# Fescue Hay



## TN Belle (Apr 20, 2006)

My horse and donkey are currently eating an orchard / timothy grass mix of hay, but I have found a new grower who has fescue / orchard grass a little cheaper and closer. I seem to think fescue was tricky, like alfalfa. Can someone shed some light on this mix for me. Both are geldings and are fun show backyard pets.


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## chandab (Apr 20, 2006)

I'm sure someone will come along and correct me if I'm wrong, but... I'm pretty sure Fescue is only a problem for breeding mares, it'll cause problems in the pregnancy and with lactation. As you have geldings, as long as the hay is nice and clean; you shouldn't have any problems with it.


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## Marty (Apr 20, 2006)

Hey Misty HI!!!!!!

I pay $4.00 a bail for orchard grass with absolutely NO fescue in it guaranteed for my bred mares. But I'd like to go cheaper too and buy fescue if I can until winter. That's when they really need that extra protein of orchard grass and can't have fescue at all by then. Problem is they are not going to like it and they'll probably poop in it after being "spoiled" on this stuff so I won't try that and waste my time.

There's not a thing wrong with fescue unless you are feeding a bred mare which Twix ain't so you're ok. It's basically filler I suppose you can say. My string of quarter horses lived on it for a while and did ok but not great and so did the minis. It's going to be low on the protein scale though if that's ok with you.

But that being said: there is going to be much comparison in feeding orchard grass vs fescue. Orchard grass is just a much better hay that is very palatable with a higher protein content that you would probably need for Twix who works. I know when I quit fescue and went to orchard grass there was no waste at all.

Why don't you just get a couple of bails and see what you and they think before you try to stock up on it?

I heard some farmers already did their first cutting around here so just watch out because the first cutting of anything is usually just so full of junky stuff.

Hey stop by and see the minis and the new barn. I promise I'll tie up the boys or send them to town!


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## schutzandwhinnies (Apr 21, 2006)

Wow 4.00 a bale for orchard :new_shocked: You are lucky. Everyone ran out of orchard over here and it has been hard to find. Stroh's finally got some in and I had to pay 10.75 a bale and that was the ton price, otherwise it was almost 14.00 bale. 4 bucks that is a very good price.




: I agree about the fescue as I drilled my vet with questions about it and he said it's only an issue with the mares in foal. He said if you are worried you can send a sample into a university for testing to see if your hay has the fungus that fescue grasses fall victim to. (which is what is bad for the mares in foal) I asked around to the local hay folks and none of them would give me a garantee that there was no fescue, so I bought ours at Stroh's and paid the big bucks. Anything for little Miss Barbie :bgrin She has her owners on a short leash! She is at 340 days tomorrow and still no baby



: Good luck with finding your hay and I will look to see if I can find the website someone sent me on hay sellers in the US.

Found it:

http://www.hayexchange.com/index.html


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## Robin_C (Apr 21, 2006)

Unfortunately, as I have found out the hard way, there is another risk factor aside from the well known problems for late gestation mares with regard to endophyte-infected fescue hay -- laminitis. The ergot produced by the fungus which infects almost all fescue hay causes vasoconstriction which, in a sensitive horse, can lead to restriction of blood flow to the extremities with resultant laminitis.

Normally I feed a locally grown coastal hay hybrid (Tifton 44) all year long and hand-mix in alfalfa to make my own version of "T&A". However, all sources for coastal or Tifton dried up here in Florida about midwinter and I was forced to purchase bales of mixed grass/alfalfa. They call it "Timothy/alfalfa" but believe me when I say that I was NEVER able to purchase a bale of hay (at $11-$15 for a 60-80 lb bale BTW) which was pure timothy and alfalfa. You virtually have to take what you can get in FLorida in the winter or your horses go hungry (or you travel a hundred miles or more to a hay exchange). In other words there was a variety of grasses in the hays including orchard and meadow grasses of unknown type (to me at least) and most likely fescue which is notoriously difficult to recognize once it is dried as "hay". I only purchase 4-6 bales of hay at a time due to storage issues, so the batches are constantly changing in type with each purchase twice per week.

Fed these mixed grass/alfalfa hays all winter to 25 horses, including my 3 pregnant mares who were due in late April. Instead I had one older mare foal at 299 days (a strong filly who had no problems), another mare foal shortly thereafter at 302 days (weak colt, aspiration pneumonia, lax tendons, quite dysmature, but improving) and the mare subsequently is going through a severe laminitis episode postdelivery. The last mare is 320 days today and has absolutely NO milk whatsoever (and is not a maiden). I have never had these types of problems before and I have some serious suspicions re: the presence of fescue in these mixed grass hays I've been purchasing.

