Silage for horses

[peerielee]

We are going through a huge amount of hay at the monent (as is everyone). I was looking at alternitives to hay alot of people i know feed there horses silage.

This is my question for anyone who can help:

I believe silage is the same as haylage only fed to cattle in large round bales. Because it comes in such large bales the bacteria in the middle of the bales can cause the horses gut harm so i have always personally been against feeding large round bales of silage. Is this true?

Thanks for any help. p.s im new!

 

[alsxx]

I would never ever ever feed silage to horses. Its made with cattle in mind, and in my opinion a horses digestice tract is very different to that of a cows! I know of someone who lost a horse to I *think* botulism from feeding silage.

 

[alsxx]

Welcome btw!

 

[welsh_monster]

Silage is not the same as haylage...silage is kind of the first process.
Silage is cut and baled, not left to dry as such.
Haylage is cut then left for a day (i think) then baled.
Hay is cut left to dry almost completely, then baled.

Not entirely sure on exact time scale but my farmer dad did explain it once upon a time!

But you are right about the bacteria, but not because it is in large bales.

Hope this helps you, you are right to avoid it, cows are no where near as delicate as horses.

 

[alsxx]

I think its cut lower to the ground than haylage is so risk of dirt contanimating a bale.

 

[Donkeymad]

I would never allow a horse to eat silage.
However, people tend to use varying names for the same product. Eg. Some call haylege silage and vice versa.

 

[peerielee]

Thanks i was sure i was right. The silage folk deal with here seems to be cut and left for 3 days before its bailed. When i was told their horses ate silage in the winter i was taken aback and questioned the knowledge i had. I still wouldn't feed it.

 

[guisbrogal]

I was told by a vet that it causes laminitus too and should never be fed to horses.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Silage does run the risk of scraping more earth up and it's this that could cause botulism poisoning. Silage is also much more acidic than haylage or hay so you will probably find that many horses will refuse to eat it. Those horses that DO eat it often develop scouring. I'd certainly never feed it to a horse of mine, though opinion seems divided on the safety aspects. One of the big 4 Horse mags ran a definitive article on it a month ago and there was an interesting discussion on this Forum about the same time - might be worth looking that up x

 

[Supanova]

Silage has acid added to it when it is picked up which haylage doesn't. I would never feed silage to horses as have always been told that their stomachs can't take it and could lead to colic. Silage is designed for cows which have 4 stomachs so their digestive systems can take it.

 

[miller]

A friends horse nearly died from lymphangitis caused by the extremely high protein level in the silage the yard she was at was feeding - it is completely different from haylage though

 

[bailey14]

The acidity, low fibre content and likely high protein levels of silage make it unsuitable for horses. I am sure that I heard that silage is cut much lower to the ground than hay so there is more risk of dirt which can cause botulism. Also the way grass is grazed by cows is different to horses so if the silage has come from a dairy farm it would be richer although this isn't necesarily so.

 

[teddyt]

I wouldnt. Silage is usually cut and either baled or put in a clamp the same day. Haylage is cut then baled after a day or two of drying i.e. higher dry matter. Silage often has additives that make it ferment, ok for cows but totally unsuitable for a horses digestive system. As others have said, there is a high risk of botulism in horses fed silage. Also, silage is made from fast growing, high sugar grass as it is made for cows that need that sort of nutrition for milk production or meat. This type of grass is totally unsuitable for horses. Too high in energy and sugar.

 

[ajf]

This sounds more like hayledge that silage (for original post).
Also there are many different kinds of silage for different animals. Dairy silage I wouldn't feed but I live of a beef and sheep farm (cows and sheep eat the silage) and have fed silage to the horses. They love it (well most of them! Old sj mare wouldn't lower her standards

) and have to use it some times when hayledge/hay runs out. We try not to feed it as said very high in protein, but if we do they get a limited amount. Never had any problems with it but will pick through the clamp and go for the nicer stuff. Had fed from my ponies when younger to my now eventers (from 4yo to intermediate/2*).
Its important to know your feed and whats good and whats not. Have bales of hayledge and get them chucked away as unsuitable but I know alot of people wouldn't notice that the bale was dodgy and would feed it to their horses.

 

[Orangehorse]

Whoa, some of you are in a muddle. Friendly-horses has got it right. This is a farmer's guide to silage, not a scientific report!

There is silage which is chopped grass left for 24 hours to wilt and then usually put into a clamp. If it is fed to dairy cows then it will be cut when the grass is at its richest and often special varieties and I wouldn't feed it to horses.

Silage does not necessarily have an additives, it is very often just grass and nothing else.

Then there is silage for beef and sheep, which is cut later when there is less sugar and the grass is older, more mature and possible different varieties. This is left to wilt for 24 hours and then put into a clamp.

Then there is haylage which is cut and left for 2-4 days, depending on the weather, how old the grass is, i.e. what state of growth and this is generally baled and wrapped and this is what is fed to horses. It has more water than hay. (and can be fed to other livestock as well of course).

Both silage and haylage are in effect "pickled grass." The air must be kept out or the damp grass will simply rot and will not get preserved.

Botulism can get into both clamp silage and big bale silage. It comes from soil contamination from things like lots of mole hills, or cutting the grass too close to the ground. I think it is more common in baled silage/haylage.

Hay is grass that is cut and dried in the sun and this may take up to 2 weeks, again depending on the weather and what sort of grass it is. Even in the very best of hot dry weather it would take a week to make into hay. If there is rain on the grass when it has just been cut and still green it generally doesn't matter too much. What you don't want is rain on the hay when it is just about ready to be baled because that can make the hay dusty, even if it is nicely dried out again before it is baled.

We find that hay that is to be baled into big round bales needs to be a bit drier than if it is to go into little bales. All hay "cures" a bit in the bale and generally comes out better.

The advantage of haylage is that it is much quicker before it is ready to bale and therefore can be made when the weather isn't reliable and it is also dust free.

Our silage is for beef cattle and my horses love it, but I only let them have an occasional mouthful as I don't really trust it, although I know people who do feed it to horses. I believe the Irish National Stud fed some of their mares on silage one winter, but I have no idea if they continued with that practice or not.

 

[Patches]

[ QUOTE ]
I think its cut lower to the ground than haylage is so risk of dirt contanimating a bale.

[/ QUOTE ]

We use the same mower on the back of our tractor for cutting haylage, silage or hay. It's not cut any differently. The ONLY difference in the varying forages is the way it is processed AFTER cutting. That said, we wouldn't bale haylage or hay at the first cut....although others do. We use the longest, richest first solely for our silage production. The cows come first!

I feed haylage to my horses. We cut it and leave it to dry for up to four days. During this time we "turn" the cut swath of grass a couple of times a day to make sure it is all getting good drying time in the sun. It is then rowed up and baled before being wrapped the same day.

We start cutting for silage the day before the contractors arrive to row up, collect and buck rake it into the clamp. Basically, it's picked up as soon as you can. We just need a head start with the mowing as they can pick it up faster than we can mow it.

Hay is made pretty much the same as haylage, only we leave it for another day or so and don't wrap it.