For those who don't feed hay

[CCC]

I am another who doesn't like to not feed hay...and I feed a generous amount; all but the one described below gets some alfalfa AND some grass hay(here, that's a mix, usually of brome/orchard, sometimes w/ timothy, sometimes orchard only, always of good to excellent quality--don't like, won't feed, Bermuda...my personal choice), in proportions suited to each individual. That said, I have one mare, now 28 years old, who can no longer manage to properly chew hay (she's always had regular tooth care, and in fact, was 'done' again less than two weeks ago; her remaining teeth just can't do the job anymore; she 'guilted me, so I gave her a TINY handful of soft grass about three weeks ago...and shortly after, she choked! At the tooth floating, my vet opined that her teeth were likely the reason, and that might well be the case from now on, regardless of 'working on' her teeth--so, NO MORE hay!) She gets a 'complete' Senior feed from TC(@ 3 C./day), along w/ small alfalfa pellets(@4 1/2 C./day). This is keeping her in good condition...BUT, she is finished with her pellets very quickly, while the others are still eating their hay for a significant time afterwards.Luckily, she does not seem to 'stress' over it TOO much, though she often is clearly 'looking' for more of the 'eating experience', following me along the fence and sometimes giving her low nicker.(I should add, this mare will NOT eat soaked hay or soaked hay pellets...not gonna happen!)

I firmly believe that ALL of my others would be adversely affected by the frustration of not having enough of the 'grazing' experience; in fact, I've come to believe that providing enough of the kind of fiber that requires substantial chewing, as they would have in grazing(and which their digestive systems very specifically evolved to do)is the MOST IMPORTANT factor in maintaining digestive health(i.e., avoiding colic, ulcers,and other dangerous digestive upsets!)

I feel strongly enough that I've instituted 'slow-feeding' practices for all of my horses who eat hay, along with going to a three-times a day feeding schedule(actually, four times...I feed a 'full' feed of hay and(minimal)concentrates...in my case, TC Senior for the elderly mare, TC Lite alone or mixed w/ 'some' Senior for all the others, also stabilized ground flax, and salt added, to all..in the AM. Early PM, a lighter feed of hay; about 1 1/2 hrs. later, soaked beet pulp to all, w/ a very small portion of whatever concentrate each gets sprinkled over it. Then another GENEROUS feed of hay at bedtime.) Between the 'slow feeding' set-ups, and the generous amounts,my aim is to minimize the amount of time that they have NO fibrous feed in front of them.

I do NOT 'free feed' hay; with the high quality of the hay I feed, they'd all be WAY TOO FAT...and, with the cost of such hay, I can't see setting up for them to waste a good portion of their (grass) hay, which could be another result of such a practice.

I feed all of my horses but two, separately. I do have two geldings, my driving pair, together, because they eat at about the same speed, have similar appetites, and get a similar diet. They eat from a'homemade' 8' long feeder, originally built as a goat feeder, that I bought years ago(one of the best buys I ever made!) It is all-steel, hay rack of welded rebar above, feed bunkers below. Spacing between the hay rack 'bars' is about 3";to make it a 'slow feeder', I took a roll of welded wire w/ 2" X 4" openings, cut out four pieces as long as the hay rack, two pieces 16" wide, the other two 12" wide. I laid a 12" on top of a 16" with the spacing 'offset' to make all openings 2" X 2", then used a lightweight galv. wire to 'tie them together, maintaining those spacings, and did the same w/the other two pieces. Then I placed one 'completed piece at the bottom of each side of the 'V' of the hay rack,making sure the ends of the wires ties faced INWARD, and tied them to the rebar of the hay rack w/ cable ties, also making sure that the ends of these ties also pointed INWARD. It works VERY well; makes the horses work to get each bite of hay, and takes them at LEAST twice as long as before to consume an equal amount of hay! I may try building some similar 'inserts' for my 'hang-up' individual feeders,which I made out of 30 gal. plasic food-grade barrels and galv. thin-wall conduit many years ago!(I bought three of the "BUSY SNACKERS" slow-feed hay bags, but I can see that they aren't going to last as long as I'd hoped, and they are just too expensive, for me at least, to replace very often!

