what to feed horses if i have no hay

How to feed your horse the best hay?

Types of hay

• Grass hay
• Legume hay For those who don’t know the difference between the two, the legumes contain higher content levels of protein, calcium, and vitamin A, while the grass hay is known ...
• Avoiding any that seem to be over cured or over-bleached
• Inspect hay for any signs of insect infestation or diseases

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What is the best hay feeder for horses?

What Is The Best Hay To Feed A Horse? Lucerne Hay and Grass Hay being the most popular. Lucerne Hay is a favourite hay for horses and contains ample protein (between 15% – 18%). For some horses, this may be more than they require. Lucerne is an excellent option (due to high protein levels) for Foals, Mares with foals at foot, and growing horses.

What type of hay do you feed your horses?

type of hay for horses – Grass Hay

• Timothy Hay. Timothy hay is a common favorite among horses and owners. ...
• Orchard Hay. Orchard hay is another common type of grass hay – it usually has a thicker blade than timothy hay but can be softer in texture.
• Brome Grass. ...
• Bermuda Grass. ...
• Oat Hay. ...
• Rye Grass. ...
• Fescue Hay. ...

How to calculate how much hay to feed your horse?

Horse Feeding Calculator

• Select a lifestyle and weight of horse. (Note: Weights will change based on the lifestyle selected).
• If little or no quality hay/pasture is available, choose from one of the complete feeds in the upper row.
• When feeding hay, refer to daily hay requirement in the gray window, and choose from the concentrate feeds in the lower row.

What is a substitute for hay?

Pelleted Fiber Products Hay Stretcher is a pellet with a nutritional profile similar to grass hay, but slightly lower in fiber and higher in energy. It may be used to replace up to half the hay in an animal's diet on a pound-for-pound basis.

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 horses eat grass instead of hay?

Grass Hay for Horses Kentucky bluegrass, orchardgrass and timothy are all examples of common grasses used for hay. Benefits: Grass hay is lower in protein and energy than legume hay — but it's also higher in fiber, which can make it a good choice for many horses.

Can you free feed a horse?

Horses naturally self-limit intake when ample supplies of food are present. High fiber, low sugar and calorie hay can safely be fed to most horses free choice.

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.

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.

Is clover good for horses to eat?

Clover can be a good feed source for most horses because it provides useful energy and adequate protein and fiber. You can use clover in hay or pastures. Clovers can sometimes mold, which causes slobbers, photosensitivity (reactive to light) and bleeding.

Do horses need anything other than grass?

Mature horses need very little protein. They do, however, need certain trace minerals and a few vitamins that may not be supplied by the forage, particularly if dry hay is being fed. Horses eating fresh pasture rarely need anything other than access to a salt-mineral block.

Do horses need hay all year round?

“In almost all cases, native pony breeds turned out 24/7 will not need hay supplementation during summer months.” Clare agrees: “If a horse has free access to grass, they usually won't need forage such as hay to be provided.”

Will horses stop eating when full?

Horses do not have the ability to control their eating so that they will stop eating when they have met their nutrient requirements. They will continue to eat, which can lead to digestive and lameness problems.

Can you feed a horse once a day?

Feeding a horse grain once a day is fine, but horses need a steady supply of forage throughout the day to maintain their health. If your horse is kept in a stall, it's best to feed it hay twice a day in a slow feeder.

Are slow feeders good for horses?

As their name suggests, they slow down the rate of consumption by providing hay through small openings. When slow feeders are kept full, they allow the horse to graze whenever he wants, thereby encouraging the horse to eat less and still have free access to forage."

How long can horses go without forage?

In addition it is recommended that horses spend no longer than four hours without access to forage to try and limit the impact on the stomach of excess acid. Horse owners can increase forage feeding time using a variety of methods, including haynets and forage slow down feeders.

Do horses need more than hay?

Horses require fiber in their diet for the gut to function normally. It is recommended that the diet contain no less than 1 percent of body weight of roughage such as hay, pasture, etc. For example, a 1,100 pound horse requires at least 11 pounds of roughage.

How long can a horse go between feedings?

Horses can go six to eight hours between feedings without a risk of developing dangerous health conditions. An empty stomach can also prompt your horse to eat unhealthy stuff like mold or even small dead animals. What is this? Horses in the wild typically roam until they find good-looking grass and graze on it slowly.

Choosing Horse Feed Hay Replacements

If you are going to use a fiber supplement, then I recommend using those that have shorter chopped fibers. This way, the food will feel more substantial in your horses mouth.

How Long can Horses go without Hay?

Horses are herbivores, which means they eat primarily grasses and other plant material. In the wild, horses graze on pasture for up to 18 hours a day.

Will a Horse Stop Eating when Full?

The question of whether or not a horse will stop eating when they are full is one that many horse owners struggle with. Some horses refuse to stop grazing, eat their hay and other food at the same time, and then go back for seconds. Other horses will only eat until they are about 3/4 full before walking away from their food source.

What is complete feed for horses?

