# What type of hay do you feed...



## downtownjr (Apr 8, 2008)

Please let us know...what typw of animal and what type of hay...alfalfa, orchard grass, timothy, a mixture and what type of mixture you prefer. Also, what type of bale, big, small, or round? Thanks

For us...

Dairy goats...alfalfa/some orchard grass about 85/15...50-60 lb small squares


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## Riverside Cattle (Jun 4, 2008)

We have both cattle and sheep.

We feed the animals the hay that doesn't make horse quality. It varies year to year as to what hay gets rained on.

Most hay is two tie small squares, with some round bales for the cattle.

Hay crops are a rotation of: timothy, alfalfa/grass (60/40), mixed grass, oats, and pure alfalfa.

-rsc


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## Alfalfa Farmer (Apr 16, 2008)

We feed 5 x 6 round bales to cattle. Have a small square baler, but use it very little these days. Bale some straw with it every year to put in the barn.


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## BCFENCE (Jul 26, 2008)

I roll all my pasture ground wich is mostly fescue and clover. Then try to rotate my grazing after my hay comes off


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## Farmerboy (Jul 29, 2008)

We feed horses and goats straight alfalfa in 100lb small square bales.


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## nwfarmer (Jun 16, 2009)

Some think that straight alfalfa is hard on horses kidneys. I'm no expert on that.

We bale small 14 by 18 by approx 3 ft bales. They run about 32 bales to the ton. we sell a 50/50 grass/alfalfa mix and a 90/10 grass/alfalfa mix. The grass is a combo of orchard/garrison/brome. We cater to local horse people in northwest Wyoming.


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## ecofarmer (May 29, 2009)

We just have cattle but, we save the first cutting of alfalfa mix and save all the fescue mix off the other pasture till our round bail storage is full.

We do bail the rest of the alfalfa in small squares for sale.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

We're back up over 40 head of cattle and feed whatever we can bale, mainly Oats, but also Fescue, 
we're planning on drilling in about 14 acres of Soybeans and Millet hopefully Monday, the fields are 
ready but can't get fertilize until Monday. I've got some volunteer Foxtail coming up and I'm going to 
bale for backup. We also have a Case IH 1250 Grinder Mixer and grind whole ear corn and combined
Oats for feed. We don't sell any hay.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

Just horses....We're a breeder. One field of Tifton 85 Bermuda and one with Bahia/Common Bermuda mixed. 50-60# small squares.


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## stevemsinger (Jul 8, 2009)

We roll everything on the first cut which is predominantly mixed grass, heavy on fescue and clover. We feed those rolls to both cattle and horses all winter. The only thing that gets squares is what is in the barn. Might be horses if they are going to foal or just to make them easy to get to when we need them to check cattle, or could be calves. Everything second cut gets squared and we sell what we don't use. They do really well on either one.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

We feed horses and goats straight alfalfa in 100lb small square bales.

I agree fully about alfalfa and goats. They prefer alfalfa plus they need the energy.

I conditionally agree with alfalfa for horses. The high protein and kidney problems are mostly a story. What people do not consider is the amount of energy in alfalfa hay. Unless the horse is a wet mare, or in training for the race track or rodeo the horse will not burn up that much energy. 
A casual horse will eat 18 hours a day, & if it is not eating it becomes notional. The ideal way to feed a horse is free choice hay. Now this can be accomplished with a free choice average quality grass hay and hand fed alfalfa one time a day. I prefer a good quality grass hay fed free choice. Something in the 10% to 12% protein range and a reasonable energy level.

The problem with a horse only on alfalfa is, if fed enough to keep it occupied, they become butter ball fat. If their diet is restricted then they start eating boards and bark. Both are bad habits if ever started.

