pros and cons of hay Vs haylage...

H's mum

H's mum

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www.coligone.co.uk
When we have our field cut in the next few weeks I'm still debating whether to have big bale haylage done or small bales of hay - Pros and cons please - I'm split between the two!
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Kate x
 
Hay doesn't go off once opened unlike haylage
Hay more dusty than haylage
haylage can be stored outside, hay needs better storage conditions
Depending on the grass, time of cut haylage can be nutritionally better (good or bad depending on your horse!)
You really need 3 horses on haylage to make it worth it
Get a puncture in the wrap and you have a large dodgy bale to get rid of
haylage seemingly much more yummy to most neddies
 
I like hay in the summer because my horse is a fattie so I can soak it - gives him something to eat to keep his gut moving but without too many calories.

In winter I like haylage because I find hay dry (so does he) and I don't want to be soaking hay at -10C! Also love the smell of haylage.

Haylage goes off if you don't get through an open bale quickly enough - how quickly can you use one up? You won't have that problem with hay.

I'm not much help really because I like both but at different times of the year. The people who use haylage on our yard seem to be having trouble getting hold of decent haylage, I think they discard 1 in every 3 bales straight away as they're mouldy on opening. I don't think we've had any bad hay yet this summer...
 
Thank you both for your replies - I've got 2 eating it (16.2hh and 11hh) both of which need restrictive diets - so I'm struggling to get through the haylage before it's going off - I'm just trying them on hay this week to see what happens - I do have a big barn so storage isn't a problem - although the horses would lose their shelter - Hay would also be easier to move about as we don't have a tractor with a spike to move it -although the little tractor we have could drag it into position...

Ideally I'd like to have small bale haylage but I can't find anyone who can do those for me
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Kate x
 
Hay is better for anything laminitic as can be soaked to leech out the protein.

Hay can be dusty and you can't remove the spores.

Haylage has higher water content so you have to feed more of it.

Haylage is better for any horse that has COPD/Breathing probs.

Need to have ideally more than one horse feed on it,-although if its of a fairly dry consistency you can totally unwrap it and it should last up to a good couple of weeks without going off.

Haylage needs to be cut at just the right time to be of a good quality and can go off in hot weather

Hay is better for any horse that can't take eating haylage

Haylage doesn't need soaking so so much quicker to feed

.
 
I saw what happened to last years cut of haylage Kate....I wouldnt ever rely on it being any good. Hundreds of pounds worth ended up as cow bedding with horses having to make do on the dregs of what hay other people could let go.

Stick to small bale hay, at least if you get a dodgy one you are throwing out a couple of quids worth as opposed to £20 odd each time.
 
Kate, get some advice from a professional as haylage needs to be baled at a different moisture content to hay.
Haylage has a higher moisture content to hay and retains more of the natural sugars than hay, providing more of the nuitional content of a horses diet than hay, so you will reduce your hard feed accordingly.
Do take some time to reseach it on-line, most of the good producers explain the benefits.
It is best baled and wrapped in situ and then moved only once to store before use, experience tells me this keeps your product more stable. It will also need spraying whilst being baled with smoething like Eco bale to set of the fermentation process to turn it into haylage.
It is very easy to make bad haylage, which you'll then have to sell off cheaply to a local farmer as silage for his cattle!!
Commercially the big rectangular heston bales of haylage sell for between £20-£35 across the UK
 
I was about to suggest small bale haylage. Where are you? There may be someone on here that knows of somebody who could help?
 
We're near Bradford - if anyone could offer to do small bale haylage that would be perfect!
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Thanks for all the replies - it's great that people have gone to such lengths to explain things -
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Kate x
 

To be perfectly honest its a bit late for first cut haylage!Even hay is no longer at its best. Go for hay.
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Thanks for the advice Mike - we've deliberately left it a bit longer as we don't want rich hay/haylage as I've got a sugar intollerant mare and a laminatic prone pony
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I was advised to leave it til end of July? Would that be about right? The field has gone very biscuity colour now as opposed to green!
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Any advice you have will be greatly accepted!
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Kate x
 
morning Kate,
I grew my first crop of haylage last year. I didnt deliberately leave it till July to be cut and baled, i had to go on when the farmer would do it for me. Mine still hasnt been cut yet and by the look of the forecast for the next few weeks it wont be cut till the end of the month anyway, ut it wont be a problem for me.
We went with big bale haylage as thats what the farmer did lol. he stacked it all for me, my neighbours bf moved me a few off the top when he collected theirs which made it easier (yes you may be shocked) but we moved each bale by hand when we needed it! so managed to cope without a tractor.
My crop last year was wonderful, maybe a bit on the rich side for the laminitic but she was on it all winter and she had no problems. I had the odd bale (im talking maybe 2 out of 54 bales) and there was only maybe 1 small patch that was easily taken off. I got far too much to keep my 4 on it all winter so managed to sell the rest to my neighbour. I guess 1 bale lasted mine about 5 days but its left open in the field as and when they want it which is normally where they stand 99% of the time lol
i would love to get half of mine done in big bales and the rest in little bales so i could use it over the summer when im competing etc but i dont think theres many around here that do the small bales. I do know 1 farmer but i think hell be too far out to come help you, either that or itll cost you a fortune? i can give you his number if you like?
 
Hi

If your field has gone brown because the grass ia beginning to die off you would be wasting your money making it into haylage. Like mike says, it is too late for first cut haylage, we are just about to do our second cut as soon as the weather is more settled. If you try and make haylage out of 'old' grass it will dry way too quickly and not have enough moisture to ferment once wrapped. Go for hay much cheaper, plus if you have any spare it will be easier to sell.

Regards

HH
 
I'm glad we're not the only ones who struggle with big bales and no big tractor
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If the farmer's miles away it'd cost a forture and wouldn't financially be worth doing it - but thank you for offering the number
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The farmer that we have had out to advise us said to leave ours til july/aug to allow it to thicken up - Ideally I'd like lighter bales of good quality hay - I guess I'll speak to our farmer again and see what he suggests
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Kate x
 
Thanks for your reply HH - I think small bale hay would be the best bet for us - We'll have to speak with the farmer and get the barn organised - like you say we can always sell on any spare
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(and it'll do my figure the world of good bringing it in off the field
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LOL!)
Kate x
 
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