I hope this didn't seem too far OT; but I feel VERY strongly about horses needing to get a significant amount of long-fiber roughage. IMO, one might be able to 'get by' w/ a lesser amount of hay(if using hay pellets, hay cubes, soaked beet pulp, chopped hay, or some combo of same)by utilizing 'slow-feeding' techniques...but I REALLY believe that they should have SOME decent hay, always!I'd surely recommend doing as Marty is, and just keep looking until you find and get, just that....

Best of luck,

Margo

I would LOVE to see pictures of your hay feeder so I could try and get my husband to make me something like it, it sounds perfect! thanks

Nic

 

[maggiemae]

I would LOVE to see pictures of your hay feeder so I could try and get my husband to make me something like it, it sounds perfect! thanks

Nic

I put Noze-it balls full of hay cubes in a rubbermaid water tub and it gets played with for quite some time. I also use SMHNs with one single and two doubled. They last most of the day without getting too much hay.

 

[georgiegirl]

I am also looking for good feeding information.

Maybe someone can impart some knowledge to me also.

I have a 7 year old gelding, 32 2/4 ", which should weigh about 230 pounds.

He has his teeth done on a regular basis and is on a good worming program.

The feed that I am currently feeding is as follows - 1/2 cup beet pulp pellets, 1/4 cup grass Strategy, 10 inches of alfalfa cubes. Cubes are 1 1/4 in square and whatever long, that is why 10 inches lol. I give him about 1 pound of exc quality grass hay. The feed schedule is fed twice a day. The cubes and pellets are soaked in warm water.

As a third meal at night he gets a little more grass hay.

Either this isnt the quantity of feed that he needs, or he is a extemely easy keeper. He tends to be chubby, no obese on this ration.

What do I need to change, if anything? He doesnt have a large stomach area but tends to be a little heavy all over. His back is well covered.

Your help is appreciated.

 

[Marty]

Ummmmmmm Jan (Wildoak) That wasn't my quote about the chopped stuff looking brown.

One of my comments was my objection to the home grown Coastal Bermuda in Florida that my friends and I had nothing but trouble with. Gas colics left and right and I did loose my very first horse of 21 years to just that. The vets there kept telling all of us at every stable they serviced not to feed it and it was also very fine, like super fine. Never feed it since. Down there Linda, we relied on the feed stores who would ship in T&A from Canada, all at a pretty hefty price. Linda, the native grass down there is pangola, no real wonderful properties and low quality in everything. We have used it on many occasions just as a filler or to mix in with something else.

That said, there are a good many people on here that do feed it Bermuda hays who are not in Florida who never had a problem with it. Lets face it, in Florida the stuff is grown in freggin sand and right there has to mean something negative. My friend out in Oklahoma grows the stuff and swears by it. There is also Bermudas right here grown in Tennessee that look beautiful too, but again it is very fine. So consider that Coastal Bermuda VS Bermuda, although in the same family must have some different properties.

My problem at hand is that due to the drought here this year, there is hay avaialbe everywhere yes. But its horrid. So coarse I can bend it over and it will actually snap like a stick. I feed small amounts of hay at a time several times a day but during winter when its so dastardly cold, I have to have something they can chew on that will last a while during the night so cubes are a good thing and yes I do have some,but they cannot replace the chewing of the long stemmed hay. I worry about ulcers mostly if the chewing action stops for too long. And they suck those cubes down fast. My horses look good but what will happen in the dead of winter when they do not have somthing in front of them to chew keep them warm? I will not go there. The only option left for me is to go out of state and bring back something they can eat. My friend is heading to Georgia to get us something better this week thank heavens.

 

[Mominis]

My chops aren't brown, I'm just a lousy photographer. lol

 

[Margo_C-T]

Nic(CCC)...

Which hay feeder are you referring to...the big one which was originally built for goats, or the individual ones that I made myself, that I mentioned?

The big one is 8' long; the hay rack is of moderate diameter rebar, the feed 'bunkers' below it are made of the metal inner liners of old water heaters, cut in half(or so I think I was told; it='s been a LONG time since I bought it! The small ones are made of 30 gal. food-grade plastic barrels; I used just a standard skil saw to cut the shape I wanted, designed a 'hay rack' of small diameter galv.thinwall electric conduit, and some hangers out of flat steel bar stock.

I do not know how to post photos here, but could probably take some pics and either email them to you, OR, if others would be interested, email them to someone here who DOES know how to post photos...I have noticed that there are always those who will offer to do so!

Margo