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Alfie
17 Jan 2009 23:13
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I don't know about anyone else but I've used haylage for about 18 months rather than conventional hay - I switched because one of my horses got a cough at the end of the winter and I had to soak the hay which is a real pain and so I looked into price of haylage. Thinking it was going to be twice as much I was surprised to realise that actually it's about the same price pound for pound. Anyway since getting my younger horse and my older one getting over his cough I've bought some meadow hay and intersperse it with haylage. What I have really noticed is that when they have the haylage they pee for England and also drink loads more water which is wierd when you think the haylage is mostly water! Consequently, I feed the meadow (dry) hay at night and the haylage in the field in the day so that their beds aren't minging and look as if they haven't been mucked out for weeks. Not only that, less bedding coming out of the stable equates to less going in and a smaller muck heap disposal fee! Moral of story - don't feed haylage overnight unless you want really wet beds!
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joallan
13 Oct 2009 08:20
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I am not sure if you are buying the haylage in small bags, with a brand name on it, in my case i have used haylage from local farms which comes in large round bales and is shared between all the horses in the yard, it works out at about £1 per day for as much as you want, much cheaper that hay in small bales. I have not noticed any excessive peeing, but it is difficult to determine the energy and protein levels other than by the horse's behaviour, last winter, I had to feed 1/3 haylage. 1/3 good hay and 1/3 poor soaked hay to keep my boy quiet to ride but occupied for a longer period.
I have always fed from the ground as i don't like haynets, apart from extra work, there is a danger of legs getting caught, eyes getting hayseeds, and the head is up in the air, not down which allows any moisture in the nasal passages to drain naturally.
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DressageSpain
13 Oct 2009 09:29
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I tried Haylage back in the UK and was only on it for about 2 months before swopping back. I hated it. And was also advised that it was too rich for my horse at the time, having had his droppings analysed.
Out in Spain, because of the extreme heat, its a risky business as one tiny hole in the packaging and the whole lot is rotten. One yard down here had 7 colics in 3 weeks from feeding fermenting haylage.....
Further to that, my horses HATE it. My dad bought it by mistake once when I asked him to go and collect something from the feed merchant. THe fussy little princes refused to eat it...
So I will happily be sticking to hay. Which for us is much cheaper as well. I am looking into buying a hay steamer though, but as this is a dry dusty country anyway, it could be a little pointless.
I did have all in all a bad experience with haylage and I believe that an excellent quality hay can work just as well!
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Mandeigh
23 Oct 2009 12:33
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I believe that an excellent quality hay can work just as well!"
Interesting you should say that. At our yard the owners horses are currently getting a mix of both and although they generally love the haylage, this years hay is so good they are scoffing it first.
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joallan
24 Oct 2009 18:12
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it can be a pain soaking hay, you can put a whole bale in a bath and let the water drain away before you want it, or use a small dustbin which can be tipped over, i think the hay steamer is too hi tech in the long term, what you really want is to wash away soils and allergy producing pollens i am sure a system can be devised in most yards.
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Silver Snaffles
06 Nov 2009 15:07
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"it can be a pain soaking hay, you can put a whole bale in a bath and let the water drain away before you want it, or use a small dustbin which can be tipped over, i think the hay steamer is too hi tech in the long term, what you really want is to wash away soils and allergy producing pollens i am sure a system can be devised in most yards."
I use a tipping watertight wheelbarrow to soak hay, so no pulling up of heavy wet haynets. You can either soak hay in wedges, nets, etc wheel it to where you want to drain it, tip it up without the hay falling out then wheel it to stables or into the field. It is expensive to buy but to me worth its weight in gold!!
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Giovanni
15 Sep 2010 12:56
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Haylage makes them wee alot if you buy ryegrass which is really to rich for horses, is normally used for racehorses/ top copetition horses. We have meadow grass haylage which is more like wrapped hay which they love is not dusty and beds are normal.
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