Hay Shortage

[KERRYS.WALES]

my daughters pony has had bales of hay all winter but my supplier hasn,t got any left and i cant seem to locate anyone else. there is no grass in her field so i was wondering if haylage is any good. i know they come wrapped in plastic but what do you do with it and how long does it last once opened.
can i put it in haynets. also the pony has had laminitis in the past so will it bring it on again:confused:

[Sooty]

If you mean the big round bales wrapped in plastic that is SILAGE. Please DO NOT feed silage to your pony - it's designed for cows and can contain botulism which is very dangerous to horses. I'm afraid I can't help with hay in your area, sorry :(

[DaughterandDad]

3 horses on the yard I help on, are feed on haylage, over the winter until they are turned out 24/7. The bales are 4feet high and 4 feet in diameter. They are best used within 2 weeks. 3 horses do manage to eat their way through a bale in 2 weeks. The bales come in black plastic outside and inside they have a net wrapping wound a number of times around the bale. The smell of the haylage is very sweet. The haylage is placed in the cages in each of their stables striaght from the bale. As regard lamin. I have no experience of dealing with it so hopefully more experienced members may comment. If others in your yard are facing the same problem then maybe you could group together and buy a bale or two for the next few weeks until the grass grows in the flelds.

[eml]

I think I would be lothe to feed haylage to a childs pony with a history of laminitis. Generally the protein is too high. Grass must be growing soon. In the meantime I would rather use fibre cubes, non mollased beet and a chop (look for the laminitis trust approval mark) or even a good oat straw.

[becs]

Agree with EML - you shouldn't need much more in UK now. Try HiFi Lite as a chaff for known laminitics to bridge the gap; as it's chopped short they eat it slowly, you can dampen it too.

[Mimi + Me]

All the horses at our yard (about 15 in total) are fed on haylage, a few of which are prone to laminitis. I think its a misconception that it's a lot richer than hay, it's got a higher water content because it's put into bales before being completely dry - unlike hay - but nutritionally wise I don't think there is that much difference.

It would be the amount of haylage that you fed that would be the issue.

The bales we get come in two sizes - can you get a smaller size bale and try to ensure it was used within 2 weeks. Like hay though it does vary enormously in quality. Personally, if you can't get hold of any hay then I think it would be fine.

[ElvisFan]

We feed our horses on haylage and it comes wrapped exactly the same as DaughterandDad says theirs does.One of our horses is prone to laminitis and I was worried about feeding it to him but he has it mornings only and hay at night.I think the problem is the fermentation of the haylage which ferments in the gutwhich can lead to laminitis.I read somewhere....someone correct me if I,m wrong......that although haylage has a higher protein count, pound for pound you would have to feed more haylage as it has a higher water content.