Hay!

[O So]

Last Sunday I was really excited about being able to go get hay for my guy's! Reason why is because I finally have a truck that I can haul it in now!!!

Anyway, I was pretty much out of their hay when I went. I had maybe a feeding or 2 left. I get to the feed store, see that they are low on my hay, but had about 10 or so bales left. So I went in and the guy told me he couldn't sell it to me. He was completely out of it. I was really shocked because I had seen some on the way in. Well, I guess that stuff is all moldy. I asked when he was expecting some more and he didn't know. Something about his supplier is out or something. I asked what was similar to it and he said a few different hays, but I already have some of that at home that I don't really feed much of to the guy's. I usually string some of it out in the yards to give them a grazing atmosphere, but not to often. So I decided to forgo buying any of that hay. I decided to try to find a feed store that had the stuff I was buying, Orchard Grass Hay.

I call the nearest feed store to the one I normally go to and they said they didn't have Orchard Grass Hay, but had a hay that was 70/30 grass/alfalfa. That is what my Orchard hay was supposed to be so I went down there to buy some. I was amazed at the difference. It is really green and a lot looser then the hay I had been buying. It smells really good too, almost good enough to eat yourself! LOL It's a lot lighter too. The stems seem to be softer and not many hard stems at all.

Here is a pic of the old hay. It's kind of hard to really see, but you can kind of tell it is pretty course. This was all I had left and it is in a hay net. I will have to empty it because they don't touch it.

This is the new hay,

I have only been feeding it to them for a few days now but it seems like there is less waste. In fact, there is still waste in the bottom of the feeders from their old hay. They basically just ate the alfalfa and softer stems out of the old stuff and left all the rest. I would just throw the waste out in the yard. They would eventually munch on it, but most the time it just gets pushed into the ground.

I think I will start feeding this new stuff from now on. It is a bit more expensive, but they seem to like it better.

 

[Matt73]

Wow! That's great looking hay. The other, ahem, stuff you were getting almost looks like straw

you must be so happy

 

[O So]

Wow! That's great looking hay. The other, ahem, stuff you were getting almost looks like straw

you must be so happy

Yah, I am very happy. I thought the other stuff was pretty good, for the most part. You could see alfalfa in it, (not so well in the picture, they already got all the good stuff out of it) but there was a lot of the hard stems too. It was really hard to pull apart too.

This new stuff is like night and day to the old stuff!

 

[Katiean]

To me the stuff you regularly feed is what I call "COW HAY". That is what I ended up with this time. I did not know that they had a different hay this time as the hay is in a locked yard that you do not walk past on the way in. I really like the other grass hay as that is what I have been getting. I guess I will just have to go to my regular Hay Guy on Friday. I like to get the hay for the month all at once. However, with this crummy weather we have been having, I have had to go to the feed store. It is cheaper to go to the Hay Yard myself. Since you now have a truck why not try going to the hay yard. When I go to the hay yard it is cheaper and I do not have pay tax on the hay. I think it is running about $11-$12 a bale at the hay yard and about $14 a bale + tax at the feed store. I feed about 4-5 bales a month. I save almost enough each month to buy an extra bale of hay for back up and I get better quality.

 

[O So]

To me the stuff you regularly feed is what I call "COW HAY". That is what I ended up with this time. I did not know that they had a different hay this time as the hay is in a locked yard that you do not walk past on the way in. I really like the other grass hay as that is what I have been getting. I guess I will just have to go to my regular Hay Guy on Friday. I like to get the hay for the month all at once. However, with this crummy weather we have been having, I have had to go to the feed store. It is cheaper to go to the Hay Yard myself. Since you now have a truck why not try going to the hay yard. When I go to the hay yard it is cheaper and I do not have pay tax on the hay. I think it is running about $11-$12 a bale at the hay yard and about $14 a bale + tax at the feed store. I feed about 4-5 bales a month. I save almost enough each month to buy an extra bale of hay for back up and I get better quality.

My regular feed store always asked if it was for a horse or for cattle. I always wondered if the guy's that loaded it, were loading the right stuff. Then I had the one worker that I trusted, come out and talk to me about it and she confirmed that was the stuff for horses.

Truthfully, I don't know where the hay yard is. I know the people at the new feed store I am now going to said their hay comes from someplace call Tully Lake. Something like that. They made it sound like this was a great place for growing hay.

With only two horses I didn't think it was good to get a bunch at one time. I was thinking by buying it a bale at a time, I would pretty much get fresh hay when I went and bought another bale. Since I ran out and got into a pinch with barely enough hay, I decided buy 2 bales. When one runs out, I will go buy another bale, so on and so on. That way I will always have one bale on hand.

 

[Matt73]

A bale at a time!? lol. Wow! I have two and I have 200 bales (out of 400 bales that I bought mid 2009). It's still pretty good (looks a lot better than the first pic you have up there). Why don't you think about getting for the year? A lot less hassle.. Good hay can last 2+ years out of the sun, in a dry area (a loft).

 

[chandab]

The hay is all pretty much the same age (same freshness) at this time of year, it was all grown last summer, so as long as you have a place to store it, getting more at a time shouldn't be a problem as far as freshness goes.

