Hay vs Haylage

Jessey

Jessey

Well-Known Member
Dec 20, 2004
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Suffolk, UK
I have a good stock of Hay in (for me its a good stock anyway) I had 2 5+ft rounds delivered and they looked lovely so got 2 more and also got about 50 small bales in from 2 sources. The first lot of small bales (last years) weren't great but not awful either, a tiny bit dusty, very seedy and the horses weren't keen. The 2nd lot of small bales (this years) are ok but a little dusty. The first of the big bales I've opened (it is the worst looking of the 4) is so dusty, I have to blow my nose straight after filling my bag and cough for an hour afterwards...I can't imagine how the horses feel, although they go nuts for it :rolleyes:

So I am considering switching to haylage, I can get sugar tested stuff so I'm happy on that front, but last time I had Jess on haylage for more than a few days she went nuts, nearly put me on the front of a car for no apparent reason kind of nuts o_O admittedly this wasn't tested haylage, just from the local hay man and I know it gave my friends arab (who lives out naked 24/7) lami so it was probably all jacked up with sugar.

If I want the sugar tested stuff I have to order in bulk and I'm a bit apprehensive in case it sends her nuts again, its such a dilemma :rolleyes:

ETA I can't soak hay because of the water situation, I could possibly steam by bringing a themos from home but I don't know how I would get the volume done that they eat, it would be at least 2 dustbins full twice a day because its off of big bales it fluffs up when you pull it off.
 
I use haylage. Its lower sugar than hay i can get here. Either Timothy or a late cut rye if they dont have timothy. I open the bale and turn for a few days till its basically hay and the bale then lasts me anything upto 4 weeks once i have the moisture out as its big bales. Ive never had any issue with the low sugar haylage but did with a higher suger. Can you get some lower sugar small bales to have a try with first? Mole valley do a high fibre and its about 6% sugar.
 
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mystiquemalaika said:
I use haylage. Its lower sugar than hay i can get here. Either Timothy or a late cut rye if they dont have timothy. I open the bale and turn for a few days till its basically hay and the bale then lasts me anything upto 4 weeks once i have the moisture out as its big bales. Ive never had any issue with the low sugar haylage but did with a higher suger. Can you get some lower sugar small bales to have a try with first? Mole valley do a high fibre and its about 6% sugar.
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I think, if I go pick up, I can get a small bale of the same stuff in their bigger bales that I will have to order in bulk, its only 30/40 mins away so not terrible. She's had the horsehage lami version and been ok with that, but only been on it for 2 or 3 days at a time as those little bales don't last long.
 
Can you not just pop it into big haynets and leave out in the rain? That’s how people in my yard do it :D mind you in Scotland we are pretty much guaranteed rain ;)

What is your water Situ? Is there no way for you to get water from the river??
 
MrC said:
Can you not just pop it into big haynets and leave out in the rain? That’s how people in my yard do it :D mind you in Scotland we are pretty much guaranteed rain ;)

What is your water Situ? Is there no way for you to get water from the river??
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Being East Anglia we are the driest part of the country so can't really rely on the rain :rolleyes:

I'm pumping water from the borehole, it took me 4.5 hours to pump 800 liters at the weekend which is about 8 days drinking water for my 2. I can't actually get to the river at the moment o_O the weeds grew so much, they are taller than me! I'm waiting on them to die back and am going to reclaim a bunch of pallets and make a boardwalk down to the bank, its about 75 meters that I'll need to do. Once that's done I guess I could get river water but hay soaking water is classed as sewage and has to be put down a mains drain legally, I wish I could just chuck my nets in the river for half hour :)
 
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Jessey said:
Being East Anglia we are the driest part of the country so can't really rely on the rain :rolleyes:

I'm pumping water from the borehole, it took me 4.5 hours to pump 800 liters at the weekend which is about 8 days drinking water for my 2. I can't actually get to the river at the moment o_O the weeds grew so much, they are taller than me! I'm waiting on them to die back and am going to reclaim a bunch of pallets and make a boardwalk down to the bank, its about 75 meters that I'll need to do. Once that's done I guess I could get river water but hay soaking water is classed as sewage and has to be put down a mains drain legally, I wish I could just chuck my nets in the river for half hour :)
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Is there a reason you couldn’t make a small area near the bank an area for soaking your nets? Basically at the end of your ‘boardwalk’ once you have it done?? You could pop them there when you arrive and take them up before you leave??

We used a stream for our supply at my friends place, she built a tank with and over flow to catch the water then attached a pipe that led to the stables with a stop cock so we could fill the stables butts and the stream then carried on as normal. Nobody ever say anything.
 
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MrC said:
Is there a reason you couldn’t make a small area near the bank an area for soaking your nets? Basically at the end of your ‘boardwalk’ once you have it done?? You could pop them there when you arrive and take them up before you leave??

We used a stream for our supply at my friends place, she built a tank with and over flow to catch the water then attached a pipe that led to the stables with a stop cock so we could fill the stables butts and the stream then carried on as normal. Nobody ever say anything.
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I can soak for sure but how would I dispose of the water? I'd need 200l a day for soaking and wouldn't want to put toxic water back into the river
 
Leave them in there whilst soaking? I’m not understanding how a natural product hat produces dust is sewage when rain on ground with live stock near a water course takes faeces into the water system. That one I find hard to wrap my brain around.

Concentrated soaking in a container will probably create concentrated waste but say popping or anchoring a bowser cage into the river and firing haynets into it for the water to run through for 10/15 mins I can’t see producing concentrated wate with th volume of water passing through and around.

Then again maybe it’s just the over complication of the human mind lol
 
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No my logical brain says you are right, like horses can poop anywhere but if you have a commercial muck heap you have to have it on a concrete base etc etc.

