Can you feed too much hay?

Kerry Claire

Kerry Claire

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Aug 30, 2004
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Recently I've only been getting down to Simon once a day so he's been having all his hay in one go. So my question is can you feed them too much hay? I was on haylage but I switched off it because he's stabled 24/7 at the moment and I wanted to beable to feed him more so it lasts longer and helps relieve the boredom. He gets about a third of a bale each day in a small holed hay net but he still finishes it long before I go down the following day. He's not overweight but as he's only 12.2hh I don't think I should be feeding him any more. Would it do any harm though? How much do you think he should be getting if he has no access to grass?
 
Obviously you know this, but just to say, ideally hay is fed in a few increments throughout the day, as they tend to hoover up their hay within an hour, and then are left with nothing to eat to either break up boredom, provide body warmth, etc.
They say to feed between 1-2% percent of body weight each day in hay. Towards one for obese/airfern horses, and two or more for fit working horses. Getting chubby is the only thing that can happen from eating too much grass hay. If there is alfalfa in it though, overfeeding is much worse. In addition to being more fattening than grass hay, it also has very high levels of protein. It can also cause laminitis if fed too much.
Although I don't know what kinds of hay you have in the UK, so that could be completely irrelevant to you :p
 
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I dont want to appear in nasty in any way but I would have a real problem a horse which is stabled 24/7 only being fed once a day.

I know you only asked about the hay, I think overfeeding hay to try to have enough to last for 24 hours might cause problems with weight, although it depends on what else you feed and how much exercise your pony gets. Putting small holed nets inside each other will help.

Cant you get someone to feed your pony when you cant get down, I would put a net in for anyone on our yard having problems. If there is no-one around then who checks hims, a lot could happen in 24 hours. Best not say anymore as you only asked about hay.
 
I would be concerned about the boredom/lack of exercise as well as the fact that he is only being fed once a day. Can you not leave a net for somebody else to put in?

Or, put several nets in at different places in his stable? If he's getting any feed, you could try putting it into a decahedron or similar so he's getting trickle fed that way.

I've always considered it to be that a horse running out of hay isn't being fed enough, unless there is a valid reason for restricting it. It would be my guess that if he's emptying his nets, it will be empty by tea time at the latest. Of course boredom may come into it, but I was always under the impression that a horse will only eat as much as they need..
 
any chance you can give him a selection of forage? hay in one net, haylage somewhere else, a bucket of readigrass? It will get him moving around a bit and more natural at picking at different things. Tie a swede up or hide carrots in his bed too.
 
I agree with konch!
Hiding carrots, apples etc. in their bed or poking out of their nets keep them busy. I also hang a lik-it as a treat every now and then. And feed balls are great. A lot of time and effort for a handful of pony nuts!

Hope this helps, as he may just eat all the hay so quick coz there's nowt else to do!!
 
Personally I think a horse can't eat too much hay, they will stop eating when they are satisfied. Although when I first had Nelson and the vet came out to visit him post op I was telling her about his personality and how he was settling in (lovely vet :D) and i made a comment on his apetite and she looked at the haynet and her face dropped like :eek: She said a horse of his size and age (at the time) should have had the whole haynet in one day, not 2 of them plus extra!! :D A growing boy needs his food and he certainly has grown!! from 13.3-15.2 in 1.5years :eek:

So long as the horse isn't gaining weight I would have no issues about giving him enough to eat so there is some left when I go up again but that is going up twice a day
 
I wouldn't be able to feed Joy unlimed hay as she would grow to be my size in no time at all :o

She was in a large herd environment and the hay wasn't left in many piles so she didn't have easy access. Even now she would fill up when she can just in case :(
 
Feeding once a day just really isnt applicable , Im being blunt incase you didnt notice ;)

Like previous posters have said , can some one not feed in the morning for you ? is your pony at home or on a livery ? if so how far away ?

