meadow hay?

[JanC]

Due to dire weather our latest batch of hay is looking pretty rubbish. Got my hands on a couple of bales of meadow hay. Totally different - really lightweight and skinny and bits of it are green. Soaked a leaf of the usual stuff and a leaf of the meadow hay for an hour and the difference in the water colour was v noticeable - the meadow hay water was much, much lighter. Is this good? My three are in for 12 hours p/day due to laminitis in my big girl in June. What do we think of meadow hay???

[teach1]

i think the main difference is that meadow hay is from permanant pasture and seed hay has been sewn specifically for a hay crop. so Its more likely that the producer knows exactly what type or grasses / herbage are in seed hay where as meadow hay is more of a gamble. I don't think that either is any better, or any less nutritious. we have twenty acres of old pasture which is the best grazing I have ever seen, so Im sure it would make a really good hay crop. If it is this years it is usually normal to store it untill next year before feeding it so it is not too rich.

[martini55]

I always thought meadow hay was better for laminitics. You could always have it tested to find out nutritional values. Dodson & Horrell do a basic analysis for £5. You'll find out the dry matter, protein and sugar content, digestible energy, lignin, neutral detergant fibre and ash. Ideally you want sugars under 10% and at least 8% protein.

[puzzles]

Soft, leafy hays - such as Meadow hay - are far more nutritious than stalky, course hays - such as Mixture hay.
I agree that you should get aa full analysis on your hay. they only cost around £5-10 and I think Dengie does them, if you contact them.

:-)

xx

[martini55]

The one from dengie is £10 but I've heard the results can be a bit odd/weird and hard to understand. Apparantly Dodson&Horrell are better and give easy-to-understand results (plus it's cheaper :))