I want your new hay, that is great looking hay.

 

[Riverdance]

I buy from my farmer and he holds about 1400 bales for me each year. Plus he delivers round bails for me during the winter months.

The hay you were feeding your horse looked old and poor quality. Probably very little nutrients in it too. My guess is that it was also first cutting. It gets less stemy with 2nd and 3rd cutting. I usually get 3rd cutting. It is really nice green hay and always looks like your picture of the better hay. It is worth the extra money to buy the better hay.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Wow, that first hay looks like crap!

So glad you found the second stuff as it probably tastes much better, is easier to digest and has more nutrients.

 

[wcr]

Kim-You live in a hay growing region and should have your pick of premium hay of several different varieties. Hay is cut around the same time of year for each cutting. First cutting hay is stemmy and not worth the money, which as mentioned, was probably what you had in the first pic. 2nd cutting alfalfa is probably the last cutting you want as 3rd and 4th cutting is too hot for minis. You will see 3rd and 4th cutting where you live and it looks beautiful, fine stemmed, green, leafy.

You will pay more money by buying from a feed store and you should be able to find a grower and I bet they could give you a lesson on hay. You need to educate yourself on hay so spend the time looking at lots of hay and talking to the growers. I try to buy enough hay through the winter to get to 2nd cutting alfalfa. I do like the alfalfa/orchard grass mix as they eat it slower and the combined nutrient of the 2 grasses is probably a little closer to a natural grazing scenario than just a single grass. I believe in the old "keep it simple stupid" adage when it comes to feeding. Start with good quality hay and you don't have to feed all the expensive supplements they tempt horse owners to buy. We could end up with a spicy little conversation just on feeding horses as everyone has differing opinions. I have raised and shown halter horses just about all my life and I know what works for me and gives me the look I like. That is part of the educating yourself on hay also.

 

[wingnut]

When we first got our girls in 2009, we bought hay from a life-long friend of my husband's. It was good hay, but it was a mix of timothy and orchard grass. He has a big clientel (sp?) of biggie horse owners. My girls would eat it well enough, but we had a lot of waste chaff. Last summer when it was time to start thinking about getting hay again, I started thinking I wanted to do something different. Especially for my hard keeper. So, I eventually found another local supplier who had the most beautiful alfalfa/orchard grass mix hay I've ever seen. The comparison between the two hay sources was night and day. Again, the other hay was fine, just not a good option for miniatures is what I've sinced learn (too much "stem").

I was nearly broken hearted in January when I called my new supplier and learned he had no more hay to sell me (he had to keep what he had for his beef cattle). He did give me another name and that's what we've been using since. It's not as nice as #2 but it's better than our original supplier.

I'm considering contacting my #2 supplier and asking him to reserve 200 bales for me from his summer supply this year. The problem is I don't have anywhere to store more than 30 bales at a time, so if we did this it would be predicated on him storing the bulk of the hay for me. I think he'd do it but my husband is not so sure that *he* likes the idea. Ultimately though, it's my decision.

Congrats on finding another, better source of hay. Sometimes you just don't know until you know!

 

[RhineStone]

I find it interesting that in some areas the local feed store carries hay! That is very foreign to me. I don't know of a feed store that carries hay here, and I bet if they did, it would be really expensive and catering to people who don't know any better or they only need a bale or two for rabbits.

We get 3rd crop alfalfa/grass mix. It is cut about August here, and we put up about 1000 40 lb. bales in our loft for 5 minis and 2 big horses. We don't have a year-round growing season, so we have to put up hay just during the summer. Actually, hay for horses should be "cured" for a while and really shouldn't be fed "fresh". It can cause diarrhea....but we are feeding what is called "cow hay" around here...very good quality dairy hay. Lesser quality hays can be feed to feeder cattle, but I don't think the feeder cattle around here would eat the hay in the 1st photo!

Hay should be green, dust-free, and smell good. A good place to start for hay education is your local University Extension office. The Agriculture Agent can help you understand what the difference is between good quality hay and poor hay.

You also need to buy hay by the pound and not by the bale. Bales can be 40 lbs. or 100 lbs. Or you need to at least understand what the going rate is. There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there that will take advantage of uneducated people, especially ones with a "pet" instead of true production animals. Around here where hay is fairly plentiful on a good year, the going rate is about $2-3 for a 40-50 lb. bale. I know that in other areas where hay is harder to get, it can be over $10/bale. Obviously, there are quantity discounts, and the more that hay has to be "handled", the higher the price because then there are personnel costs. We get ours straight off the bale rack (wagon) and unload it ourselves into our loft. Now, we have to be "available" when the hay is ready, so that we can get the bale rack back to the grower to make more hay.

 

[Thinking small]

YOu get hay at a feed store? that's different. Only things our feed stores carry here are grains, blocks, supplements etc . My hay i get from a local farmer.

