lbs per day. It's best to weigh your hay so that you can estimate better how much you will need.

The weigh scales that you can hang up are easy to use.

Using the old rough calculations your horses need about 78lbs of food a day between them. I think you are feeding the right amount as you have little grass at the moment.

Food to size calculation is
(height of horse - 2) x 2 = lbs for weight in kgs, divide answer by 2.2
 
i would expect a round bale to do the week .... just! the cobby ones will req less than the tb, but they will scoff much faster due to their type. if they are cleaning up i would suggest a little more each day. but your best guide is how they are actually looking... round and shiny? slim and shiny? huge and shiny? the 2 good doers probably wont req much in a bucket but the tb probably needs more in his bucket. what the lady across the way feeds is of absolutely no relevance to how yours are doing sadly!! check their weight and condition reg and adjust accordingly. if you are managing to work more than lightly at the moment well done! make sure well wormed and teeth done and appropriate rugs for your weather where you are and you wont go far wrong.
 
Evelyn said:
From memory a bale of hay weighs roughly 56lbs so you are going through 84lbs per day. It's best to weigh your hay so that you can estimate better how much you will need.

The weigh scales that you can hang up are easy to use.

Using the old rough calculations your horses need about 78lbs of food a day between them. I think you are feeding the right amount as you have little grass at the moment.

Food to size calculation is
(height of horse - 2) x 2 = lbs for weight in kgs, divide answer by 2.2
Click to expand...

Most bales are actualy about 20 kg ,(50 bales to the tonne) though Class Dominator balers will chuck out a bale nearer 56 lbs,but believe me ,they seem heavy and are not the norm. Normal bales are 12" x18" x 3 ft but the class ones are 14 " high.
 
With this weather and such low temperatures, I'd be feeding ad-lib, unless you've got laminitic ponies. We are trying to put enough out so that they have a little bit left. Ours are fed hay morning and night. We did give them free access to the bale originally but they really pigged and ate it all in a week -between one 15hh and one 12hh! You could consider using some sort of feeder?
 
Our temperatures are roughly -3 at night time. Everyone is rugged accordingly. I say light work according to that chart, but really its in between the resting and light work! I have a sharer, so roughly in the week, one horse is getting out about 4 times a week for an hour or so, the other is only going out about twice a week. They are def not huge, nor slim. I would say round and shiny :) 2 cobs are being fed a scoop of happy hoof per day. TB X is on alfa and cool cubes (all with pink powder).

So, one horse is about 490kg, one is about 500kg and the other is about 390kg. Roughly how much hay would they need according to all the formulas etc? I'm on the hunt for some scales tomorrow! This is so confusing, but I am learning thanks to all of you, so thank you for that. I have always been on a livery yard previous to this, except for last year but then there was loads of hay available
 
We have used hay for the last almost 40 yrs and have reluctantly had to change to haylage this year. We are feeding 2 horses and 2 ponies. We are using one big bale of haylage every week BUT we make it ad-lib by also feeding straw. I really don't like the idea of them standing in, with nothing available to eat and I'm sure that given the opportunity they would eat haylage all night, until they burst. All except the 28 yr old are good doers.
Your horse looks lovely in that pic and she has plenty of condition. I always prefer horses to get their weight from feeding rather than rugging.
 
Their total bodyweight is approx. 1380kg and 2% of that is 27.6. So they should be consuming 27 or 28kg of feed a day between them - that includes hay, grass and bucket feed. You have to decide whether they are getting any appreciable grazing or not which would allow you to decrease the hay a bit - but if the grass is all under a deep layer of snow then I would work on the basis that you need to feed about 28kg of hay per day. Just keep an eye on their condition to ensure that they are not getting too fat or too thin and adjust things accordingly. (Ideally you want to be able to feel their ribs easily but not see them.)
 
So some of you put in straw to make it last longer? Is it ok that they eat straw...well I guess of course it is else you wouldnt do it :)

I'm glad she is looking well, the other two are a bit more porkier but nice. I weigh tape them all regularly and the next move I will make if needed is to up to 2 feeds a day. I think its just seeing their faces and they just want more hay, but I guess thats just like me and chocolate!

That makes sense thank you TGM, well actually you have all been extremely helpful. They all live out and (touch wood) we havent had any snow for ages! I think they are perhaps getting a bit too much but will find out when I get some scales, hopefully tomorrow. Out of interest, and I know they all vary, how much do the large round bales weigh in kg?
 
Yes they are fine with straw. I would usually prefer oat straw but this year we have only been able to get wheat straw - v. good quality though.
TBH, I would rather feed forage than hard feed, unless they particularly need hard feed for some reason. We use grassnuts, rather than cereal-based feeds.
If I were feeding yours, I would let her lose a bit of weight going into Spring, so that she could safely put weight on in Summer.
 
almrc said:
I weigh tape them all regularly and the next move I will make if needed is to up to 2 feeds a day. I think its just seeing their faces and they just want more hay, but I guess thats just like me and chocolate!
Click to expand...

If they do start to drop too much weight, then I would up the hay first before giving two bucket feeds a day. The hay will keep them occupied for longer, will help keep them warm, and usually works out cheaper on your pocket, even taking into account the high price of hay this year! If you get to the stage where they won't eat any more hay, then that is the time to give additional bucket feeds!
 
Crikey, 13 horses on 3 bales, thats altogether less that what mine are on, mine must be piggies :)

Yes of course that makes sense. I am really interested to weigh how much I have actually been feeding them! Will weigh it tomorrow. I have enough hay until end of March, as I have been feeding before I potentially cut it down. I am thinking of getting in some haylage too just in case, but.......

When/what month approx do you stop feeding hay to your horses living out 24/7?
 
almrc said:
When/what month approx do you stop feeding hay to your horses living out 24/7?
Click to expand...

The answer to that varies a lot - depends on the type and amount of pasture available, the weather conditions that year (people fed hay a lot longer last year with the cold dry spring) and the types of horses involved (you are likely to be haying skinny horses for longer than fat little ponies). Really it should be judged by condition - when they start gaining weight (due to the grass coming through) then start to decrease the hay.
 
nativetyponies said:
really?

thats roughly 45 small bales weightwise between 13?...i didnt think it was too bad TBH?
Click to expand...

oops sorry thats my adding up skills for you....I worked it out wrong!! Me and maths aren't friends, can you tell...hence why I asked if you could work out how much hay they should be getting :D
 
I thought that answer would also vary a lot but thought I would ask. I have enough hay until end of March (roughly). So I am just trying to figure out how many haylage bales to get, if they are on one haylage bale a day. Was thinking of getting a months worth, taking me through to beginning of May...I need to buy soon as everywhere is selling out :(
 
How many acres have you got? Have you got any fields resting that they will go onto next Spring? Is your field likely to get badly poached? Whereabouts in the country are you? All of those are factors which will affect how long you will have to hay until.

I usually have to hay until about May, but have only just over 2.5 acres with two horses and a pony on it, so people on less restricted acreages can stop haying a lot earlier, especially if they have fatties!
 
I have 6 acres altogether, they are in the winter field now which is 3.5 acres and was resting for 5 or 6 months, whilst they were on restricted grazing in the summer field which is 2.5 acres. They moved into the winter field in about Sept/October. I am in Cornwall, on the north coast. I am hoping to get an extra 5 acres next year but I can't rely on that as I am not sure when they will be ready.

I suppose the large bales all vary in weight, what I thought is I will put their hay in a bag and weigh it as I give it to them. I am really intrigued as to how much they have been getting!

ETA: Would love to feed ab lib but everywhere is selling out so dont really have much choice
 
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