This years hay

[lor]

:confused:

Our farmer has sold all of the last years hay, leaving only this years in the barn:mad:

My po is a good doer and on poor grazing along with a shetland and a little welsh pone. I usually put 1 pad of hay out per day for them (each) and my po, because she is ridden gets a feed of high fibre cubes and low cal chaff.

The hay was baled dry about two weeks ago. Does anyone on here know if I can feed it?

One vet said, no problem if it was made properly and I shake the sections apart to feed it, another vet says dont feed it and would want to examine a sample before he will commit himself.
I dont have any other hay to feed and the farmer will not let me buy any in as he has cut his own, and the two field companions are his.
Dilema:mad::confused:

[Jenny2502]

well if you cant use the stuff he has baled then you have no choice but to bring some in.
so buy a small square bale and then confront him again.

[carthorse]

If it's the increase in feed value that's your big worry then soak the hay for 12 hours before you feed it (rinse it well before you give it to them or they'll probably refuse to eat it) as that will reduce the carbohydrates.

As long as the hay isn't warm it sould be ok to feed, it's the sudden change & higher feed value that would worry me.

[jowyles]

June hay is very good but very risky, usually best to leave it with ponies because it has alot more sugar in it! Reason why my dad usually cuts in July or even August!

[lor]

Hmm, I was thinking of the soaking route, thanks that is probably the best bet. I only go to farm once a day, would soaking for 24 hours be a bad idea??
After my post I took some to my vet to have a look at. She said it is good quality and safe to feed in moderation, she suggested soaking as well, i stupidly didnt ask for how long:o and spreading it out around the field.

[carthorse]

I'm told you can soak for 24 hours but I never have - Jim isn't keen on stuff soaked for 12 hours so I think he'd have to be starving to eat any I soaked for 24. Try it & see, just make sure you rinse it really thoroughly & try to soak it somewhere out of the sun (do you remember sun :confused:)

[Stormin]

I remember being told not to soak hay for long periods as the dust and bacteria in the hay went into the water and could easily be comparable to sewage water !
Maybe it was just a warning to change the soaking water each time :confused:

[notpoodle]

i soak for 24 hours in winter (only go once a day as i work the other side of london), never had any problems ie you pour the icky hay-water away, anyway.

JUlia
x

[amberleystar]

recent research by safergrass.org has shown that you only need to soak hay for 1hr to reduce NSC levels (non-structural carbohydrates), or soak for 30 mins is warm water. It is best not to soak for more than 2 hrs as you are then just soaking the hay in its sugared water which can turn very nasty in warm weather.

Copied from safergrass.org:
Reducing sugar in hay.
The Animal Health Foundation funded a study where I looked at the effect of soaking on the NSC content of hay. Researchers looking at quality of hay rained on during curing find that 2.4 inches of rain on legume hays will decrease highly soluble nutrients( NSC) while protein is only slightly decreased. [13] I believe soaking hay is useful as a first aid measure for treatment of horses with acute laminitis related to intolerance of high levels of sugar and/or fructan. I have reports of chronically laminitic, insulin resistant horses responding with improved soundness within a few days. It may take up to 2 weeks to see a response, so don't give up too soon. While experimenting with soaking my horses hay, I discovered that if the rinse water is kept in a warm environment for a few days, it gets a head of foam and smells like alcohol. I made hay beer! If a horse is suspected of having metabolically induced laminitis, soak hay for at least 60 minutes in cold water, or 30 minutes in hot water, drain and feed before it has a chance to mold. Use fresh water every time, because the sugar will build up in the water. Then get your hay tested for NSC, and replace it if the levels are above 12%.

Go to http://www.safergrass.org/index.html for more info.

[tanya sears]

in my copy of the british horse society 'manual of horsemanship' book/bible! it says that current years hay should not be used until the november of that year :confused: is this not a steadfast rule anymore? interested as mine has not even been cut yet due to weather and i'm going to be using all year round so the sooner i can use it the better. :)

[amberleystar]

I have always tried to not use 'this years hay' until Christmas of that year. However it is becoming more difficult as demand increases and farms don't get the yeild off the fields, as was the case last year which is prob why everywhere is running out of last years hay. It looks set to be a good year for hay this year, as we all know, the grass has gone crazy lol. I buy my hay up front from the local farmer and hopefully won't need to use it until Nov/Dec time. Until then, if I am forced into a position of having to feed new hay, I will soak for 1 hour to reduce NSC levels.

[lor]

Thanks for the informative replies.

The vet said that it is safe to feed as in it is dry and good quality, another vet had previously told me that it is fine to use recently cut hay, provided it has been cut/turned/dried/baled/stored correctly.

My main concern now is the feed value, considering it being used with native pones who are good doers. It would seem that soaking even for 1 hour will reduce the feed value, so this alone is worth doing.

:)