Article: when to cut hay for horses
December 22, 2020 | Uncategorized
If it takes more than 2 hours she’s more than likely trampling and wasting the excess hay. AbGard: Equine Omeprazole Paste Alternative, Dewormer: Praziquantel and Ivermectin Combined, Horse Wormers and Equine Worming Schedule, AbPrazole Plus: Special Equine Omeprazole Formulation, AbGard: Treat Horse Ulcers Immediately Before It Gets Worse. Not all farmers will get a 3rd cutting though. Analyses of timothy hay harvested at several stages of maturity are shown in Figure 1. This is the cut that’s taken before the hay blooms and is a good, solid, hay! Once grass is cut and dried for hay… The Cuttings and Harvesting: Giant Bermuda Hay is nutritious when cut and baled for horses with proper management and fertilizer program. It’s hard to say whether one cutting is superior over the other. For highest nutrient values, select hay cut in the late afternoon. Hay should not be packaged when moisture content is greater than 20 percent and an effective preservative is not used. Giant Bermuda is usually cut and baled for horses on a consistent monthly cycle. Productive, well-managed pastures can provide most of the feed requirements of horses for the least cost. To ensure that the hay is processed at exactly the right time, from eighty to one hundred people are employed to cut and "put up" the hay. Great care is taken to ensure that the prairie hay is cut only when Total digestive Nutrient (TDN) and Crude Protein levels are optimal. Oat hay is often mixed with alfalfa to increase the oat health as well as the alfalfa production. If all the hay is soaked, then some of the soluble trace-mineral, vitamin and … First, cut hay also has a lower fat and protein content. Grass hays contain 6% to 10% protein. Mold and dust can inflame the respiratory tract and impair breathing. Many horses can develop permanent lung damage after consuming moldy or dusty hay. Many horse owners wonder which is better 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Whether you are buying first, second, or third cut hay, pay attention to quality First Cutting. Step 1 Weather Issues: Excess moisture can result in mold growth. Next to pasture, good quality hay is the ideal feed. Your horse is in good body condition; she is doing well on the grass/alfalfa-mix hay you are currently feeding. You will need a separate analysis for each field, cutting etc. ! You’ll want to look for mold, moisture, weeds, texture, dirt, and insects. One of the most critical factors of field-cured hay--hay that is left out in the field to dry after is has been cut--are weather conditions that may influence the hay quality. You can fill in with pelleted complete feeds to make up any differences, but you’re still getting that natural fiber. The ideal moisture content of hay when baled is 12 to 18 percent moisture. This is because it is lower in nonstructural carbohydrates (sugars and starches) and is typically softer, greener and leafier. Weeds do tend to appear in first-cut hay. High-quality, properly fenced pastures are one of the best and least expensive sources of summer feed for a horse. To begin with, 1st cutting is the first hay cut from that field for the year. As a result, he might start to collect wads of hay in his mouth. Many horse owners wonder which is better 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. What do these terms mean? I buy my old guy the chopped hay from tractor supply, but at $15/bag and rising practically every time I buy it, I'm wondering if there is a way I can just chop my current hay somehow, that way I can just feed the chopped hay to the 3 of them since my fat appy seems to favor the chopped hay and always finds a way to steal it the matter what I do. This cutting is good for horses. Cut early in the growing season … A swather cuts the grass and arranges it in windrows. Hay allows us to keep horses in climates and conditions not natural to horses. None of the commercial chopped hay is available in my area. or something like that. A mature horse requires at least 10% protein. Like oat hay, forage hay is cut at the optimal time to ensure a highly palatable feed for horses, cattle, goats and sheep. Here is a short checklist for evaluating the quality of hay relative to the horse being fed: Cut, texture and stage of maturity. Weeds: A weedy field will produce weedy hay. It’s important to choose the right hay for your horse. © 2020 COWGIRL Magazine/Modern West Media, Inc. | COWGIRL™ is a registered trademark of Modern West Media, Inc. All rights reserved.. 5 Weeds That Are Actually Healthy For Your Horse, Stunning Small Barns For Your Horse Property, Save Money On Hay With These DIY Slow Feeders, Proudly powered by Newspack on WordPress.com. On your hunt for hay, you’re likely to run across different cuttings. Instead, it’s advisable to treat each crop of hay individually. Additionally, hay that sits on the field too long once it has been cut, or that gets wet, can leach nutrition before it gets baled. Always request a horse analysis when sending in hay samples. Because of the unpredictable weather in spring, hay growers must sometimes postpone the harvest of first-cut hay, and during this delay plants might become overly mature. It tends to be more coarse and have more grasses in it. However, a lot of horses do just fine on quality 1st cutting hay. She is getting no grain, and she has never developed laminitis, inflammation of the soft connective tissues within the foot that can result from a … The stems are thin and flexible, and it has a high fibre content. Heaves is a common respiratory problem that occurs when a horse consumes moldy or dusty hay. Second cut alfalfa hay is usually the fastest growing because it is developing during the hottest part of the season, and it usually has more stem in relation to leaf. First cuts tend to grow for a longer period of time, so the plants are more mature with more stalk at the time they are cut and baled. Hay can also be useful when keeping horses indoors, and while transporting them. A number of factors come into play when choosing the right type of hay for your horse. This can be important for horses prone to gut upset with diet changes. There are quite a few factors involved in determining this! This is because hay appropriate for cubing is usually cut at the same growth stage each time, and manufacturers either maintain their own fields or buy from the same sources. Which is best Omeprazole or Sucralfate for Horse Ulcers? A basic hay analysis costs about $20. They cut their prairie hay once a year, usually early in July. Don’t soak the hay longer, however, because this risks leaching