I sell both grass hay and alfalfa hay, and make more money on the alfalfa than I do from the grass. Still I try to discourage my horse owning customers from feeding alfalfa. 
Than again I also encourage my cattle owning customers to cut back on their stocking rate and not, HAVE TO, feed hay.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

I feed 4x4 rounds in the winter to my cow herd. Usually the high protein stuff like birdsfoot trefoil, keeps the mommas fat. I will roll some new seeding alfalfa rounds up for my feeders again for the protein so I don't have to buy any supplemental. I feed the barn horses second cut grass legume mix in small squares. Outside horse herd in the winter get grass or grass mix rounds.


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## sjohnson9206 (Aug 26, 2009)

Horses here..

We like to feed timothy and orchard grass mixes with a little alfalfa thrown in, round bales in the winter and small squares in the spring/summer.

Like hay wilson said the idea is to keep the protein levels low so we're not attacking the horses renal glands and they can be eating as much as possible in the winter to keep producing heat and not become butterball fat. Horses are meant to be grazing as much as possible which means if you're only feeding restricted alfalfa their gut is empty and there's high likelihood of colic.

If it gets super cold out we'll have some alfalfa/grass (50/50) mix on hand to pass out.


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## Farmboy (Aug 28, 2009)

I have dairy goats and I feed orchard grass hay. I fed some alfalfa before but can't feed it to the males and had a wether in with my does.


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## Feno (Feb 16, 2009)

Here in Brazil, i feed my cattle during dry winter season, with round bales of millet hay for the part of the herd that is getting weight to be selled, or my milking cows. For the part of the herd that will not be selled and need only maintenance i give them round bales of a african grass. For the Holstein calfs, small square bales of alafafa and coast-cross or tifton85.
My wife is a veterinarian, and for sport horses that will be on long rides of 20 to 50 miles on weekends on enduro contest we dont give them alfafa, only coast-cross or tifton85 hay.
Grass hay is better to avoid those horses from having muscular aches or kidney problems-saddle starts hurting their backs during long rides.Too much protein is not always the answer for feeding.
But we also have some Hanoverian jumping horses, and for this ones we feed them with alfafa and grass hay.
A funny thing is that some people that buy hay from us, sometimes are concerned about if they horses are going to be able of chewing coast-cross instead of tifton85,because of the difference on stem size...i explain, that they can put their fingers inside the horse mouth at let it chew, to see if their teeth have problems with the caliber of a grass stem...


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## UpNorth (Jun 15, 2009)

Horses are just fine eating 100% alfalfa. The extra protein is converted to urea and excreted through the kidneys. The horse will drink more water when eating alfalfa hay.

That being said the only horses that should be eating early maturity alfalfa are the mares, growing horses, and work/race horses--its denser in energy. Late maturity alfalfa (full bloom) should fed to horses with lower energy requirements.

http://www.alfalfa.org/pdf/Alfalfa for Horses (low res).pdf

The link is pretty good publication on feeding alfalfa to horses.


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## Rider61 (Oct 19, 2009)

Horses here. I feed orchardgrass/broome/clover mix.

Part of the horses-alfalfa issue is the amount of calcium in the hay. High calcium creates kidney stones in some horses. The hotness factor is also an issue, though again only with some horses. Horses who have foundered shouldn't have alfalfa regardless. It's a complex subject. In the past I've fed alfalfa mix round bales and the horses loved it. It kept an elderly horse with an inoperable, non-malignant tooth root tumor around for a much longer time as the high calorie count helped him keep the weight on.


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## UpNorth (Jun 15, 2009)

nwfarmer said:


> Some think that straight alfalfa is hard on horses kidneys. I'm no expert on that.
> 
> We bale small 14 by 18 by approx 3 ft bales. They run about 32 bales to the ton. we sell a 50/50 grass/alfalfa mix and a 90/10 grass/alfalfa mix. The grass is a combo of orchard/garrison/brome. We cater to local horse people in northwest Wyoming.


If you have free choice water available you'll be fine feeding alfalfa. They just need a little more water to help get rid extra protein. Plus if you feed more mature alfalfa (25% bloom or more) it's a lot less nutrient dense and there won't be as much of a need for the water, but having plenty of water is usually a good idea anyways.


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