Hay questions

[leslie645]

Hi,
Im new to central Kentucky and am wondering what month you 'usually' start feeding hay in the winter?
My horses have a nice pasture, but I assume I will need to feed 1.5% BW in hay during winter? I need to calculate how much to stock up for.

Iam originally from Arizona, where we had to feed $ hay $ all year long.
Thanks,
L

[SACREDWINDWALKER]

In the winter , which starts on a normal year (not drought year) will be around November to start feeding hay and feed it through about end of March....it really depends on your pasture, how many horses you have and the weather....we are still feeding hay this year.

Body weight at a minimum is 2%, most people I know base it on 2.5%....but it makes a difference if the horse is used or just pastured....working and non-working....same rule of thumb for grain...higher percentage for working or lactating horses vs. pasture puffs and easy keepers.

Hope this helps...

[Bandit]

What % BW to feed depends on the type of horses you have and the work they do. It can range from 1% - 3%. My easy keeping haflinger gets just over 1% and just a horse mineral. Any more than that in the winter and he starts getting a cresty neck. Most of my other horses get around 1.5%-2% BW in hay & my young ones get grain to help supplement that. My husband's first horse got about 3% BW in hay plus grain and still stayed lean. Now that I look back and he was originally a rescue, I suspect ulcers - but didn't know about those at the time. But I guess that is a different topic...

As to pastures - it really depends on how the pastures look and the concentration of horses and the weather. I have 4 horses & a donkey on 5 acres and have rotational grazing. On a good year I can have grass until December. In a bad year - like last year with the drought - I had to start feeding hay in September. I have one field that has a good amount of Rye in it, so that comes up early and I can start cutting back hay in march.

My standard winter planning (when there is no drought) is 2% BW for all of my equine for 6 months.

[leslie645]

Great thanks, I figured it was November but just wanted to make certain.

my mare looks at food and plumps up So I feed her 1.5% and she does great on that. I just got a shetland for the kids, he will probably be an easy keeper too ...I will keep an eye on their body condition this winter. my pasture (4 acres) is enough for the 2.
I think I will stock up around 85 bales and then if I start to get low, supplement some complete feed and stretch the hay.

thanks for the replies.

[Bandit]

Beet Pulp is another good hay stretcher - you can supplement up to 40% of their fiber needs with beet pulp, without the higher sugar that is in a lot of the complete feeds.