Can Hay Be Too Green For Horses?

Even if the outside of the bale is faded to yellow or beige, the internal hay can be perfectly safe to feed your horse as long as it’s still green. If the internal hay is bleached out, brown, black, or yellow inside the bales, the hay has most likely lost its nutritional value and may be moldy or rotted.

Can horses have green hay?

Without question, the most desirable color of hay is bright green. Greenness indicates the hay was not subjected to any adverse conditions during curing or storage, thereby suggesting the forage is nutritious and free of molds. Green hay is often rife with carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, and vitamin E.

Does hay have to be green to be good?

Good quality hay should be bright green in color with little fading. A bleached, yellow, brown or black color may indicate aged hay, mold or poor storage conditions. Storage condition and age have a significant effect on vitamin content of hays.

What’s the difference between yellow and green hay?

In most cases, green hay has a large amount of keratins, which is a precursor to vitamins A and E. On the other hand, if the hay has a yellow coloration, it may have been over mature when harvested or could have been rained on in the field before baling.

How do you know if your hay is moldy?

How Can You Tell If Hay Is Moldy?

1. An overall grayish appearance.
2. Gray, black or brown growth.
3. A musty smell.
4. Dampness.

How much green grass is too much for horses?

How much grass does a horse eat per day? A horse on grass pasture can consume 25 lbs of forage a day! This is the high end of the recommended forage intake of 1-3% of body weight. If your horse also receives supplemental hay and feed, his caloric intake will definitely cause him to pack on the pounds.

Can a horse colic on green grass?

Too much forage, especially in the form of fresh grass, might cause colic or other metabolic problems.

What hay is bad for horses?

Some hay types are particularly prone to high nitrate levels and should be avoided if there are options. These include: Sorghum, Sudan, Johnsongrass and Pearl Millet. High levels of simple carbohydrate (sugars, starch) are an issue for horses with insulin resistance and can occur in virtually any type of hay.

Can horses eat hay that has been rained on?

Rained-on hay can be a suitable forage, especially for horses prone to laminitis. Forage quality tends to be retained if: The rain occurs soon after cutting when the forage has had little time to dry. The rainfall was a single, short event.

Can horses eat old hay?

If the hay was of good-quality when harvested and stored in a dry place with sufficient airflow, hay is likely suitable for consumption for two to three years. Keep in mind that hay, even premium forage, loses much of its vitamin content in the first few months of storage.

Which grass hay is not recommended for horses?

Hoffman said there are a few grasses to avoid in hay or forage if you are feeding horses. They include: Perennial ryegrass and rye.

What is the most digestible hay for horses?

Timothy hay is a popular choice because of its easy digestibility and may be more suitable for certain life stages. However, alfalfa hay has a higher calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, which makes it unsuitable for younger horses. Timothy hay has a balanced calcium-to-phosphorus ratio.

What does low quality hay look like?

Poor-quality hay may be damp and moldy with a musty or fermented smell. Hay that appears weathered, straw-like, or brown is likely low in nutritional value. If hay has been cut late in maturity, seed heads will be apparent in grass hay and blooms will be evident in alfalfa hay.

Can horses eat slightly moldy hay?

Don’t feed moldy hay to horses. Most moldy hay problems are from mold spores, which can produce respiratory disease in horses. Many of the common mold toxins develop in the field during a delayed harvest. If you suspect a mold toxin problem, review your horse’s nutrition and health.

Will horses avoid eating moldy hay?

Horses will eat moldy hay, especially if they have no alternative forage, but consuming moldy hay is dangerous and can cause digestive and respiratory diseases.

What happens if a horse eats a little moldy hay?

Moldy hay frequently causes respiratory problems in horses. Recurrent airway obstruction, commonly known as heaves, is a lung disease that compromises a horse’s ability to breathe. It is similar to asthma in humans and is a chronic condition that can only be managed, not cured.

Can a horse overeat grass hay?

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. And, sometimes too little hay can mean a horse will lose weight.

Can green grass cause laminitis?

Most horse owners know that any sudden change in a horse’s diet can cause serious problems, but it’s easy to forget that your horse’s pasture can also change rapidly. Spring grass growth puts your horse at risk of debilitating conditions, like colic and laminitis.

What are the signs of grass sickness in horses?

CLINICAL SIGNS
In acute grass sickness, the symptoms are severe, appear suddenly and the horse will die or require to be put down within two days of the onset. Severe gut paralysis leads to signs of colic including rolling, pawing at the ground and looking at the flanks, difficulty in swallowing and drooling of saliva.

What are 4 signs of colic in horses?

Signs of colic in your horse

• Frequently looking at their side.
• Biting or kicking their flank or belly.
• Lying down and/or rolling.
• Little or no passing of manure.
• Fecal balls smaller than usual.
• Passing dry or mucus (slime)-covered manure.
• Poor eating behavior, may not eat all their grain or hay.

Is Longer grass better than short for horses?

For the majority of horses, long, pasted grass is better than short, young grass. Most horses do not need the high nutritional value and benefit from the many fibers and the low nutritional value of long grass.