silage

i wouldnt feed it perminantly as it has alot of gas in it and horses cant burp so that might give them a tad of colic....but we fed a bale to the horses and they went mental! they loved it..they all actually whinned when it came to haynet time...i would mix it in with hay or haylage....preferably hay and a small amount of sailage.....sailage isnt very good perminantly as it can give them the typical 'silage belly' which means a pot belly and no muscle if not worked regularly....but one bale shoudlnt hurt...our horses loved it and and are more importantly...still alive and kicking!!!1
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if you are going to feed it then only use a bale or half a bale for them all as a treat...as if left for a long time it can go sour!
 
im pretty sure you cannot feed it to a horse.....something to do with the kind of micro-organisms in it as it rots.....

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"When over 50 per cent moisture is present, fermentation inside the plastic packaging cannot be relied upon to produce suitable forage for horses. At worst it may allow the proliferation of undesirable micro-organisms, especially the chlostridial bacteria which cause botulism and can be
fatal in horses. Also the acidity, low fibre content and likely high protein levels of silage make it unsuitable for horses."
 
I wouldn't, but, apparently, many horse owners do now feed it.
 
Think the reason you should not feed silage to horses is that it it can cause botulism (sp?). As cows are ruminants they can handle it but horses can't - feel free to correct me if I am wrong
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I wouldn't personally as I know someone who fed it and it had a bacteria in it which ate through an artery in their mare's getteral pouch? which killed the horse
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Some not quite accurate statements above! We make a lot of silage for our beef cattle, and it is not high sugar ryegrass, but a mixture of grasses, including old pasture. The horses love it, if they can grab a mouthfull and my husband thinks that I should feed it. However, I have asked several people, including the vet and they all say no, so I don't.

Silage is really a feed for ruminents, cattle and sheep, who have a different digestive system, even though they all eat grass.

I have a feeling that the Irish stud did some research and fed silage to horses, but it was only an experiment and don't still feed it - unless anyone from Ireland knows any different.

It is a shame, because it would be really convenient, no dust and much easier to make than hay.
 
my old farmer used to bring me haylage and sometimes it smelt like silage... i sent it back as i wasnt going to feed my horses on that phewwww it pen and inks lol ..
changed my farmer and now they are on hay and its lovely

i personally wouldnt feed it at all...
 
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Haylage is a brand name......

Silage is exactly the same stuff as 'haylage' just with a different moisture/sugar content dependant on how long it is before cutting and wrapping....

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HUH???? Silage is different to haylage. Horsehage is the brand name!!!

Silage has a much higher water content than haylage.
 
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