beneficial nutrients. COWGIRL inspires the Modern Western Lifestyle. Store it with string side on the vertical to … This is especially important if you’re concerned about the hay quality or if your horse is having nutrition problems. In a separate study that featured teff hay cut at three different stages of maturity (boot, early, and late), mature horses preferred the boot and early-maturity hays based on voluntary intake: 1.8% of body weight for boot, 1.7% of body weight for early, and 1.5% of bodyweight for late maturity. Many horse owners jump at the chance to purchase 2nd. Best for: Horses that require an energy- and nutrient-dense hay, such as lactating mares, growing foals or horses that need to ingest a plentiful amount of calories. Good pasture alone is sufficient to meet all of the nutritional requirements for many classes of horses. He gets senior feed 3 times a day and soaked alfalfa cubes once a day, but need some short cut hay to chew on as well. Thus for highest nutrient values, select hay cut in late afternoon, but for an idle horse, morning cut hay might be just right. You’ll want to avoid this hay, as it can cause digestive and respiratory problems. Hay Stacking. A hay analysis helps you better understand what you’re feeding your horse. 2nd cutting is usually greener in … Maturity: Spring rains can delay farmers from harvesting their 1st cutting of hay. Sometimes, for whatever reason, a horse will be uncomfortable or painful when eating. 2nd cutting is usually greener in color and has a sweeter smell. Read more about hay here: FAQ About Feeding Your Horse Hay! Performance horses in heavy work often benefit from legume hay that can provide calories and … This results in a desirable quality hay. If your horse is cleaning it all up in less than an hour, chances are he’s not getting enough. Protein in hay varies depending on the type and maturity level of the hay when it is cut. First cutting of hay is the one harvested first in the year from the field before it blooms. The first cut of hay is the first hay harvested from a field for that year. The roughage in horse hay requires a good bit of chewing. There are quite a few factors involved in determining this! Help! And lastly, 3rd cutting is very thick and rich. Inspect a few bales. At the same time, p… When you are done soaking a serving of hay, dump the water rather than reusing it for another soak. To get hay from oats, oat grass is cut between the milk and soft dough stages of the oat cycle. 3 Looks To Rock This Winter From Cavender’s, Hot New Styles From Rock And Roll Denim Will Keep You Warm This Winter. What causes Equine Colonic Ulcers? Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. how can i chop hay (1 or 2 bales/week) into small pieces for my old horse? Log in. When grass is not available, hay may make up the largest part of a horse's diet. The resulting oat hay is high in protein and other nutrients, making it a nutritious option for horse hay. And what cutting is best? It also looses it nutritional value over time. Immature hay is both more easily digested by, and more appetizing to, horses. However, there are significant differences in the variety, quality and availability of hay, which can make feeding your livestock a time-consuming chore. Preservative-treated hay has been fed to horses without problems. When I was younger if you would say, "Hey", someone would say, "Hay is for horses" I don't know the rest of the little saying. After a half-hour, remove the hay and feed it immediately. All cuttings can result in good-quality horse hay! It was something like, "Hay is for horses, cows eat grass, go to the farm and get them cheaper?" First cut lucerne hay with a high C3 grass content must be soaked for high risk horses. Hay needs air circulating to keep it healthy. Clean hay is the best hay for horses. It tends to be more coarse and have more grasses in it. The taller the hay grows the coarser and tougher it becomes. Heating will occur and may reduce forage quality, resulting in musty or moldy hay; and in the worst case, it can cause spontaneous combustion. When harvested and processed correctly, baled alfalfa is a high-quality source of protein and calcium for horses. A horse that is prone to insulin resistance problems or laminitis would do best with hay cut in the early morning when the plants are lowest in sugars and starches.” If you have a hard keeper or senior horse, then this may be a good idea. Set a timer on your phone, if necessary, to ensure you don’t forget about your submerged hay net. Usually the best forage hay is locally grown and is not overly irrigated so it does not develop large stems. Hay for Your Horse Smorgasbord of hay and grain for horses Flickr.com - Smerikal. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! A good rule of thumb is to feed your horse the amount of hay she can clean up in about 1½ - 2 hours. There is a lot of fiber, so it is nutritious, plus it is easy to eat because the stems are flexible and thin. As grazing animals, research has shown that horses do best when their feeding patterns follow a natural grazing pattern. Farmers can feed the oat hay immediately or store it for winter forage. Rain and excessive sunlight reduce the quality of hay by reducing the nutrient content. This oat hay produces a high protein feed suitable for cattle, horses and sheep. When timothy is cut at the joint stage, the crude protein content is about 11%, but it is almost 30% lower when timothy is harvested at the full-head stage. During the cold winter months when pastures contain scant forage, hay is the typical diet for cattle, horses, sheep and goats. Furthermore, weeds don’t offer a lot of nutritional value. Three Common Problems to Address. Legume hays (alfalfa and clover) contain 12% to 20% protein. Many horses will turn their nose up to hay with a lot of weeds. Horses that can’t chew hay efficiently may do well on a few pounds per day of chopped forage. “But a horse that is prone to insulin resistance problems or laminitis would do … To begin with, 1st cutting is the first hay cut from that field for the year. It’s usually more affordable, as well! A well-kept pasture also is the most natural and healthy environment for exercise and rest. Forage hay analysis - … This hay may be fine for the easy keeper though. The oats are planted in the spring of the year and cut and harvested for hay in the early summer. You can even perform a hay analysis to check crude protein, fiber, energy, and mineral content. Dealing with Equine Inflammation: Bute or Banamine? Chopped forage is expensive, but it’s tasty and easily chewed. 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