Questions for those of you who use horsehage...

[bryngelenponies]

I bought horsehage for the first time yesterday- the high fibre variety. I'm just wondering how much you feed to yours, is it less than hay or the same? I'm of course going to gradually introduce it over a few days. This may be a stupid question but does anyone else find baling twine in with their horsehage? I opened up the bale for the first time this morning and after feeding a few handfuls managed to find a long segment of purple baling twine all tangled in with the rest of the bale, is this common?

 

[ihatework]

In terms of volume you should feed an equivalent amount to hay (bear in mind that weight wise this may be heavier for haylage due to water content). The horsehage comes vaccume packed so once the slices are fluffed a bit, 1 bale of horsehage will be roughly equivalent to 1 small bale of hay.

Regarding the baler twine, then the bale is tied up, just like a standard bale of hay, so you would have 2 strings to cut - is this what you mean?

 

[bryngelenponies]

Regarding the baler twine, then the bale is tied up, just like a standard bale of hay, so you would have 2 strings to cut - is this what you mean?

I can only find one string- it doesn't seem to be tied around the bale, just imbedded into it like a stray piece. To be honest I hadn't really thought about whether it was tied up like a regular bale or not so was a bit surprised to find it. But like I said I've only found one length of twine in the bale, so doesn't sound like twine that was used to hold the bale. I'm a bit confused as you may be able to tell...

 

[suestowford]

I've used horsehage and found the string a bit strange too! You are not alone...

I think the strings are tight round the bale when it is baled but when the bale is vacuum wrapped in the plastic bag, I'd guess the haylage shrinks up really tight together and the string then looks loose when you open the bag. All the string I've found in horsehage bales has been loose & wrinkly.

 

[bryngelenponies]

I've used horsehage and found the string a bit strange too! You are not alone...

Thanks, as long as I know that I'm not the only one! I'll know now for next time - they should really tell people to expect baling twine.