When Should I Start Feeding Hay To Horses?

The simple answer is to start offering hay when there is insufficient pasture forage to meet the herds’ needs. The difficult question then becomes when is there not enough pasture forage to meet the herds’ nutritional needs? You can search the internet for this and find pages of discussions on forums.

When should you start feeding hay?

Heinrichs and Jones suggest holding off on hay feeding until calves are consuming 5 to 6 pounds of texturized starter grain per day, at around 7 to 8 weeks of age. If the starter grain is in pelleted form with high amounts of ruminally digestible forage, hay should be introduced a bit earlier, at 5 to 6 weeks of age.

Should you feed horses hay before grain?

In conclusion, feeding your horse hay prior to concentrate can help slow down the rate of intake. This can be an important management strategy for horses prone to rushing their meals. In the end, this historical barn tip has been proven true for now.

How long can horses go without hay?

Ideally, horses should go no longer than 4 hours between forage meals and be fed on a consistent schedule. However, it’s hard to predict when, or if, an extended time period without forage will cause health issues like colic and ulcers.

Should horses have constant access to hay?

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.

What month is first hay cutting?

Optimum conditions for first cuttings can generally be expected around May 15th in the south and May 25th in the north. Though different cuttings provide different levels of nutrition (a topic for a future blog), the most important determination of hay quality is its state of maturity when cut.

Can you feed hay straight away?

In perfect conditions — where the hay has been baled at less than 12% moisture and is very dry — it is safe to feed straight away, but this isn’t often the case, as Tim Moxon of TM Agri Services Ltd explains: “The main reason for allowing a period of anywhere between two and eight weeks before feeding freshly made hay

How many bales of hay should a horse have a 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 overfeed hay to a horse?

However, keep in mind that the bulk of your horse’s diet should be made up of grass or hay. Underfeeding hay or pasture, and overfeeding grains and concentrates can lead to colic.

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.

Should horses be stabled at night?

Horses are all different, so some may prefer stabling more than others. However, whatever your horse likes, or dislikes are, stabling is a requirement – particularly during the night. Horses need stables during the night to protect them from bad weather such as rain and snow.

Do horses need light at night?

So he doesn’t necessarily need it to be dark (sometimes horses get their best sleep stretched out in the middle of a pasture on a bright, warm sunny day!), but he does need to perceive the immediate area as not dangerous.

What can I feed my horse instead of hay?

Six Hay Alternatives for Horses

• Bagged chopped forage. It can replace all of your horse’s hay, if necessary.
• Hay cubes. Chopped cubed hay (usually alfalfa or timothy or a combination) is another 100-percent replacement.
• Hay pellets.
• “Complete” feed.
• Beet pulp.
• Soybean hulls.

Can horses colic from too much hay?

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

Do horses prefer grass or hay?

While most horses do well and thrive on a grass hay diet, other horses with different needs and medical conditions are better suited to being fed a diet of grass/alfalfa mix, or an exclusively all alfalfa.

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.

Which is better 1st cut or 2nd cut hay?

IT MIGHT BE ABOUT THE CUT
The first cutting in any cut will have thicker stems, perhaps have flowers (usually called tassel), and is the highest in fiber of any cut. The second cutting is softer, greener, has a higher protein but lower fiber than first cutting.

Why do they cut hay at night?

Though starches and simple sugars accumulate during the day, a substantial amount of these carbohydrates are used up during the night for growth and maintenance (via the processes of respiration). Therefore, cutting the crop at night will likely maximize the sugar in the crop, at least at the time of cutting.

What happens if you don’t cut hay?

If left unmanaged, unharvested, standing forage can result in a dense mat on the soil surface over winter and interfere with spring growth and hay harvest next year.

How often should I feed my horse hay?

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 horses live on just hay?

The truth is that good quality hay can provide a horse with the majority of its nutritional needs. Many horses can derive adequate calories and protein from hay as well as much of their macro-mineral needs (calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium).