Ryegrass Hay?

[wildoak]

I just committed to some rye & orchard grass round bales. Anyone have any experience pro or con with rye grass? I'm buying it through a knowledgeable horse person, she's very aware & careful about what she feeds, and says her horses are doing better than they were on coastal. I know we've bought a horse pasture seed mix which was mostly rye, and the horses did ok grazing it, but in researching I did find something that said rye is higher in sugars and NSCs than other hays and thus might not be good for cushings horses, laminitic horses, etc. These bales may go just to my big horses and not the minis.

Jan

 

[mini horse mania]

If it is fed as soon as it is cut ...Its fine....we have used it and they loved it fresh..but it dried out like wheat straw after a month or so.( what we bought did anyway). Our horses tended to strew it rather than eat it at that point..

 

[donnalee]

I've fed rye hay, which is different than rye grass. Rye hay (cut before it gets a seed head and becomes straw) was very palatable and my horses loved it, but that was before I had a mini. You can probably have it tested for sugar content. Check with your county livestock or horse agent. I am sure that all depends on when it was cut.

 

[Charlotte]

Have it tested for nitrate level. Rye can be bad about high nitrates depending on weather conditions and fertilization during growth. You can do a search for info on rye forages.

 

[disneyhorse]

A lot of the grain hays don't have enough protein for horses (testing lower than maybe 12%). I would have it tested before I made any decisions...