What forage do you feed and why?

[VikingSong]

Hay, haylage/horsehage or alfalfa?

 

[Tiddlypom]

Small bale meadow hay, taken off our own fields or from a local farm.

It's a nightmare getting it made in the summer, but is then easy to store (I have a hay barn) and feed.

I regard haylage with great suspicion as being too rich, and it goes off too quickly if you only want a section or two. Ditto suspicious of Alfalfa, as many horses seem to have problems with it.

 

[xgemmax]

Hay

 

[VikingSong]

I used to feed mine on hay, but grew tired of trying to source quality hay. I moved mine on to horsehage and they're both doing really well on it. I have never fed alfalfa, but have known people who did and, yep, they had nothing but problems.

 

[be positive]

I use big bale haylage for the horses, big bales of hay for the ponies all from a local farm, fairly good quality and consistent.

 

[Orca]

I feed: Soaked hay mixed with oat straw.
Because: She arrived overweight (pads and crest) and a lami risk.
Result: She's lost 3 inches from her girth since being with me, without going hungry ��.

 

[Cortez]

Hay, soaked in summer. And straw if they are getting tubby. Because haylage is far too rich for my good doer horses, and alfalfa is rocket fuel.

 

[PorkChop]

Hay in summer and haylage in the winter

 

[asbo]

We have a choice of hay or haylage, big bales, both open so you take your pick. I feed my big lad haylage as he is a poor doer, my mare is on haylage in the field due to RAO and soaked hay if in her box overnight.

 

[splashgirl45]

I feed a small net of haylage for breakfast(no hard feed) and any which is left is eaten overnight and also feed soaked hay at night. I buy small haylage bales which last about 5 days.

 

[Supertrooper]

Small bale hay
Honeychop plain oat straw chaff

My pony is horrid if he's hungry, the oat straw chaff means he can have more fibre without the calories

 

[npage123]

Beautiful organic hay, made by the yard owner, and it's ad lib too! It's sometimes fed steamed, but mostly just well wetted in a haynet and then emptied in my haybar.

 

[Goldenstar]

Small bale Haylege a regular and a lite version expensive but wonderful quality and I feed very little else even to horses hunting twice a week .
I always have plain chopped straw and hay and straw blocks in stock and dried grass as chop and cubes .

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Hay, haylage/horsehage or alfalfa?

haylage and hay


hay to some because they are fine on it and haylage to one with liver issues

 

[Enfys]

Locally grown meadow hay and that's it. No alfalfa because, as Cortez says, it is rocket fuel. I tried alfa cubes once on a poor keeper, major fail, but the rabbits loved them, good thing too as I had a 50lb sack of the stuff.

I am lucky that I don't have to feed soaked hay or haylage as it would be impossible, they would be chowing down on solid blocks of ice.

 

[Nudibranch]

Small bale local hay. Easier to store and handle. Mine keep their weight well through winter as they have a lot of grazing, so no need to feed haylage. The hay is just for bad weather, so haylage would end up being wasted.

 

[Damnation]

Hay made by the Yard Owner. I don't soak it, she dunks it in her water bucket for me!

As a treat she occasionally gets a handful of hayledge on the floor.

I can't feed hayledge full time as she is prone to colitis.

 

[amandaco2]

Hay. 2lamanitics, 1 Cushing. Other gets the same forage for convenience

 

[MotherOfChickens]

small bale hay and if horse is in at night then I wean him onto haylage made by the same supplier-more like wrapped hay than the stinky branded stuff you can buy.

 

[kez1001]

Small bale Haylege a regular and a lite version expensive but wonderful quality and I feed very little else even to horses hunting twice a week .
I always have plain chopped straw and hay and straw blocks in stock and dried grass as chop and cubes .

Can I ask what brand you use and do you find much difference between regular and lite version? PM if you prefer. Thank you

 

[marmalade76]

Hay. Because my husband makes it and I have a virtually unlimited supply.

He makes it on a fairly large scale and we have various types, some really soft, sweet meadow, some coarse, more like seed hay and some in between. Sometimes he plants/grows grass for seed hay too. The quality can also vary, the weather can affect this and some fields just make better hay than others.

 

[michelledud]

Horsehage high fibre hay for my pony as the hay supplied by yard is of variable quality and pony gets a cough if hay has any dust (dusty hay well soaked has same bad reaction).

Yard hay for my horse as he's a greedy pig that will eat anything and is a good doer so I'm not worried if hay isn't best quality for him.

Not allowed to buy normal bales of hay from elsewhere and bring to yard.

 

[JennBags]

Hay, small bales we have a farmer deliver once a fortnight and top everyone up. Quality is variable as he has to buy it in. I don't feed haylage as it's too rich, my horse gets a bit fizzy and also a bit fat on it, but he absolutely loves it, I sometimes give him some if we're going out somewhere.

 

[emmad96]

Hay - i buy it from whoever has some extra when I need it (summer atm here, will buy 20 bales soon and put away for winter), usually from a local breeder and its really awesome stuff, smells so good I'd eat it!

Sometimes haylage, more likely in winter I'll feed 'chaffage' stuff (google Fiber Protect or Fiber Ezy).

I also bulk out feeds with beet and chaff depending on weather.

I have very fat horses, so they only get a few slices to act as some form of roughage when they are in their 'diet' paddocks for 16hrs a day