I wouldn't get away with putting a cage in the water, someone would complain very quickly, but I could anchor strings to the bank and just chuck nets out like that I guess, it is nice clean water, the cows drink it (when at mine and at his other field upstream) and they are still alive, kicking and winning shows :)
 
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You have that much hay in that I would want to use it up instead of buying the haylage so I would chuck the nets in the river and anchor them ;)
 
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Id get a sone small bales and test for a couple weeks if your worried but ive always found its the high sugar cobtent ones that mostly send them loopy :p
 
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Jessey said:
I have a good stock of Hay in (for me its a good stock anyway) I had 2 5+ft rounds delivered and they looked lovely so got 2 more and also got about 50 small bales in from 2 sources. The first lot of small bales (last years) weren't great but not awful either, a tiny bit dusty, very seedy and the horses weren't keen. The 2nd lot of small bales (this years) are ok but a little dusty. The first of the big bales I've opened (it is the worst looking of the 4) is so dusty, I have to blow my nose straight after filling my bag and cough for an hour afterwards...I can't imagine how the horses feel, although they go nuts for it :rolleyes:

So I am considering switching to haylage, I can get sugar tested stuff so I'm happy on that front, but last time I had Jess on haylage for more than a few days she went nuts, nearly put me on the front of a car for no apparent reason kind of nuts o_O admittedly this wasn't tested haylage, just from the local hay man and I know it gave my friends arab (who lives out naked 24/7) lami so it was probably all jacked up with sugar.

If I want the sugar tested stuff I have to order in bulk and I'm a bit apprehensive in case it sends her nuts again, its such a dilemma :rolleyes:

ETA I can't soak hay because of the water situation, I could possibly steam by bringing a themos from home but I don't know how I would get the volume done that they eat, it would be at least 2 dustbins full twice a day because its off of big bales it fluffs up when you pull it off.
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I have hayledge now for ours because the weather up here dictates that farmers cannot always make hay. So far so good. But I also buy bagged Horsehage from the local feed place and it has never ever turned ours bonkers. I get the blue one which is suitable for lammi prone. Even Zi with his warmblood tendencies is fine on it! The hayledge I have for winter has come from our usual farmer source and it was almost hay but the weather turned and he made hayledge in small bales instead. I can tell by smell and look it isn't rocket fuel and everyone seems fine eating it so far. It's a shame jessey reacted badly to hayledge last time. Hmm. Could you try her on some and see? Before you commit to buying loads of the stuff???
I also have Redi-graze for madam when she stays in a lot but that's mainly to give her teeth a rest (she has the gaps)
 
Trewsers said:
I have hayledge now for ours because the weather up here dictates that farmers cannot always make hay. So far so good. But I also buy bagged Horsehage from the local feed place and it has never ever turned ours bonkers. I get the blue one which is suitable for lammi prone. Even Zi with his warmblood tendencies is fine on it! The hayledge I have for winter has come from our usual farmer source and it was almost hay but the weather turned and he made hayledge in small bales instead. I can tell by smell and look it isn't rocket fuel and everyone seems fine eating it so far. It's a shame jessey reacted badly to hayledge last time. Hmm. Could you try her on some and see? Before you commit to buying loads of the stuff???
I also have Redi-graze for madam when she stays in a lot but that's mainly to give her teeth a rest (she has the gaps)
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Dried grass is too high sugar with her PPID/sugar sensitivities, she gets a tiny handful occasionally but she can't have buckets of it. Same with some hay, you can't tell by looking what is going to be high, the haylage that sent her nuts last time looked and smelled exactly the same as the high fiber one of a different brand that she had been fine on previously.
 
Jessey said:
Dried grass is too high sugar with her PPID/sugar sensitivities, she gets a tiny handful occasionally but she can't have buckets of it. Same with some hay, you can't tell by looking what is going to be high, the haylage that sent her nuts last time looked and smelled exactly the same as the high fiber one of a different brand that she had been fine on previously.
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Ah right. None of ours seem bothered by the readi-graze but it's really for Storm to give her gum gaps a rest - she's fine when eating grass but the impactions get worse over winter, that's why we pick and flush now every two months. Hmm. Can you get Horsehage where you are? Maybe that would be okay for her?
Lol I can only assume this lot of hayledge isn't rocket fuel, as they don't devour it - years ago we had some that must have been like nectar as they just power-ate! This stuff gets eaten but not greedily if you know what I mean.
 
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Trewsers said:
Ah right. None of ours seem bothered by the readi-graze but it's really for Storm to give her gum gaps a rest - she's fine when eating grass but the impactions get worse over winter, that's why we pick and flush now every two months. Hmm. Can you get Horsehage where you are? Maybe that would be okay for her?
Lol I can only assume this lot of hayledge isn't rocket fuel, as they don't devour it - years ago we had some that must have been like nectar as they just power-ate! This stuff gets eaten but not greedily if you know what I mean.
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Jess eats one of those small bales in under 2 days as she eats a minimum 11kg forage a day when not on any grass, more if she can get it, at almost 8 quid a bale it would cost me in a week what big bales cost a month.
 
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Jessey said:
Jess eats one of those small bales in under 2 days as she eats a minimum 11kg forage a day when not on any grass, more if she can get it, at almost 8 quid a bale it would cost me in a week what big bales cost a month.
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Oh I know, it does cost a lot more. During the summer when she was on box rest it was costing me £10 a bag up here and she was eating quite a few bags a week:eek:
The home made farmer small bales are £6.50 so a good saving.
 
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I'd try the haylage, maybe see if they do a sample to see how it affects her. I couldn't be soaking nets in a river, wet nets are heavy!! Haylage sounds a more convenient option if ponies are ok with it.
 
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