Is 1st or 2nd cut hay better for mini's?

[Jens]

We just bought our hay for the winter and was told it was 1st cut. We bought it for $4 a bail and he sells 2nd cut for $5 a bail which was sold out. Is 2nd cut finer? Some of the hay we got was very coarse and I worry if the mini's will be okay eating it. What cut do you buy?

 

[chandab]

Sorry, I can't help you, we only get one cut of hay per year, its all dryland hay with a fairly short growing season.

The coarser hay, might not be as nutritious as finer hay, so you might have to add something to improve the quality of the horse's diet, be it hay cubes or a different grain (or any grain if you don't already feed any). And, if the hay seems too coarse, it might help to chop it, so the pieces are finer when the horses eat them (I've read that some use leaf/branch chipper/shredders to chop hay, if they don't have access to an actual bale processor). [For my tiny aged stallion, I get chopped hay from my neighbor that chops for the bulls and heifers, he loves it.]

 

[Minimor]

Here we generally feed first cut; second cut is usually straight alfalfa and is sometimes richer than some of our horses need. It isn't usually as plentiful and does cost more. In other areas it is a different situation, as in some places people get three cuttings of hay.

If we get coarse hay--and usually ours is a grass alfalfa mix, and the alfalfa is usual the coarse part--we tend to feed more. That way the horse's can sfill eat all they want without being forced to eat the coarse stems in order to fill up. They eat the finer parts and the leaves and can leave the stems.

If the hay is simply coarse grass then it doesn't work so well--we got a small load of very dry, coarse crested wheat one time. It was so overripe and dry it was all stalks, almost no leaves, and it wasn't fit for the Minis to eat. There were no good parts to pick out of it and the stems were very likely to cause impaction.

 

[Jean_B]

I have lived on a farm for 60 years. Grew up on a large, progressive dairy farm and for the last 45 years have had horses.

Depends on what type of grass / hay, and how "old" it is (i.e. how long it has been allowed to grow before cutting). No matter what type - younger is better, softer, more palatable. I do NOT feed straight alfalfa. I feel it is too hot for minis and many 'bigs'.

If it is orchard grass, a 2nd cutting is better, softer, better food value. Same with bermuda, which is what I'm feeding here. When I lived up north, I was not able to find straight grass hay - but I did find some EXCELLENT 2nd crop that was 75% orchard and 25% alfalfa. It was cut young and was like candy....lots of natural sugars, plenty of protein without being too high, and good digestable roughage. Depending on your area of the country, some grasses come in well for first crop, but many are better as a 2nd crop.

And no matter what - it has to smell good. If it smells like bad pipe tobacco or you get a nose full of musty dust - RUN AWAY.

If you are feeding alfalfa and it has been allowed to go to flower - you are wasting your money. Way too stemmy and hard for digestion and there will be lots of waste.

 

[Jill]

We use mostly orchard grass for our hay and we prefer 2nd cutting but will also use 1st and 3rd at times. We use a lot of pellets, though, as our foundation.

 

[Sandee]

I prefer brome grass hay over timothy. Brome is usually softer. I usually get 2nd cutting as it is not so stemy and coarse. It has some alfalfa in it but not much. I'd prefer a cut with about 25% - 30% alfalfa. Ours was $4 a (35-40lb) square bale and that's if we go pick it up at the farmer's.

 

[Genie]

We have always fed first cut,which is a timothy alfalfa mix in our part of the country.

Yesterday we got one wagon load of second cut, which is not so coarse and a grassy mix with alfalfa.

I hope it's a good choice for our mares. I am thinking it's what I want for the bred mares.

I will report back next year

 

[Matt73]

1st cut is always coarser...with any type of hay. 2nd cut is the preference. 3rd is even softer, but will tend to be more rich...I'm getting 200 bales of awesome 3rd cut grass hay this week

 

[mydaddysjag]

First cut in my area is garbage. Its way too coarse, like straw (sometimes you can barely tell the difference) and its almost always full of weeds when you get it, no matter where you find it. Its also usually pretty crappy nutrition wise. I feed second cutting, and I would feed soaked cubes before I ever fed the first cutting we have out here. Our first cutting is what most people use as cow hay, or mulch hay. The way I see it is for their body size, minis really dont eat that much hay. What they do eat needs to contain a lot of nutrtition. I have horses on a small grass pasture through the day, and Im feeding third cutting (from last season) straight alfalfa. So, right now the forage portion of their diet is alfalfa hay, and grass pasture. I try to aid for 50/50 on the alfalfa with grass. Normally I buy half alfalfa hay, then either half timothy or half orchard grass. People around me selling alfalfa mix hay usually want to charge more than straight alfalfa, an it might be 10% alfalfa. Yea, I just mix it myself to know what they are getting.

 

[mdegner]

We prefer 3rd cutting on our hay which is an orchard, timothy, alfalfa, some prairie grass mix but will use the 2nd cutting for the horses. Just seems to be less stemmy and fluffier and even in Feb, after several weeks of very cold, bitter Minnesota winter weather, will still be green and fresh inside the bale. Our horses keep a nice winter weight with minimal hay belly. We are lucky to have very nice grasses and hay up here.

 

[Margot]

We make our own hay which is mostly mixed grasses, Timothy and orchard grass and mostly feed first to the horses as we have found too much second gives them diarrhea. We do feed a little to mares and foals and the boer goats. We are selling second cutting for $5 a bale, it is very labor intensive since you get so much less second cutting than first but you still have to cover the same amount of ground with the equipment.

 

[Jens]

Is there any way to tell what type of hay I have? I guess I should ask the guy who I bought it from, but he's very hard to get in touch with! I think next year I'll go with 2nd cut. Some of the bales I have are like straw. Maybe I'll just use them on my strawberry plants.

 

[Jean_B]

Check with your local county extension agent. They should be able to tell you what it is. Might require you take a flake or two to their office but they won't charge anything. Or you could take a couple of pieces to a feed store that has some knowledgeable people. Don't bother with the big chain feed stores, but the local mom/pop feed store should have a wealth of knowlege there.

 

[funnyfarmnorth]

If you feed Blue Seal feed(common in New England), they have a rep. that will come out and test your hay and recommend which grain to use for your needs. They do it once a year for free. Rep in Maine is awesome and very knowledgeable...

 

[Jens]

Thaks everyone for your input!

 

[MountainWoman]

I'm in Vermont and I use both first and second cut. First for the beginning of winter and second cut when winter settles in and we are routinely below zero. You shouldn't have any problem finding top quality hay in Vermont this year. We've had a great haying season. And I think Vermont produces some of the finest, tastiest hay in the country.