haylage for horse thats had laminitis ??????

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polly101

Member
Sep 25, 2009
374
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Shropshire
Hi everyone,

ive had my cob for 3 months, and he is great.

But i'm not 100 % happy at the yard where we are

Ive have found somewhere else that is nearer to home, better hacking etc, only trouble is you have to use there own bedding and haylage which i dont mind, but about 12 months ago he had laminitis, not sure of the circumstances of exactly how he got it!

I have been soaking his hay to reduce sugers etc, but i am worried about putting him on to haylage, can it be soaked to reduce sugars like hay??

The lady at this new yard takes in rescues and sais she soaks it for any overweight ones she gets in, but i have never heard of this,

Do any of you guys feed laminitics haylage ?? or any one have any opinions on this.

Any advice as always much appreciated.
XX
 
Personally I wouldn't feed him haylage - as a cob he is likely to be a good doer (Though some are not) and you may find he balloons on it. Never really heard of soaking haylage - not sure if it would have the same effect (will await someone with experience of this!).
Once he's had lami once, he will be more prone to it again, whatever the original circumstances.

Could you not speak to the yard owner and explain the situation, I see no logical reason why she won't let you buy in your own hay, though she may not discount your livery even though you aren't using her haylage.
 
I wouldn't be keen to put him on hayledge if he's a good doer and has had lami. One of ours got lami through rich hayledge (he was already overweight mind). I would ask if you can provide your own hay - seems a shame not to move because of this is everything else is ok. I've not heard of soaking hayledge? I know you have to be careful with it - ie, how long you keep it open in a bale cos it can breed germs unlike hay, so wouldn't think soaking it would be a very good idea? (tho I could be wrong)
 
Its dependant on the lami cause really.

Some lamis are ok on it - mine is - but I chose to feed her hay due to calorie reaasons, though vet advised to feed hayleedge for dust allergies and wasnt bothered about her having it.
 
I had an interesting conversation with a farmer recently who sent off samples of his hay and haylage to be analysed and discovered that the haylage came back lower in sugar than the hay. The analyst said it was fairly common and because a lot of the sugars are used up in the fermentation process.

So I suppose it depends - any chance the yard you're thinking of moving to would allow you to send off a sample of their haylage for analysis?
 
Good quality haylage is often lower in sugar than some hay. The problem is, however, that haylage is more acidic and therefore not generally suitable for laminitics. I wouldn't recommend soaking haylage as you risk it going through a 2nd fermentation. I have done it in the past (no more than 20/30mins) when all I had was haylage and couldn't get any hay but I wouldn't do it through choice.
 
My welsh pony was quite overweight and my farrier reckons that she has had laminitus in the past (with previous owners) but my vet is happy for her to eat haylage as she frequently has bad chests and coughs etc.

Never had a problem with her eating it. Even managed for her to lose weight on it by feeding less and more exercise. Never had a problem with her feet while I have had her.
 
martini55 said:
Good quality haylage is often lower in sugar than some hay. The problem is, however, that haylage is more acidic and therefore not generally suitable for laminitics. I wouldn't recommend soaking haylage as you risk it going through a 2nd fermentation. I have done it in the past (no more than 20/30mins) when all I had was haylage and couldn't get any hay but I wouldn't do it through choice.
Click to expand...

^^ what she said :) it's the acidic part that bothers me. My laminitic mare never got haylage, i'd rather have fed her straw! Robert Eustace was very anti feeding any horse haylage, let alone a laminitic one. I never feed it and avoided it at all costs when i had my laminitic mare.
 
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