I have 2 geegees stabled at the minute , A friend feeds for me in the morning she partly owns the yearling we have , I then go out at lunch time to let them have a play about , they get hay again if the weather is good , they stay out to near 5 and are brought in again , and fed hay again . At least 3 times , So either way your either giving your pony far too much in one go or too little . If he has it cleared by the time you see him next morning . You also have to take into account , what if something happens ie choking, colic etc Im not trying to scare you but you really do need to be checking on him more than once a day and also the feeding .
 
I think it is tricky if they are being stabled 24/7 as its not a natural situation for a horse so you have to try and make it as nice as possible for the horse. Is your pony on shavings or straw?

If you are worried about hay being too high in cals you can feed a bit of straw mixed in to bulk it out. I think horses are designed to eat for 18-22 hours a day otherwise its not good for their tummies.

A third of a bale of hay does not seem very much, my friends lami pony of the same size was allowed 1/2 a bale a day when on box rest. If you soak it you can also feed more as it gets rid of some of the nutrients.
 
Try filling up several hay nets and dotting them around!

You could use small hole nets, as this means they can't get as much out, or double up haynets so that they have to work harder and longer to get the hay!

My greedy 13.2 will eat her bodyweight in hay if I let her! She eats double the amount of my friends 14.2, so I do the hay net thing and that works for her, as it keeps her occuppied for longer!
 
I'd be extremely worried just feeding him once a day - if he is eating it all in one go, and then going several hours without anything at all, you could potentially be risking colic or other digestive problems. Horses need to eat little and often, and i'd hate to see any of mine go without anything to eat for more than a couple of hours - they wouldn't let me anyway. Obviously, if there is a weight issue, then food needs to be monitored, but certainly not giving some in the morning, then leaving them all night. Feeding just hay shouldn't cause much of a weight problem though, especially this time of year.
In the summer, my mare gets huge on grass alone (like many) so she has to go into a limited grazing paddock, but still has access to a lesser quality, older (not so green) hay, as I'm so worried about laminitis. I ceratinly wouldn't just leave her with nothing though. I'd really try and get some help from someone that can put another haynet in in the evening for you.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions.

Don't worry I'm not offended by anyone who said they disagree with the situation, because I quite agree with you. I know it's a far from ideal situation and I am looking to move him elsewhere that does daily turnout or grass livery (I did post another thread a couple of weeks ago about this). The problem is I'm on about 6 different waiting lists untill a space becomes available.

When I first moved to the yard I was there on grass livery and lead to believe that come winter, the yard owner feeds the horses in the mornings. However he refuses to feed mine saying that I feed too much hay and will make him ill or give him laminitus (which he's never had, even when grasskept 24/7). So it's left me in a bit of difficulty as I simply can't get down twice a day every day. I never thought I would have to or I wouldn't have moved him there in the first place.

The general concensus seems to be that you can't overdo it with hay though, so on days when I can only get down once it seems that the best thing to do would be to feed more (soaked) hay, and put one net inside another? I never thought about hiding carrots and the like in his bed so will deffinately give that one a go which I'm sure he will love.

Like I say, it's not going to be a permanent situation but I'm just looking for ways to improve it untill he moves.
 
It's tough in that sort of situation isn't it? Daffy is also stabled 24/7, has been since November. This year its really affected him though, he got so stiff over Christmas I put him on bute. And I can get up twice a day and exercise him both times (I do my best to get him in the menage twice a day, even if its just to have a roll), but it still doesn't seem enough as we're currently unable to hack out and he finds the menage hard going.

Luckily I managed to find a yard so we're moving this weekend, but the time between deciding we're moving and actually finding somewhere was awful. Good luck :)
 
Good luck with finding somewhere soon. I also have a horse who eats his hay quickly and have resorted to putting it in a small holed net, however, I fill it to the brim, usually 3/4 of a bale, and it is still nearly all gone by the next morning, sometimes if its really cold wet and windy I throw a few extra slices on the floor, I cannot bear to think he is stood around with nothing to eat.

I also hide carrots in his net, and give him a snack ball, although he is not particularly fond of that, gets impatient with it:D

Morse is young 2 1/2 out in the day in all winds and weather with either grass or hay depending on which paddock he is in but I don't think you can overfeed a good quality hay at this time of year.
 
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