What to Feed Your Horse in a Hay Shortage
- Hay cubes (grass or alfalfa) One of the first things you can use when there is a hay shortage are hay cubes. ...
- Alfalfa pellets and/or complete feed pellets These serve as a good substitute for hay when there is a shortage, but they will be consumed quickly, giving your horse long fasting ...
- Soaked beet pulp pellets Another substitute when there is a hay shortage are soaked beet pulp pellets. These an excellent source of fiber and calories. ...
- Haylage In some parts of the country, haylage is available. This is a form of chopped hay much like silage fed to cattle. ...
- Compressed Hay Commercial feed companies have produced a compressed hay block that reconstitutes into large amounts when water is added. ...
What is the best type of hay to feed a horse?
Consider hay cubes, alfalfa (lucerne) or grass hay pellets, chopped forages, shredded beet pulp, or soy hull pellets. 6.
How to feed a horse for beginners?
Consider hay cubes, alfalfa (lucerne) or grass hay pellets, chopped forages, shredded beet pulp, or soy hull pellets. 6. Invest in a few hay nets. This will elevate the hay off the floor, away from sand and bedding dust, make it easy to weigh and preload hay to quickly feed hungry horses on busy days, and potentially slow consumption. 7.
What to do when there is a hay shortage?
In times of hay shortage, we have to look to alternate options to meet the horse’s fiber needs. In years where hay was harvested late due to rain, there is often plenty of hay available but it is more mature and lower quality. As hay matures, it becomes coarser and less digestible to the horse.
What to do if your horse is not eating his hay?
If your horse is not able to chew its hay sufficiently, consider cut hay as an alternative. 3. If the horse is overweight, restrict grazing and offer mature hay with a lower content of easily digestible sugars and higher indigestible fiber. However, be sure that the horse will actually eat it and not just use it for bedding.
What do you feed horses when hay is not available?
Hay pellets. Forage that has been dehydrated, ground and cooked to make pellets can technically replace hay. But without any long-stemmed fiber, a horse's need to chew may lead him to gnaw wood, crib or eat bedding.
Can hay pellets replace hay?
Like forage cubes, forage pellets can be fed just like hay, at a 1:1 ratio to replace hay. Forage pellets are the fiber choice for horses that have lost teeth or have poor dentition since forage pellets can easily be soaked in water to form a mash or slurry.
What to feed horses when there is no grass?
Typical roughage sources are available as pasture, hay, or complete feed pellets. Alternative fiber sources are obtainable (soybean hulls, beet pulp, rice hulls, corn cobs, chaff, and straw), but these don't necessarily alter the need to provide horses with the ability to be “trickle feeders.”
Can a horse survive without hay?
Horses can adapt to balanced rations that do not contain hay or pasture, but the absolute minimum of fiber necessary has not been established. However, low fiber/high concentrate rations have been documented to increase the risk of colic, gastric ulcers, and wood chewing behavior of horses.
Can I feed my horse alfalfa pellets instead of hay?
Remember, pellets are not a substitute for all your horse's forage needs, they can replace alfalfa hay if your animal has other hay or grass, but a horse must consume long-stem forage for proper digestion. Also, note that one pound of alfalfa pellets has the same nutritional value as one pound of hay.
Can I feed alfalfa cubes instead of hay?
The nutrient levels found in cubes tend to be more consistent than hay. Alfalfa cubes are sold with a guaranteed minimum nutrient content. Reduced dust. Cubes have little dust and are therefore a good alternative to hay for horses with certain respiratory problems.
How much hay will a horse eat without grass?
Feed hay according to weight Horses should consume about 2% of their bodyweight per day according to their condition and workload. The first thing you need to do is find out how much your horse weighs using either a weigh tape or weigh bridge.
Can you feed chaff instead of hay?
Chaff can be made of any type of hay, although lucerne (alfalfa), oat, and timothy are the most common. Some chaff is mixed with molasses or oils to aid palatability. It can also be added to grain rations to add bulk and increase chewing time to slow down horses that bolt their feed.
Do horses need hay if they have grass?
We know horses need to eat either grass or hay. When horses eat grass, you will need to keep an eye on their condition and make sure that they are neither eating too much nor too little. Horses can overeat grass, especially if the pasture is lush, but it is also easy to let a horse get too fat from eating hay.
Can you feed beet pulp instead of hay?
Use the beet pulp, which you can, and then look for the hay stretcher pellets, chopped hay is good, hay cubes. The horses need that scratch factor in their diet to be healthy in the hindgut. So no more than 25% of the beet pulp.
Can you replace hay with beet pulp?
In summary, beet pulp is a good dietary supplement for "hard keepers", as a forage or fiber replacement for poor quality hay, and for older horses with problems chewing or digesting hay. The digestible energy content of beet pulp is greater than hay and less than grain.
Do horses need hay every day?
A horse should eat one to two percent of their body weight in roughage every day. Horses who spend much of their time in stalls aren't doing much grazing, but their natural feeding patterns can be replicated by keeping hay in front of them for most of the day.
Are hay pellets the same as hay?
Horse owners often ask if there are any differences in feeding a hay pellet or hay from the bale? The short answer is “yes”. Hay pellets are hay that have been ground and processed with heat and steam. It basically just changes the form of the hay.
Are pellets better than hay for horses?
Horses often eat hay pellets faster than traditional hay because the smaller, ground particles are easy to chew and swallow. Hay pellets also do not provide any long-stem forage. However, for horses with poor teeth, soaking these pellets can still provide important fiber and nutrients.
