Will soaking haylage stop diarrhea?

F

fredthoroughbred

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 August 2007
Messages
423
Location
Scotland
Visit site
Just as title says really? Fred has a terrible cough no matter how much I soak hay but is fine on haylage. I then have to deal with outrageous amounts of diarrhea. There has got to be a happy medium where forage is concerned? If I soak haylage, will it lessen the richness/run the sugars out of it? If so, how long should I soak it for? Thank you : )
 
Why don't you give him some NAF pink powder, they also do a supplement specifically for horses who get this problem with haylage.

I assume you don't have enough grass to just let him live out ?
 
I used to soak haylage for two hours to remove sugars, that seemed fine, he would not eat it if it was soaked for 18 hours.
I would try for a mix of hay [different hay] and haylage, plus cut out any cereals and mollasses.
I assume you have no worries about worming.
Is the hay dusty?
 
Thanks BigRed, he's already on two scoops of Pink Powder a day but nothing will stop his diarrhea. He does live out at the moment but July's offering of weather has made me think ahead to winter. He'll not be in until November but I really need to make a decision regarding forage. Last winter was really frustrating, he was spluttering daily out of his mouth or his bum : (
 
It the haylage rich and wet rather than dry. Are any others on the yard having a similar problem. Have you cut out cereals and molasses, sugary feeds and so on.
Can you source you haylage from another source, it varies a lot, as does hay.
You could try Fast Fibre as a hay replacement, feeding your forage to prevent boredom.
 
Thanks MissLToe, so you think two hours will be enough? That's sounds fine. The coughing started when he was munching nonstop on a field bale and since then, all the soaking, best quality hay I can find, makes him start coughing eventually. The vet has been out and checked him over but he sounds completely fine when he's not on hay so it was suggested that I move him onto haylage. His feed doesn't seem to effect his guts at all. He is currently getting fed a smaller quantity of his winter feed with no hay/haylage and he is fine. Worming is up to date. Thanks.
 
It's somewhere in the middle of wet and dry. It's lovely quality. Some of the others at the yard use the haylage supplier and their horses are fine, he has always been on hay because of this. When the supplier brought the dusty hay, several other horses had a cough but they were able to switch to haylage. I had to get a new supplier and soak, soak and soak but to no avail.
 
Haylage is actually usually lower in sugar than hay, due to the fermentation process. I imagine it is the higher level of acidity that is upsetting your pony's gut. A probiotic, such as yea sacc, will help, as will anything that is designed to buffer acidity in the gut. Bicarbonate of soda (not baking powder!) may help, for example.
 
I have had good results with the NAF haylage balancer with this I fed it with Protexin and that settled down the one I had issues with.
An other thing I have heard of helping is charcoal but I have never done that myself.
 
BigRed said:
Why don't you give him some NAF pink powder, they also do a supplement specifically for horses who get this problem with haylage.

I assume you don't have enough grass to just let him live out ?
Click to expand...

^5 This Naf Pink powder is great for horses who are on rich grass or got the squits.
 
I have a similar problem, though with two different horses - one coughs on hay, the other goes squitty on haylage. I don't want to split them, so winters are tricky. I've found that some bales of haylage are much better for the squitty one than others, and it seems to be linked to the amount of fertiliser used to grow it. Haylage grown with no fert doesn't upset her tummy. Unfortunately hard to get hold of!
I've tried all sorts of different supplements along with the haylage and none has made the slightest bit of difference.
 
Try the high fibre haylage. I have a pony who has always had a tendency to be very 'loose', but he's fine on the high fibre haylage (unsoaked). I also give him Happy Tummy which is charcoal and that helps when the grass changes etc. but may help your horse as well. :)
 
SoloEquestrian, your situation sounds as frustrating as mine. So you really have had no luck with supplements? Have you tried the Naf Haylage Balancer? If not, I might give it a go. Thank you very much everyone, I'll research all your suggestions.
 
fredthoroughbred said:
SoloEquestrian, your situation sounds as frustrating as mine. So you really have had no luck with supplements? Have you tried the Naf Haylage Balancer? If not, I might give it a go. Thank you very much everyone, I'll research all your suggestions.
Click to expand...

Yes, didn't make any difference. Neither did mixing with oat straw (they just picked the haylage out) or yogurt.....

What is 'high fibre haylage'?
 
I'd source haylage and hay elsewhere. Just because it's good quality doesn't mean it's best for every horse.

Some will not cope with brilliant quality.

We always mix hay and haylage on the recommendation of our vet and all problems stopped... however understand this isn't a simple option for you. What about a hard feed that she could eat alongside to settle stomach? Talk to a feed specialist and see if there is something that would do this perhaps?

Pan
 
soloequestrian said:
What is 'high fibre haylage'?
Click to expand...

It is haylage made from grass that is cut late in the season and/or made from low sugar grass types, so it is higher in fibre and lower in sugar than early cut ryegrass haylage. Horsehage do a small bale High Fibre haylage, but some big bale manufacturers are also producing high fibre haylages now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top