Can Horses Eat Hay Straight Off The Field?

If your hay producer has cured the hay properly prior to baling, it can be fed directly off the field.

How long after cutting hay can you feed it to horses?

So how soon can you feed new hay? If the hay is cut and bailed in perfect conditions with less than 12% moisture in the bale, it should be safe to feed straight away. But due to how hard this is to get accurate; it is recommended to wait 2-8 weeks before feeding.

Can I just feed my horse hay?

Many pleasure and trail horses don’t need grain: good-quality hay or pasture is sufficient. If hay isn’t enough, grain can be added, but the bulk of a horse’s calories should always come from roughage. Horses are meant to eat roughage, and their digestive system is designed to use the nutrition in grassy stalks.

What is the best way to feed horses hay?

If the ground is grassy and relatively dry, consider feeding hay on the ground to mimic the way a horse naturally grazes. However, if your soil is sandy or gravelly, elevate hay off the ground when feeding via a hay net or manger, as horses can ingest sand or gravel which can lead to impaction colic.

How long should you soak hay for horses?

Soak hay for 30 to 60 minutes to reduce the sugar it contains. Don’t soak the hay longer or you’ll risk leaching beneficial nutrients. Soaking hay to remove sugars that can exacerbate metabolic conditions such as insulin resistance takes more time.

Can horses eat freshly mowed pasture?

Horses can not eat fresh-cut grass because they gobble it down without adequately chewing it, leading to severe health issues. Clumps of cut grass also attract mold and bacteria, resulting in severe and sometimes fatal stomach problems for horses when ingested.

Can I feed fresh cut hay?

“If hay is baled with a low moisture content, less than 12%, it can be fed right away, and horses shouldn’t have any problem with it,” said Kathleen Crandell, Ph. D., longtime nutritionist for Kentucky Equine Research (KER).

Can horses survive just on grass?

Yes horses can and do survive and thrive, on grass alone, and have done so for millions of years, IN THE WILD, but they generally also browse on some various other plants, depending on where and when.

Is it OK to feed horses wet hay?

Soaking hay for horses can be invaluable when feeding a hay that is a little dusty as a result of soil contamination or where it was stored in the barn. Horses that have allergies and are sensitive to the natural dust and particles in hay can benefit significantly from wetting or soaking hay.

Can horses colic from too much hay?

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

Can a horse founder on hay?

Alfalfa hay can cause horses to founder and develop laminitis due to the excess nutrients provided by the high quality hay if too much is fed.

Can horses eat hay all day?

Because we like to think our horses follow the same schedule that we do, many people think that horses need less hay at night because they’re asleep (and therefore, not eating). However, that’s a myth. Horses need access to forage at all times of the day.

How many bales of hay should a horse eat per day?

A horse can eat anywhere from 15-25 pounds of hay a day, which generally equates to a half of a 45/50-pound square bale of hay per day (~15-30 bales per month).

Can you feed soaked hay straight away?

Soaking hay for 15 to 60 minutes is a good way to manage these horses, but only soak hay if your preferred hay isn’t available. Feed soaked hay right away to avoid mold growth.

Is hay ruined if it gets wet?

If rained-on hay is not again dried fully, mold and mycotoxin growth can occur which can put livestock health at risk. Furthermore, baled wet hay can combust due to the temperature increase caused by microbial growth – putting a producer at risk of barn fire.

Why do you rub a horse down with hay?

The horse is rubbed or “curried” to help loosen dirt, hair, and other detritus, plus stimulate the skin to produce natural oils.

What happens if you don’t mow a pasture?

The stem sections get dry, bitter, and less valuable for the livestock. Grazing and mowing properly keep the grass short (“short” and “tall” being relative, depending on species) and in the leaf-growing stage longer to maintain it’s feed value.

Why shouldn’t you feed horses grass cuttings?

As the grass cuttings have been finely chopped up, horses won’t need to chew as much or at all before swallowing the grass. This results in the horse gorging on the pile of cuttings and therefore eating large amounts very quickly. The cuttings can compact and become lodged in the horse’s throat, causing them to choke.

How long should you keep horses off pasture after mowing?

Keep your horses off newly seeded pastures until the grasses have established and you have mowed two to three times.

How soon should hay be turned after cutting?

After cutting the crop should be left in the swath for one or two days and then turning should start using a “hay-bob” type machine, or tedder.

How long do you let hay grow before cutting?

Therefore, the best time to do any cutting is when grasses have reached what is called the “late boot stage”. This stage is typically reached after 6 to 8 weeks of growth in the spring or 6 to 8 weeks after a previous cutting. The “late boot stage” is when the seed head of the grasses first pops out of the sheath.