Shocked by hay analysis!

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pottamus

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Following my lad having laminitis I decided to get the hay analysed as it is my hay off the field he is on. This field is rented from a farmer who has never taken care of his land and it was in a poor shape when I took it on, never fertilised or treated in any way and very weedy with docks and buttercup.
The results came back to say that my hay measures 9.5 for digestable energy on a scale of 8 to 10...where anything over 10 should not be fed to laminitics unless soaked to death and 10 for sugar on a scale of 8 to 10...10 being lots of sugar!!!! OMG!
Marksway high fibre haylage has sugars of less than 3 and DE of the same amount! I cannot believe that my crappy land prduces something that could have contributed to his laminitis!
I spoke to the vet anyway because he is struggling badly with his COPD on the hay and I cant soak due to having no water and even she thought he would be better off on high fibre haylage...even having had laminitis.
 
The DE and sugar content depends on the type of grasses in the hay and the time it was harvested - so you can't rely on the fact that it has never been fertilised to ensure hay is safe for laminitics, as you have found out!

It is great that you have posted this though, as it will draw other people's attention to this issue! Who did you use for the analysis? I know Dodson & Horrell offer the service and I think Dengie do too.
 
Sorry, not relating to the hay as such but if you don't have water, why don't you get a water butt? It'll be full in no time with this weather
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Do you have to take water in a barrel for your horse
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? That'd drive me nuts I'm sure
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!
 
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so you can't rely on the fact that it has never been fertilised to ensure hay is safe for laminitics, as you have found out!



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Does fertilisation of fields make a difference to the safety of grass for laminitics?

Really interesting thread.
 
Please look at your analysis again
It is not the Digestible Energy figure that is important but the total sugars
ie %sugars add %starches should be below 10% to be safe for laminitics
 
[ QUOTE ]
Please look at your analysis again
It is not the Digestible Energy figure that is important but the total sugars
ie %sugars add %starches should be below 10% to be safe for laminitics

[/ QUOTE ]

OP says her sugars were ten anyway, whether that includes starches or not. If it does, it's too high; if it doesn't, and they need adding in as well, it's certainly too high!

Very interesting thread, I would love to get the hay from my various suppliers tested.
 
Sugars can be reduced by soaking and it sounds like the hay needs soaking anyway if dusty
Maybe try to sell it for sheep/cattle and buy the high fibre haylage instead if you cannot easily soak it
 
I have the same problem with my hay, i have to soak for up to 24 hours to make it safe to feed my laminitic pony. I never realised you could feed haylage to laminitics, I'm going to look into now it would save me loads of hassle if i could. Thanks for tip Pottamus
 
The laminitis clinic do not recommend the feeding of haylage to laminitics, I can't remember the exact reason why. However, for the reasons stated above I have used the blue Marksway Horsehage for Meg for years, as the sugar & starch is guaranteed at 3% or lower. However, if she had an attack of laminitis the vet told me to revert to soaked hay. I would have to buy my hay from the farm where I keep the ponies, it seems to vary in quality, so at least the horsehage is constant.
 
How much do they charge nicnag? I think Dodson & Horrell charge £10 for a proximal analysis, which is a realistic charge for a small-scale horse-owner.
 
Some 'branded' pre-bagged haylage is marketed as Hoofkind + safe for laminitics...including the Blue + Purple Horsehage and Blue and Purple Equilage......I think you are thinking about what I call 'farmers' haylage in the big rounds that smells gorgeous but sends one of my horse demented and makes the other 2 fat....
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If I feed haylage I buy the branded ones as I mentioned above...but usually I stick to hay as its more convenient.

Interesting re the hay analysis.......
 
NICNAG - you at SAC !!! I was there last year - as a very mature student. I'm at Strathclyde Uni now and not having any fun which I'm sure is down to the fact I really enjoyed being at SAC and wish I'd stayed. If your there full time I hope you don't for a minute, forget how lucky you are.

And I think I'll get my hay checked for sure - had no idea they offered this service.
 
I'm kind of in with the woodwork now! Was here as a student and now on the workforce for the last 5 years. It's not a bad place really, should have asked if they do staff discounts on forage analysis!
 
I had the analysis done by D&H for £7.50. The sugars were scored at 10 and their guidelines on what this is are as follows...
Total Sugars – This represents the amount of sugar present in the sample. This will be affected by the species of grass and time of cutting.
Hay: The sugar content in hay will vary based on the maturity of the crop and weather at the time of baling. Typically the sugar content in hay is below 10% however if the sugar content is above 10% then this may require soaking if the horse is suffering with clinical conditions such as Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS), Laminitis or Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (PSSM).
 
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