There is a good article on fescue hay in this month's issue of "The Horse" magazine and some additional research on my part has turned up lots of information about fescue which goes beyond the "it only affects broodmares when fed in the latter stages of their pregnancy". It can cause abortion/miscarriage, dysmature foals, higher incidence of retained placenta, thickened sacs, in addition to the well known problem of no milk production.

Unfortunately the growth of fescue in southern and southeastern pasture and hay fields is widespread and therefore it's hard to avoid being exposed to it, so one can only take precautions as practical. In other words, everyone who lives in Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina can't just plow up their pastures and turn acres and acres of land into dry lots because they have fescue growing on their properties! And, since fescue is so hard to recognize in baled hay, it would be next to impossible for the average person to screen every bale of hay they purchase. So -- oh woe is me!!! Then again, I have 24 horses who have NOT foundered on this hay and only 1 who has, but that one makes me very, very sad to see her in so much pain. And I will admit that her laminitis episode could be contributed to by a number of factors -- the stress of delivery (though it was an easy, uncomplicated birth of a small foal), unknown sugar content of the extra hay I give all of my broodmares while they are late pregnancy/early nursing stage, etc., etc. No one can ever pin down a single causative factor in a laminitis episode, but I HIGHLY suspect fescue is a factor in this case as well as the mare with no milk. As a consequence, we are starting domperidone on this mare immediately as it has been shown that giving mares domperidone as early as possible BEFORE their "due date" greatly reduces and neutralizes the problems associated with having eaten endophyte-infected fescue hay.

So, bottom line is, that while it is true that the majority of average horses, excluding late pregnant mares, will do and routinely do just fine on hay or pasture containing fescue, there are those horses who will be at risk for additional problems like laminitis. If you have a horse who has had laminitis in the past, or is at risk for laminitis, I would NOT take the chance of exposing them to any fescue hay in any form. I know next year I will be stockpiling my locally grown hay into a storage trailer over the summer when it is abundant, so that I have enough hay to see me through the winter. No more mixed grass hay for me unless it is certified fescue-free.

Robin C


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## Sunraye Miniatures (Apr 21, 2006)

Can you try to find just plain orchard grass hay? It would be cheaper than the mixes. I try to avoid giving fescue on my place anyways.


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## Marty (Apr 21, 2006)

AW Robin what a mess. Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble.

I also went through the lax tendon thing with Timmy but it didn't last long and he popped right on up quickly and was fine. Knight Star was down just a touch on one back foot and is already up on it. Boggles the mind when I was especially chucking the Purina 12 12 to his mama and was being sure I covered all my bases. I was thinking going on Purina's Born to Win next season.

When I was down there we used to make a trip to Kentucky to my Jerry's brother's TB farm and we were able to stock up some serious nice hay for winter. We did have a full loft for storage and then Jerry built a building for it too. It was worth it. Heck I was paying $8 to $9 a bail for T & A out of Canada and that was for BIG HORSES! OUCH!!!!!! THAT HURT!!!!!!!

You should plan on coming up these parts this summer to do the same thing.

I can fix you up with orchard grass that is tested fescue free and the grower guarantees it and also stocks vet hospitals and many farms in GA and Fla. He's right down the road from me so great excuse to come on over and play! The early bird catches the worm. I stocked over 250 bails and was OUT by February and I'm stuck with his "left overs " from his 4th cutting. His 1st and 4th cuttings however are nasty and terribly stemmy so I always stock my winter hay with 2nd and 3rd cutting. By August I am fully stocked for winter. You got to get while the getting's good so come north for your hay this year.


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## Becky (Apr 21, 2006)

Ditto everyting Robin C said! Fescue does more than just cause problems in late term broodmares! It is now thought to affect fertility in not only broodmares but stallions as well.

I buy grass hay from various sources here in Oklahoma. Normally my feed store, but they even purchase it from different suppliers. Here, the grass hays are bermuda or native prairie hay. And like Robin said, it would be virtually impossible to tell fescue in it once it is dry. As far as I know, my hay doesn't have fescue and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I continue to purchase hay that is fescue free. However, with the ongoing drought and hay being purchased from out of state, who knows what might be in the hay?

With all that is now known regarding fescue and the problems it causes, I would be hesitant to feed it to any horse.


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