Fescue Hay and Field Grass

[sparklingjewelacres]

I have been thinking that taking our mini's off the field and dry lot feeding them was actually keeping them fescue free. We have been giving them Orchard grass hay. One of the horses looks to be about 9 months pregnant. Our field grass is wild and is really not growing more than 2 inches at this time. When I read about the endophyte fungus.. I tho't it grew even in the grass blade. Now I am reading that it grows only in the bud of the tall fescue grass. I was hoping that taking them off the field and giving them dry grass would be best for them at this time. Now I am worrying that there could be 'tall' Fescue budded grasses in the Orchard grass blend. So much to learn about this. Please share some of your knowledge if you can about the 'tall fescue' vs. short little fescue in a grass field area. I have no clue if we even have fescue but assumed we did.

 

[sparklingjewelacres]

My husband & I are having quite a time. Just before Christmas in Dec. he had an accident... fell off roof and broke arm badly.. then on to hospital to discover a possible serious heart condition. I just got out of hospital stay of 3 days for a possible heart attack. We are both or (were both in excellent health) I passed every test the hospital put me through and am thinking now that I had a weird allergic reaction to some type of fruit tea I had drank making my troponin levels elevated. Neither of us drink, smoke and were not on any medications.

We are now progressing on to help take care of our little pregnant mini and get her all settled for a delivery in the near future. I have a fear of the fescue issue and need help figuring out just what part of this plant has the fungus? I was hoping we have been buying the right grass for this little mare. I also have her on a small amount of supplement (Mare plus) with Purina Mini Horse feed. We just discovered a few weeks ago that she was pregnant.

 

[sparklingjewelacres]

I have been unable to walk her this week at all and would love to put her down the field a few hours of a day but am worried about 'fescue'. She's a little put out at us for not having a more acceptable area to exercise as I think she has been used to a more pampered or free life.

 

[AnnaC]

I'm sorry to hear that you have been unwell - and I hope your hubby will soon recover from his problems. Would it be possible for you to get an agricultural grass survey on your land? It would make it so much easier for you if you could graze your little girl - good for her too, plus the extra exercise that she would be able to take while you are both recovering.

Luckily we dont have fescue problems here in the UK so I'm not much help, but just wanted to wish you good luck!

 

[sparklingjewelacres]

Awe.. thanks.. I see horses all around us grazing all the time. Healthy ones and unhealthy ones also. I just wanting to know if anyone knows if it is in the blade or the bud of fescue or in both. I am starting to wonder if it isnt even in the dry hay I'm feeding and am getting all worried perhaps for nothing.

 

[Charlotte]

I can't tell you what part of the fescue grass contains the most endophyte, but in your situation I would remove the mare from all locally grown grass & hay until I could have it analyzed or have the local extension agent evaluate the pasture and hay. I would buy some form of the packaged hay that can be found in feed stores and Tractor Supply and such. Standlee offers a wide variety of hay products from compressed bales of alfalfa to timothy and cubes and other hays...all fescue free. There are other companies which do the same. I didn't see what area of the country you are in.

Because of the dangers of fescue for pregnant mares it's just not worth it to leave her on pasture or hay which might be contaminated.

 

[sparklingjewelacres]

Thank you. We have her completely off of all grass. We are from Northern CA. We have also been giving her a bit of oat hay and an orchard grass hay which I presume is fescue free since it is for horses but I will check into that as well. It has been hard to find information about the fescue being tall or short but she is in a NO pasture area right now and has been for over the past month.

 

[paintponylvr]

I think I've read your other two posts (not sure if you have more?). I loved the pics of your mares - pretty, pretty! You and your hubby looked great in your pic during Christmas and I'm very happy to hear that you two are on the mend. Our own health is sometimes a scary thing...

Where do you live? Is it a typical grass for yards (I'm assuming that's what you are talking about -as I haven't seen anything stating you had actual pasture)? Regardless of what you have - you should be able to take samples of it to your local county extension service and have it either looked at or tested to see what it is.

Here is one of the links I found on Fescue - seems pretty informative. Lists types of seeds available - some of which are sold as yard grass seed here in our area (but also listed as a type that wouldn't grow in pastures - I'm assuming because yards are cared for differently than pasture). Shows a number of pictures as well. http://www.fescue.com/pasture/index.html

I have purchased fescue hay here locally (50 miles south of where I am now) a number of times. LOVE IT! It's pretty, smells great and the horses and ponies go CRAZY over it. The prices were "right", didn't produce the same sensitive reactions for me that alfalfa does. Ponies that needed weight - put it on virtually overnight. I just made sure to not feed it to broodmares that were 90 days out from having their foals. The hay suppliers I purchase hay from now - plant their own. They tell me what they've planted and baled for hay. I'm given choices now that I didn't have a few years ago before they branched out into different hays. Fescue isn't one that they do.

I know that having soil samples tested here in NC are free - they provide the containers and the instructions on how & where to collect it from.