 

[Thinking small]

A bale at a time!? lol. Wow! I have two and I have 200 bales (out of 400 bales that I bought mid 2009). It's still pretty good (looks a lot better than the first pic you have up there). Why don't you think about getting for the year? A lot less hassle.. Good hay can last 2+ years out of the sun, in a dry area (a loft).

I was going to say the same, a bale at a time? and here i thought our 10 bale load the other week was small

.. we stocked up last fall with over 50.. (all that we can store indoors) and we're almost out, hence the small 10 bale load to top us back up.

 

[CKC]

Most of our local feed stores sell hay. One of them sells compressed Colorado Timothy bales(gorgeous hay... but very expensive). I buy mine from a farm that used to sell to one of those feed stores.

We were able to get 3rd cutting orchard grass this year. That is really nice hay.

Kim

 

[hobbyhorse23]

To me the stuff you regularly feed is what I call "COW HAY".

This may be part of why you have such a problem with O So's belly! That is AWFUL hay.

Grass hay in Washington is pretty good but the grass hay I've seen in California I wouldn't bed a stall with. Yuck!

I find it interesting that in some areas the local feed store carries hay! That is very foreign to me. I don't know of a feed store that carries hay here, and I bet if they did, it would be really expensive and catering to people who don't know any better or they only need a bale or two for rabbits.

My first reaction to this was "Where else would you go to buy hay?"

I live about an hour north of Seattle and around here you have to drive for two or three hours to see even a small hay field. (There's plenty of fields, but they're all wetlands!) If you want anything at all decent you have to go to the feed store and pick up the stuff from the much drier and more rural Eastern Washington.

You also need to buy hay by the pound and not by the bale. Bales can be 40 lbs. or 100 lbs. Or you need to at least understand what the going rate is. ... Around here where hay is fairly plentiful on a good year, the going rate is about $2-3 for a 40-50 lb. bale. I know that in other areas where hay is harder to get, it can be over $10/bale. Obviously, there are quantity discounts, and the more that hay has to be "handled", the higher the price because then there are personnel costs.

OMG. $2-3 a bale? Try $15-20 a bale regardless of weight!

It has to be grown in Eastern WA, purchased, shipped over here, distributed, stocked, and sold again to the customer. There is no way I could afford to own a full-sized horse again, living where I live. Not and show the minis! Maybe this explains why some people can afford to have so many horses; I never could figure out where they got the money but it sounds like things are a lot cheaper in other parts of the country. Here keeping them fed year around is a budget-breaker all by itself.

Leia

 

[RhineStone]

I never could figure out where they got the money but it sounds like things are a lot cheaper in other parts of the country. Here keeping them fed year around is a budget-breaker all by itself.

We may still have a foot of snow on the ground, but I guess at least we have "cheap", good quality feed!

There are still too many people here that think they can keep a horse, but can't really afford it, and the horse is the one that suffers....

It seems that the minis are unfortunately more prone to this, as they can go for $25-100 at local auctions (one reason I am pretty sour on people who randomly breed minis with no purpose for the horse in mind other than to sell it. CUT THE STUDS!). It's too bad that they don't come with an Owner's Manual and a cost projection. It's amazing what a little education can do.

 

[Relic]

l agree crappy hay like the first pix can make for some rough looking bellies..been there done that know better now.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Feed stores here usually sell square bales of hay. In most cases it's not very good quality; I wouldn't feed most of it. It runs around $6 per 40-50lb bale. One high-end feed store (Buckeye products only) brings in timothy/orchard (I thinkl; that's what it looks like) from Wyoming or Colorado and they charge $14 per 40lb bale. They also supply the major equine hospital around here their feed and hay which is another reason why the hospital is so darn expensive imo.

That one high-end store ran out of hay 3 years ago and bought 1000 bales from my supplier. Different field, but same general mix. At the time I was paying $3 for my bales from him. The same stuff at the feed store was $9!

As others have said, learning about hay is vital and also very interesting. I had mine tested once when Cappy and Puddin were both losing weight and it was interesting. My hay was fine (average to above average nutritionally, average on digestability), but it was really a great learning process.

On a side note, I have horse that can't eat alfalfa. I buy chopped alfalfa for Puddin and once Wiz got some of it. His tummy was upset for two days! No more alfalfa for him. Strictly an orchard/brome/timothy guy.

 

[chandab]

I find it interesting that in some areas the local feed store carries hay! That is very foreign to me. I don't know of a feed store that carries hay here, and I bet if they did, it would be really expensive and catering to people who don't know any better or they only need a bale or two for rabbits.

Feed stores don't sell hay around here either; you either have to grow your own or find someone that sells hay, and its usually all by the ton, not by the bale. The hay I buy costs me around $100/ton for 70# bales of grass or grass/alfalfa mix. Most of our grass is either crested wheatgrass or brome.

Speaking of feed store, we don't even have a "real" feed store, the local elevator has a small selection of horse feed, grain and cattle supplement. And, in another town, the vet clinic carries limited Purina. Otherwise, the closest "feed store" would be 150 miles one-way and in another state. [i order my feed from 300 miles away, the company does monthly delivery to our area, so I just order a month supply at a time. I supplement my main feed with what's available locally, which isn't much.]