Question on hay....

[Field-of-Dreams]

We rarely buy alfalfa, normally just coastal. But hay is getting scarce here and we are almost out. There was a fella selling hay on the side of the road (normal in Texas- you can find someone selling just about anything on the side of the road!) It is the most beautiful green alfalfa, but it's mixed with WHEAT! We did buy one bale to check it out, inside is green, leafy and smells WONDERFUL! BUT- there is wheat stalks mixed in with the hay. I did feed a few handfuls but pulled the wheat out.

So, good, buy some, bad, pass it by? Our hay won't be able to be cut for a few weeks yet...

Lucy

 

[TripleDstables]

I don't think theres anything wrong with wheat for horses. I guess he never tilled under his feild before planting hay after last years wheat crop?

If I was running low and thats all I could find around, I would buy enough bales to last me until I could cut my own or buy more.

 

[JennyB]

[SIZE=12pt]I personally would NOT feed this hay to our animals. Wheat is not something that one normally mixes with Alfalfa. Usually Oats are mixed with a new Alfalfa field as it helps to rid the weed crop. Are you sure it wasn't Oats he was referring too? Alfalfa/Oat hay is a good mix to feed to horses and minis depending on when they cut the Oats! I would pass on the Alfalfa/Wheat hay personally![/SIZE]

Good Luck..hay is high everywhere and scarce is some area's!

Jenny

 

[Margo_C-T]

Depends a lot on what kind of wheat, and at what stage it was cut---but generally, I wouldn't want wheat in my alfalfa hay( and especially if I knew NOTHING about who grew it, and the conditions under which it was grown!)

Year before last, my alfalfa supplier mentioned that they'd baled some BEARDLESS wheat hay and wanted to know if I'd want some...he gave me a bale to try. I fed it to my 'big' APHA mare, who seemed to love it... it was WAY less than grass hay is, here,and I considered going back to get a load for her. But, I researched Wheat hay on the internet, and found there can be 'unseen' problems--something about nitrate(?) levels, as I recall--in wheat hay, if it was 'stressed' in one or more of several ways during its growth-which could be dangerous to the health of both cattle and horses--again, if memory serves--you can look it up for specific info.

Now, my alfalfa supplier is GREAT, but...I decided I didn't wish to take ANY risk on Wheat, so I passed on it. I never offered it to the minis, as it was overly'coarse' for them, IMO (as I've always found oat/wheat to be, when baled....).

I knew someone who fed 'regular' wheat hay once--there were grain heads, complete w/ awns, in it, and she ended up with big vet bills for removing awns that'd worked their way into the soft flesh of the inside of her horses' mouths....from that, I learned NOT to feed wheat hay!

Margo

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Horses cannot digest unprocessed wheat and it has led to a few deaths from colic here, when the wheat has come through into the straw through incorrect combining methods ( I think they believe they are at Nascar sometimes!!).

That being said, I am also sure as has been pointed out that this would depend on how green the grain was when it was cut.

I would not be willing to take the risk, this is good cattle and goat feed IMO, not for horses.

 

[~Lisa~]

I was thinking along the same lines it is common to grow oat with the alfalfa and that is great hay. Can be a bit course for the minis it depends on the hay itself but I fed it and LOVED IT

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

It's definitely wheat, it still has the heads on it.

We'll pass, then- thanks for all the opinions!

Lucy

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Oh Oat Hay is the best, with or without Alfalfa....it's been years since I could get any, though, people just do not make it here anymore.

 

[Katiean]

They sell beardless wheat/alfelfa mix here all the time. People feed it all the time. However, I prefer to get just grass and just oat hay and mix it myself. The oat hay gives them that POP for showing. Infact, when I returned to the stable after a class and we were going to have another class that day with that horse I would give them a bit more oat hay. It gave them the energy needed for a show. I try not to feed alfalfa. But, I am thinking I am going have to get the alfalfa/grass mix because our grass hay is getting a bit dry and the bails are getting too light.