I've had hay that I've purchased and questioned, tested for the cost of $10 and got email & hardcopy copies of the results. I was able to send it on to our vet - I know we were both VERY surprised how little protein their was in my suppliers' coastal round bales of hay. One tested at 6.7 % protein (several bales combined), another at 8.9 % - again several bales tested together in one "core" (typically the levels are from 12 - 16% according to literature). This was from different cuttings and maybe different fields (from my supplier) - but I wasn't able to answer those questions definitively. I didn't tell him we were getting it tested - I was looking for answers why some of my yearlings were getting severe diarrhea every fall/winter - mostly the colts but sometimes some of the "girls" in the next pasture,too. We never did really figure that out - but this fall/winter so far - only one boy and we had a "lite" crop of acorns in the field that he's in. We think they may have been eating the acorns - even the vet is at a loss on this one...

I couldn't tell from your pictures (not close up enough for me) what type of pasture cover you have.

 

[sparklingjewelacres]

Paintponylover (Paula)

Thank you so much for the very informative information. That link is very informative and helpful. I am going to ask around about taking in some samples. Our acres are actually not pasture. I guess the correct term would be more... 'wild grass' as it is not irrigated and is completely dried out in the summer time. There are people all around us who are raising horses on this same grass. There are many vets all around us. Not very many people seem to be worried about the fescue at all here but .. with so many horse people around me.. I am still going to investigate more about this field grass and how people are feeding their pregnant mares around here. I know that our hill acres have not been planted. We seeded a small area with a 'horse pasture mix that included Timothy and Orchard grass blends. I am hoping that will start up and grow at least an acres worth.

Oh and I do have a start on Jewel for her foaling. I am hoping to get some more pictures on her and info next week and after we get the vet involved in vaccinations for her.

Thanks so much for this.. It has given me a lot to work with to know what kind of grass we have growing.

 

[sparklingjewelacres]

We live in Northern California in a Non irrigated area of oaks, hills and dry summer grass. Below us in the valley all surrounding our small hill acres are irrigated pasture lands.

 

[SugaryCharm]

I am in a similar situation right now with a late-term pregnant mare. As has been stated, your local extension office should be able to help identify what you have. My mare is restricted to grazing the yard (at least it is a large yard) until she foals, as I think some of our "native" pasture may be fescue.

Also, I have learned the hard way that just because a hay seller markets something as "for horses" does not mean that it is healthy, safe, or of acceptable quality for equines.

Late summer I was desperate for some hay and paid handsomely for what the seller claimed was "clean bermuda/bluestem mix for horses" in net-wrapped round bales. As it turns out, the hay was well past maturity,chock full of thigh-high weeds, and abnormally dirty/dusty. My mare would not touch it and I couldn't blame her. I am still trucking out the remainder of the first bale in wheelbarrow loads just to get it out of my barn. I guess the moral of that story is "trust, but verify."

 

[AngC]

I think you already have your answer, sparklingjewelacres, but I’ve been spending a lot of time reading about pasture and thought I would share in case someone’s interested. I’ve only been “doing” horses for a couple years, but I started with the mindset that if somebody slapped “horse” on the label the item was safe for horses. I’m becoming more and more cynical.

I have a mare for whom I have absolutely zero plans for future pregnancies. However, current endophyte studies seem to focus on mares/foals. What if they find further toxic effects in a few years? I don’t want that stuff in my pastures.

Identification:

UCDavis has some photos:

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/WEEDS/tall_fescue.html

The problem for me with identifying from online photos is that many of the grasses look similar to me. For example:

http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/A3637.pdf

Testing:

I’m not which labs even provide testing for consumers. For example, the Oregon State University lab mentions only registered commercial clients.

Auburn University tests plant tillers: $30

They also say: “Most labs will not test fescue hay due to erratic results.”

Here’s one that (I think) accepts samples from consumers; looks like it could get expensive:

http://tangentseedlab.com/tsli/pricelist2011web.pdf

The problem I see with testing (or county extension agent, which in my area they didn’t have a clue when I called) is that the one consensus I found is that the endophyte is only transmitted via seed. So I can identify and find that our grass is endophyte-free and then a neighboring field sets seed, it all blows into my pasture, and then who knows where I’m at.

Regarding Grazing of Lawns/Yards:

I’ve pondered our lawns/yard. Looks like lots of great grass there. The problem is I don’t know what the prior owner planted; heck, I don’t even remember what varieties I’ve planted. From what I’ve read, the endophyte symbiosis is great for the grass, providing resistance to insects and increased wear tolerance. That’s great for a golf course, since most golfers don’t eat grass. But since I don’t know whether I have endophyte-enhanced grass in my yard, I’d be afraid to let ours graze on the lawn.

 

[sparklingjewelacres]

Wow.. this was very interesting. There are so many people I need to talk with around in my area about their horses. We live in a very large area of horse ranchers, and hobby horse people. We all seem to have the same kind of grass from Cottonwood to Red bluff areas, and a lot of our hay comes out of Oregon or from High altitude areas. I am checking with a lot of people concerning this. Many dry lot feed their horses here.. but I have not found very many mini horse ranchers here. I am not thinking to give our horses alfalfa stemmy hay until I learn more.

Thanks for these sites. It was really what I was looking for and the people we buy our hay from are very good at bringing in quality 'Orchard' hay and will refund our money if we open a bad hay bale with dust or weeds. It really does look like straight Orchard grass when comparing to photos - clean, nice hay I am hoping because they have been eating that for about a month now.