What can I use instead of hay for rabbits?
Grass is more nutritious than hay as hay is dried, causing some of the beneficial vitamins & minerals to fade over time. Just as their wild counterpart, a domestic rabbit will always opt to eat fresh grass over hay, and eat it with fervour too!
Can you feed hay pellets dry?
If needed, they can be softened with water, but that is best done right before serving. Beet pulp requires more work because it should be soaked in advance of serving. It is tastiest when soaked. Beet pulp can be served dry; however, feeding it dry is thought to increase the risk of choke.
What to feed a horse that is not heavy?
According to the National Research Council’s Nutrient Requirements of Horses, most horses not participating in heavy work can maintain a healthy body condition score by being offered forage as the only source of calories, in addition to access to fresh water and a salt supplement.
What to do if your horse can't chew hay?
If your horse is not able to chew its hay sufficiently, consider cut hay as an alternative. 3. If the horse is overweight, restrict grazing and offer mature hay with a lower content of easily digestible sugars and higher indigestible fiber.
How to manage horses without supplemental calorie sources?
1. Weigh your horse’s hay based on your horse’s target body weight and ensure your horse is receiving 1.5–2.5% of its body weight in forage each day. 2. Have a veterinarian or equine dentist routinely examine and treat your horse’s teeth.
Why do horses need to soak in hay?
Soak or steam hay to reduce dust if your horse has a respiratory ailment or to reduce the water-soluble sugar content for horses with endocrine abnormalities or chronic laminitis. In the case of harder keepers, Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., nutritionist at Kentucky Equine Research, believes a forage-only diet can be challenging.
How to get rid of a horse's teeth?
2. Have a veterinarian or equine dentist routinely examine and treat your horse’s teeth. Don’t assume the horse has a functional mouth if you simply pull back his lips and find a full set of incisors. These front teeth are usually the last ones lost by aged horses. The molars you don’t see grind forage.
Do horses need to be fed forage?
According to the National Research Council’s Nutrient Requirements of Horses, most horses not participating in heavy work can maintain a healthy body condition score by being offered forage as the only source of calories, in addition to access to fresh water and a salt supplement.
Does hay have calories?
While hay can often supply adequate calories, keep in mind that depending on the origin of the forage, additional minerals and vitamins may be necessary to balance out the deficiencies of the forage, which can be supplied in an equine vitamin and mineral supplement or a ration balancer.
What is a complete feed for horses?
Complete feeds are high enough in fiber that they can replace all of the forage in the horse’s diet when necessary. This is the true use of a “senior” horse feed. These are normally reserved for horses that can no longer consume forage due to poor teeth but can be utilized more broadly in times of hay scarcity.
How much forage should a hard keeper eat?
It is quite common for a hard keeper to eat 2.5% of body weight or greater in good quality forage per day and still require additional calories through a concentrate. Restricted forage diets have been linked to increased incidence of Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome and behaviors such as wood chewing or cribbing.
What is a pelleted forage extender?
Pelleted forage extenders are designed to replace a part or all of the forage in the diet. Forage extenders are generally a blend of several different forage ingredients. Look for forage extenders that include highly digestible forage ingredients such as dehydrated alfalfa, soy hulls, beet pulp, or timothy meal.
Is there a senior feed for hay?
A number of high fiber, high fat feeds are available, but many will not include “senior” in the name.
Can you use Alfalfa pellets as forage extenders?
Unlike complete feeds, forage extenders are not fully fortified and should be paired with a fortified feed fed in accordance to the feeding directions for that product. Alfalfa or timothy pellets can be used in the same fashion as forage extender pellets.
What steps can you take if you are a horse owner facing a hay shortage?
Get the most out of your hay supply. Purchasing higher-quality hay gives you an upper hand because it allows you to meet your animal’s nutritional requirements with less than what would be required if you were feeding a lower-quality hay.
I want to learn more about equine nutrition
Hard keepers, senior horses and those with poor dentition, especially, can struggle to maintain a healthy body weight, while others may suffer from decreased thirst...
How to conserve forage?
Feeding some grain is another way to conserve forage. Depending on the cost of grain and hay, it may or may not be more expensive. Slowly adapt animals to grain diets by substituting a few pounds of grain for a few pounds of hay. Every few days, increase the amount of grain in the diet until you reach the desired grain level.
What do ruminants need to eat?
Ruminants require a diet that is at least 10% forage (pasture or hay) for a functional digestive system. A high-grain diet contains more energy than mature cows need. Although the cow's need for feed will be satisfied, she will probably gain weight on this diet.
What is endophyte fescue?
As you may know, endophytes are a type of fungus that helps protect the plant from disease. They are bred into turfgrass-type fescues but are toxic to livestock. The forage-type fescues and ryegrass sold in Oregon are endophyte-free. Information on endophyte testing and tolerances by livestock is available.
What animals need supplemental protein?
But, if you are feeding animals with higher requirements (lactating cows and ewes, replacement heifers and ewe lambs) or using low-quality forage (poor quality hay or grass straw/screening pellets), you will need to add supplemental protein and energy.
Is alfalfa hay better than grass hay?
Usually higher in protein and energy than grass hay, it is sometimes available at a lower cost. Some rained-on alfalfa hay might meet the nutrient requirements of your livestock. Alfalfa may be fed at strategic times like after lambing or calving.
