Those with no grass - are you supplementing grazing?

Supertrooper

Supertrooper

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We, like so many others have had no rain for over a month. We're on clay and the grazing is getting very sparse now. All the horses are on twice daily feeds ATM, the shire x I share is on hifi lite.

Are you supplementing yours and what with? I just always worry about lack of fibre!
 
Supertrooper said:
We, like so many others have had no rain for over a month. We're on clay
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Ditto this ^^

However, ours are not on full turn-out yet. They are out from 8am to 4pm and until we get rain again they will not be allowed out 24/7. During the winter the main paddocks are not used at all - just went on them about a week and a half ago.

Praying for rain - fed up of morning mucking out etc.
 
I am on clay and we have had no grass really for 3 weeks. I started giving them haylage while out 3 weeks ago, and they are scoffing the lot, and are ready for in at 7pm. Although they do have 'grass glands' so there must be something they are getting ?
 
My 3 are still in their very dry and dusty winter paddocks because i had my summer field sprayed 3 wks ago and because nothing's growing as it should be.... it hasn't worked properly and it is going to have to be sprayed again meaning that my poor horses can see the grass but are still living on haylage and feeds twice a day! i wish it would rain! ive actually had to put the rubber mats that were in my stables in to the paddocks just so the horses have somewhere soft to lie!
 
We haven't had ANY rain for at least the last 8 weeks and our fields are looking very sparse. My boy is looking tucked up and is scoffing the biggest feeds of readigrass, hifi lite and high fibre cubes he has ever had and I am standing him with a haynet for an hour at both ends of the day... he's holding his weight fine but when he isn't getting enough fibre through him he looks a bit tucked up...

**touch wood** rain is forecast (again!) for this weekend. **fingers crossed** it actually gets to us this time instead of stopping 6 miles up the road!!!

***does little rain dance***
 
We are about 4 hours drive south from Channel and also have problems with grazing. My CB's are good doers and are looking great - hunting for grass is good for them. Almost impossible to find hay now as all our barns in this dept are empty,

My lot do get a feed of safe and sound with non-molassed beet and good quality licks in the paddocks.
 
Baggybreeches said:
Although they do have 'grass glands' so there must be something they are getting ?
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My mare gets grass glands when she's not getting enough grass ie it's really short. My understanding is that when the grazing is poor they have to chew far more for much less as can only get short strands at a time so produce an excess of saliva (in response to the chewing) but are actually taking in very little which is why they get grass glands. So to me it's always a sign that the grass is non-existent.
 
Ours were out 24/7 for the last few weeks, now will be back to coming in at night to make the grass go further. At the moment we are not putting haylage in the fields, but may have to soon :( Thought April was supposed to be a wet month :rolleyes: :(
 
Mine (two) get a small round bale of haylege every other night, as well as two feeds a day (two square scoops a day of pasture mix for the good doer cob, four big round scoops a day of conditioning mix for the poor doer TB/Paint/cob mix). They both look alright at the moment, but we really really need some rain soon.
 
Come up here and you can have some of my grazing!

It's barely rained (well, that is a scottish opinion...) but the grass is still growing and my two are fat pies.

In all seriousness, if I had a poorer doer down south I wouldn't hesitate in supplementing poor grass growth. Better a little too early than a little too late; they can loose weight so quickly :(
 
i'm in perthshire and my mare lives out 24/7 with another 2 on 7.5 acres... and they are still chomping through nearly a small bale a day - doh! i feed ad lib though - so if the eat it they get more - when they stop eating it i know they will be getting enoiugh from the grass - i only use hard feed if ad lib hay is not providing enough
 
I have just started giving mine soaked hay evening and morning as their paddock is bare. We could move the fence as still have loads of grass left in the big field but I'm making the most of this dry period to try and reduce their weight as they came out of the winter looking a little too well! Mine have a daily feed of hifi lite and balancer so they get their minerals and vitamins.
 
If you have sufficient land for the horses then i suppose you wouldnt run out of grass. It becomes a problem on yards where there is a high stocking ratio. Feeding hay is the cheapest way of additional fibre.
Fingers crossed for rain!
 
MegaBeast said:
My mare gets grass glands when she's not getting enough grass ie it's really short. My understanding is that when the grazing is poor they have to chew far more for much less as can only get short strands at a time so produce an excess of saliva (in response to the chewing) but are actually taking in very little which is why they get grass glands. So to me it's always a sign that the grass is non-existent.
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Ah right, thanks for that, it makes sense really. :)
 
I am feeding soaked hay rather than dry, because a few years back during another dry spell a friend's pony got impaction colic. Vet said it was because the grass was so lacking moisture and pony had not drunk enough that everything had bunged up inside (think he put it a tad more technically than that, but you get the picture).

So make sure you are feeding as much wet feed as you can, or stuff like speedibeet and soaked nuts to keep everything moving :)
 
On clay too but enough space ATM just keeping them moving. All a bit fat. Still getting evening feed for supplements.
 
Ours have been living out for about 3 weeks now. They went on to a field that had been rested for a year and had lots of grass in it. I'm surprised at how quick it's being eaten down though! Once that field is bald we will move them to the one next door. Once that has gone it will probably mean feeding my gelding. But hoping the rain will have come by then!

Lots of the liveries are overweight apart from a couple, which includes my gelding who is a perfect weight at the moment.
 
We haven't had rain for about 8 weeks now and the land could do with a really good drenching. Mine are fed 2x a day and have just finished a large bale hayalge. I hadn't planned to buy another though as they look well atm but if they drop off I will have to. Worryingly though farmer has all but run out.
 
Well...my grazings low- but mine come in at night all year anyway as I don't have a huge amount of land. They get hay at night and a handfull of chaff with pink powder.

Not so much bothered by my grazing- or lack of- more the general hay situation for later in the year......
 
We are on clay, no rain for ages but our rested fields still have ample grass for horses to be out 24/7, I am only feeding hay and hard feed if they come in and are worked.

I think it will rain soon, it's all a bit cloudy today and cold :( I love the sunshine!
 
The only unusual thing is that I'm now feeding more hay than would usually be required for this time of year.

Ive got the young lad on a broad spectrum vitamin & mineral supplement and feeding lots of succulents too, carrotts, apples, etc in his feeds which are fibre based (fast fibre and hi fi). My TB is on the same, but also has his high spec joint supplement and oil, and he is starting to suffer with the hard ground.
 
Mine are both on twice daily feed plus hay in the field. There hasn't been a time this year where we haven't fed in the field,
 
We're not supposed to put hay out (well, we're not allowed to in winter: makes the fields look messy supposedly :eek:) and I'm just feeding mine a small bucket feed once a day (Happy Hoof, Spillers Cool Concentrate, linseed meal and her supplements) but will certainly consider smuggling some hay up to her paddock if she starts to loose condition. ATM she's looking okay but I'm keeping a close eye. I think the main problem mine's experiencing right now is BOREDOM with nothing much to pick at and eat. :(
 
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