seed or meadow hay

[debsflo]

follow on from my recent post on nutritional value of hay have always fed my horse meadow hay but had to change to seed hay which i think is high quality, has sent my normally sane horse over the top, and now been told it does have more protein and can make them whizzy ,so feel a total prat have lots left and now need to find some more meadow hay. anyone else had experience of this or thoughts, and as not able to get all hay analysed how can you tell

 

[Thistle]

meadow hay is of lower value. Seed hay can def be too high protein for some.

 

[spaniel]

Meadow hay is made after the seed has fallen so the plant has finished making loads of energy to produce it.

Seed hay still has the seed on it so there is much more energy within the plant.

 

[henryhorn]

I would steer clear of seed hay unless your horse is in fast hard work and can utilise that energy, meadow is more suitable for the average horse.
It does often have the effect you talk about, a bit like substituting a bucket of barley for pony nuts!!

 

[Tia]

I agree. Our selling hay is seed-hay, however the hay we use for our own horses is meadow hay. I don't need any excess energy for my guys.

 

[maisie]

Confused now, cos I feed coarse seed hay which is 2yo to my good doer and laminitic pony. It says in 'The Horse Nutrition Bible' by Ruth Bishop that Seed hay is of a lower nutritive value than meadow hay. (which is what I thought anyway cos it is much stalkier and less leafy) Anyone shed any light?!!?

 

[mrsbloggett]

It may be worth while getting the hay analysised before you go to the expense of buying more hay. I recently had my hay analysised by Dodson & Horrell. It only costs £5 per sample and the service is pretty quick. I had my results inside a week.

 

[Henmen]

We currently dont have a choice but to feed seed hay, unless i want to spend nearly £5 a bale, and as much as i want the best for her, i simply cant afford the the good stuff

TBH, i havent seen that much of a difference, i have cut back hard feed, and so far she seems OK

 

[Tia]

Meadow hay is always leafier than seed hay and depending on which grasses are grown then yes it can still have a good nutritional content within. The grasses grown in meadow hay generally result in a softer type of hay and usually it is cut once the grasses have seeded. Meadow hay values can vary enormously though depending on so many factors and the hay from these fields are whatever types of grasses are there. This hay is made in fields which are basically grazing pasture fields which have been left to grow long. There is often no structure to what is growing there and that's why the nutritional content can vary so much. Basically meadow hay is older and "past it" hence lower levels of protein etc.

Seed hay is generally purpose-grown hay. The fields are seeded with specific grasses and legumes and therefore the nutritional content is almost a given even before production of the hay. Of course there are other factors such as weather which can alter the overall values, however usually you can be guaranteed of higher protein levels. Seed hay is harvested before the plants seed which is why it is more stalky and less leafy.

So in summary; once the plants have gone to seed you will see the decline in nutritional values. It is while the plants are still growing to produce their seeds that the content is highest.

Hope that helps.