What do we know 🤷‍♀️

[Britestar]

I've always bought my hay from the same place for years.

This year, they were unfortunate that the day their hay was ready to bale, it promptly rained for 4 days. They warned me that it might not be very good and I might want to look elsewhere.

Which I did, collecting 4 different bales from 4 different places. The first they ate half, then refused to eat anymore. Next the picked away at, but not that enthusiastic. 3rd much the same. 4th bale, beautiful soft, green, sweet smelling, and they ate it with some enthusiasm.

Bought 3 more of those. 1st one, yes please we'll have that. 2nd one, hmmm, we're not sure. Not emptying haynets, throwing a fair bit out. Number 3 week go into the field.

So, I thought, nothing to loose, let's try the original stuff - makers had contacted me and said in actual fact it was ok.

Picked that up at weekend. Didn't look that nice, or even smell yummy, but apparently this is the most delicious stuff in the world!

All gobbled up each night.

Maybe we spend just to much time trying to get the best, when they actually like plainer stuff

 

[humblepie]

Yard I was at sometime ago had the most amazing smelling and looking hay if you’d been asked in an exam what to look for in good hay you would describe it. Nothing would eat it there was something about it or something been done to it but they could taste or smell but we couldn’t.

 

[Cragrat]

I once bought a full large trailer of haylage - 30 Hestons, from our usual supplier, but it had been a dry year( though not as dry as this year). It smelt amd looked divine - green and fragrant, although it was quite short. It was leafy rather than stemmy. I was worried they would scoff it so quickly that I'd have to mix it with straw to ration it.

In fact not one horse would eat it, even the mare notorious for hoovering everything in sight. I had to ask the supplier to come and take it all away. He brought me some different haylage, apologising that it wasn't very nice. It was stemmy, very long and sun-bleached.

Of course, they all loved it .

 

[Flowerofthefen]

We make our own hay and ot doesn't matter if it's lovely, like last year, or a bit iffy, like this year, they always eat it. They will not touch anyone else's!! I bought, what I thought , was a beautiful bale of hay, a big round, when I ran out a few years ago. They wouldn't touch it!!
Glad you got sorted x

 

[smolmaus]

The bale we opened and went "hmm, is this actually okay" and threw a good bit away for looking dodgy went down a storm. 10/10 give the haylage man a Michelin star for poking a hole in it by accident, he's a genius.

 

[Britestar]

We make our own hay and ot doesn't matter if it's lovely, like last year, or a bit iffy, like this year, they always eat it. They will not touch anyone else's!! I bought, what I thought , was a beautiful bale of hay, a big round, when I ran out a few years ago. They wouldn't touch it!!
Glad you got sorted x

I suspect this is my issue too.
They just want that field for their hay.

 

[SpotsandBays]

Ours got rained on last year after baling too. Definitely doesn’t have that nice hay smell to it and had to chuck the outside layer (round bale) but ours haven’t had any issues eating it. I’ve still got a few bales left from last year thankfully, as this years cut was lacking (although nicer bales)