"Brome Grass"

[RobinRTrueJoy]

I feed a good senior pellet twice and day along with supplements, and also give hay.

I like to buy nice soft orchard grass but my hay farmer doen't have any. He has "brome" grass" not sure of the spelling. Do you know anything about it? It isn't as soft as I like, but its not too harsh, its clean and smells good. What do you think?

Thanks,

Robin

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Bromegrass hay is a pretty good hay, if its high quality. Protein is high, just shy of 10% on average, and fiber is pretty good, around 26%. Its has lower fiber than timothy and fescue but higher protein than either.

 

[Betty B]

We seed a mix of brome, timothy and alfalfa and i like feeding it.

 

[Minimor]

Brome grass is my grass hay of choice for horses. It used to be plentiful here. These days it is harder & harder to find. Farmers seem to be planting more alfalfa and mixed grasses, with many of the fields being taken over by junegrass and prairie grasses which are all very fine stemmed grasses. The horses do not like most of those fine stemmed varieties.

Brome can grow too coarse. We found some brome hay this year, but it's not top quality. First off, we had a lot of rain in the spring, so the grass grew very fast & very tall, which makes it more coarse. Secondly, because of rain haying had to be delayed by at least a couple weeks, more than that depending on who you talk to. So, because this grass was cut a bit late, it's riper and drier than it should be.

 

[chandab]

Most of my winter hay supply is brome grass, it grows fairly well around here. The horses all really seem to like it. I wish we had more of it, but most of our hay fields are alfalfa/mix for the cows; there is little straight grass hay to be had.

 

[dgrminis]

Here in Kansas Brome is what almost all the horse people I know feed their horses, We LOVE our brome and stock up on it as it is the main hay we feed. It is a nice grass hay. Better quality than praire hay in my opinion but not as sweet as alfalfa. We have to watch our alfalfa closely for blister beetles so that limits what alfalfa hay we feed.. But I would say if it is good brome hay that your horses will love it, at least ours do.

 

[RobinRTrueJoy]

Thank you all for the information.

Robin

 

[Margot]

Most of our hay is orchard grass and timoty with a little clover but we have one field with some self seeded brome. It grows much faster and taller and if not cut early gets very coarse but if cut early should be fine.

 

[Loess Hills]

We grow and feed brome grass hay because of these reasons:

Brome hay is a grass hay that is high in fiber, low in protein, and low in calcium all of which helps keep the gastrointestinal tract of all small herbivores functioning properly. A high-fiber diet will also lower the incidence of soft stools, intestinal gas and bloating.

Brome hay looks a lot like western timothy hay, but has a wider blade. It has a different flavor that will add variety to an animal's diet. Many have compared it to a rich cured smell. Brome grass is a perennial that is grown in Eastern Europe , Russia and Canada as well as the north-central part of the United States .

Brome Hay, much like other grass hay, is high in fiber and low in protein. It can be mixed with other grass hays when you feed .

Hay is absolutely vital to the health of small herbivores. It also provides a long-strand fiber source that is needed to improve the digestive and intestinal functions by stimulating the digestive system. When animals are fed free-choice hay, it promotes their natural chewing behavior.

Knock on wood.......but we've never had colic or impaction in any of our horses.

 

[Katiean]

Here we have orchard grass, timothy, or alfalfa. We also get a mix of alfalfa/Orchard grass. I got a bale of just plain grass (don't know what kind) from a friend but it does tend to have some cheat grass in it. The horses seem to like it but they do tend to eat a bit more of it.

 

[chandab]

Here we have orchard grass, timothy, or alfalfa. We also get a mix of alfalfa/Orchard grass. I got a bale of just plain grass (don't know what kind) from a friend but it does tend to have some cheat grass in it. The horses seem to like it but they do tend to eat a bit more of it.

While cheat grass is a species of brome, it is not the variety used in hay. Smooth Brome (Bromus inermis) is the usual hay variety around here. Whereas cheat grass or downy brome (Bromus tectorum) is a nuisance weedy grass that no one wants.

 

[Charlotte]

HORSE CANDY!

: Our horses LOVE IT! Good hay when baled for horses....all leaf. If baled later like for cattle it gets real stemmy like straw.

Charlotte

 

[RobinRTrueJoy]

Thanks every one. This is a little stalkier than I like, but the horses seems to really like it.

Robin