Quick lesson in Hay needed....

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Beatrice5

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Hi guys,

Right I need to know when can you safely feed this years hay. And also correct me if I am wrong but early cut hay ( may) will be of a higher nutritional value than late cut hay ( sept) . My neighbour has just cut their field in the last few days and I was wondering weather to buy some as it was on my doorstep. But when can I feed it? Also they do have some plantain in their field which I understood when fresh had been linked to stringhalt does this still apply once it is in hay? Obviously I know about ragwort and deadly night shade being highly toxic but what else should I be looking out for in their hay pasture? We overlook this field so I know it well.

Many thanks
Amanda
 
Right,
you can feed well dried hay straight away. The later cut will have lower nutritional value than an early cut, but depending on several factors, it might not be a significant difference.
As far as I know a plantain is a giant banana, so not quite sure how it can be present in pasture or be responsible for stringhalt - can't help you on that one.
 
I was always told never to feed this years hay before xmas, although lots of people feed it straight away with no issues; but for very good doers or laminitics I would soak new hay before feeding if thats all I could get hold of. I've never heard of plantain causing a problem in hay before, and can't say I've ever noticed huge quantities of it in any hay I've used over the years.
Worst thing has been squished mice!
 
question to add to that - how would you go about checking the nutrionial value? just that with this odd weather we have had this year, we almost seem to have swung back to Spring. Our summer fields have gone from dustbowls to golf greens and all the laminitic prone animals have had to be moved onto smaller/starvation paddocks. I personally now have an ISH who was sporting a nice trim tummy all summer and is currently doing his best to impersonate a pregnant mare!
 
You can get forage analysis done by various companies, I believe Dodson and Horrell do it for about a fiver; although no use to me as I tend to get different batches over the year.
 
I have had laminitics in the past and I don't know if I would risk the soaking new hay method, but then I don't know the biology behind it. I would probably leave may hay until at least october before feeding to a liminitic, but then we are farmers so we always used to feed last years hay this year, as it were, to be safe, so not sure how far the boundaries can be pushed TBH.

I have 2 non-laminitics at present and they have had some may hay this year already with no probs, though only for the odd overnighter before comps.

D&H can definitely do a forage analysis.
 
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