COMPLETE FEED – These have been specially developed to give your horse the right balance of grass, forages, vitamins and minerals and can be fed instead of hay if they have at least 15% fiber. They’re much higher in calories so it’s important to read the label before giving to your horse.

Why do horses eat?

Unlike most animals (including cows) horses need to continually eat, this is because of the way their whole digestive system works. Right from their gastrointestinal tract that is designed to always be digesting small amounts of food around the clock to their hindgut which is where most of their energy comes from.

Why do you need to increase forage for horses?

This then means that you need to increase the forage you’re giving them because they’re not able to get so much of it themselves. If, however, your horse doesn’t normally have access to pasture then there’s nothing to make up for during the winter.

Why is silage so hard to make?

The big drawback to silage though is that the production of it can be difficult because the bags mustn’t be torn at all, if they are then the horse is at risk of contracting botulism ( Food poisoning caused by bacteria growing on food not properly sterilized ).

How long do horses graze?

Left to their own devices horses will spend up to 17 hours a day grazing but this isn’t because they’re being greedy. They’re don’t have gall bladders so aren’t able to store bile for digestion this, coupled with the small stomachs, means that they can only digest small amounts of food at a time. On top of their grazing horses should be fed ...

How much can a horse eat?

Horses are born grazers that can eat up to 25lbs (11kgs) a day so you can imagine that if you’re keeping a horse without any natural grazing you’ve got a lot of making up to do. That doesn’t mean that you can just increase the amount of food you give him, it means that you need to replace the grass he’s not able to eat with more forage.

Can you soak alfalfa before feeding it?

The disadvantage of them though is that they can often be quite expensive and if you don’t soak them beforehand then there’s also a risk of your horse choking on them. ALFALFA – Alfalfa shouldn’t be used to completely replace hay but instead fed in combination with it .

What can replace all of your horse's hay?

Bagged chopped forage. It can replace all of your horse's hay, if necessary. 2. Hay cubes. Chopped cubed hay (usually alfalfa or timothy or a combination) is another 100-percent replacement. Soak cubes to reduce risk of choke. 3. Hay pellets.

Can horses eat soybeans?

The hulls-- not the soy beans--are high in fiber, relatively digestible, provide about 12 to 14 percent protein and are accepted well by most horses. They can replace all hay but, again, a lack of long-stemmed fiber may lead to wood chewing and similar behavior.

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.

Where to Start

When most horses are fed large amounts in two meals a day, they tend to bolt the food in a short time—an hour or two at most. Then they are forced to fast through the rest of the day or night until the next meal arrives. This is not at all how the equine digestive system was meant to work.

Controlling Feed Intake

There is one useful method to slow down the voracious eaters: The use of a slow feeder or small-hole hay net. These feeding systems go by many names, but are either a container that is hung on the wall or a ground box or frame feeding system that forces a horse to work at getting hay out from between closely-knit netting or wire mesh.

Horses in Motion

One of the key benefits to having horses on pasture is that they will wander and walk many miles each day. One study showed that horses given pasture access for 17 hours per day walked 8 to 9½ miles over a 400-acre field, while those given just seven hours pasture access walked 2½ to 3 miles.

Supplements for Non-Pastured Horses

One of the key ingredients that may be nutritionally deficient for horses that have no access to green grass is vitamin E. Without a sufficient intake of vitamin E, a horse can experience muscle, neurologic or immune system problems.

What to feed a horse without teeth?

Veterinarians recommend adding some long stemmed soft leafy alfalfa hay to the horse's diet. Horses without teeth still want to chew on fiber. Supply fiber in the diet of all older horses, as soft hay or even beet pulp, an excellent fiber and energy source.

What to feed a horse with a compromised immune system?

Feed a high quality protein, 14%. Add vitamin C to the diet, if the horse shows signs of a compromised immune system (supplementation of vitamin C at 5 to 10 grams a day). B vitamins can be fed for pituitary tumors (Cushing's disease) and liver disease.

Why does my horse's tooth wear out?

When a horse has missing teeth, not only is the horse's chewing ability compromised, the missing tooth causes an uneven wear pattern because the tooth opposite the gap grows too long and may interfere with jaw movement or bit action.

Why do horses wear their teeth down?

Impaired chewing ability due to loss of teeth or poor tooth condition greatly affects horse health and all horses will eventually wear their teeth down to the root if they live long enough. © 2016 by April Raine.

What is the condition of a horse's teeth called?

The condition involves proliferation (out-of-control growth) of the outer covering of equine teeth, called cementum. In addition, many horses also have destruction of the internal structure of the teeth through resorption.

What happens when a horse's teeth are broken?

When a horse has crooked or broken teeth, his food tends to collect around broken or misaligned teeth, and gum or tooth infections can result leading to not only loss of nutritional value of feed, but also lose of additional teeth.

Why is my horse's hay leafy?

Always, avoid feeding moldy or dusty hay. Inhaling dust over time, results in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or heaves in horses. Special easy-to-chew feed for toothless horse.