What kind of Hay to buy

[WeeOkie]

As you know, we Okies are in a severe drought and hay is in short supply. I have always used bermuda since that is what is grown here. Now I'm shopping online to find the hay I need. I'm looking for small squares now. I can get orchard grass from Indiana, timothy from Michigan, and brome from Kansas/Missouri. I just know nothing about any of them. If the price were the same, what kind would you prefer? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kaykay]

If you have pregnant mares be sure to ask if there is fescue hay mixed in. Most of the midwest is fescue/orchard grass unless you can get alfalfa. I know in Ohio alfalfa is very cheap right now as there is an abundance of it. Or I would at least go with alfalfa/grass mix. You should be able to find a Timothy/alfalfa mix

 

[Genie]

Timothy Alfalfa mix is what we use.

We often think of the folks suffering the drought and floods and how it must affect their lives

We detest the cold winters and having sort of Half/Half years, six months cool and six months hot, but we are blessed with good crops usually.

 

[2minis4us]

I feed Orchard Grass and Timothy. Like them both, and so does my mini. I am almost out of the Orchard Grass though and will just go with Timothy.

 

[cretahillsgal]

I would go with Orchard or the Timothy. Probably the Orchard first because I think it would be the closest to what my horses usually get here.

BTW, did you get my email yesterday?

 

[chandab]

Well, of those choices, the only I one I can get is Bromegrass, and my horses love it. When I lived where I could get timothy, they loved it. I'm not sure if I've ever fed Orchardgrass, but do know its good hay. [i have fed both Timothy grass pellets and Orchardgrass pellets, and the horses like both, can't remember which they may have preferred.]

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I live in SW Missouri and couldn't find anything over here in small squares. So I went to NE OK and got alfalfa/timothy squares, way over paid for it tho.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Rita, I've brought back timothy from our visits to NM for a couple of years. We did not go to NM this year (too hot and dry to leave our property unattended) so I got some brome from SD and my horses love it! They hardly leave a stem. Not sure of the nutrtional value between the two as I haven't researched it, but if you have a choice and all things being equal, you might try the brome.

 

[JAX]

Great question. I have been wondering the same thing...

 

[Loess Hills]

We feed a mixture of brome grass/alfalfa and it's a high quality hay we buy locally, although we have gotten some from Nebraska, and it's great.

 

We had a wet spring, and a good growing season "up north" so the hay is really good, although prices are going up! $3.00 for a small square bale, $6.00 for alfalfa. They are very dense, most weighing 40-50 lbs.

 

[WeeOkie]

We feed a mixture of brome grass/alfalfa and it's a high quality hay we buy locally, although we have gotten some from Nebraska, and it's great.

 

We had a wet spring, and a good growing season "up north" so the hay is really good, although prices are going up! $3.00 for a small square bale, $6.00 for alfalfa. They are very dense, most weighing 40-50 lbs.

My goodness, Rose, I sure haven't found anything at that price. Even if I had to pay just as much for shipping, it would still beat any price I've found.

 

[bevann]

Don't know anything about brome-we don't have it here in my area.I have fed straight timothy when I had to, but since it is a single cutting crop in my area many farmers let it get too tall and stemy in order to get more bales.My Minis wasted lots of it so I don't feed it unless there is nothing else.I have also fed orchard grass but that can cover a multitude of grass species and can include clover and other things.I have also fed straight alfalfa but that can also be stemmy.The nutrition is mostly in the leaves.I really prefer orchard grass if you are sure it is fescue free if you are feeding to broodmares.Had a friend who lost several foals due to fescue even after the seller assured her it was fescue free hay.Do you know anyone near the hay you want to buy who would check it out for you ?Good luck finding hay for your babies.There are web sites which will give you nutritional values of hay and feed.I use the one from Southern States.It is an southern based feed and co op company and I buy my feed from them good web site with lots of info.I have been to several of their equine seminars and hay seminars.

 

[mydaddysjag]

I feed timothy and alfalfa. My timothy bales are about 50lbs and run me $3 a bale for 2nd and 3rd cut. Its as soft as the grass in my yard and the horses love it. My alfalfa is also second and third cut, 70lb bales and $3.50 a bale. Wish you guys were closer, my hay guy has thpusands and thousands of bales put up

 

[Jean_B]

Having fed orchard grass before moving here to "bermuda country" - I'd say orchard grass would be the most similar...and it is a lot softer and more easily digested than timothy, with a higher food value - IF it is cut at the right time.

 

[wildoak]

We are having the same problems down here Rita. I've gotten timothy/orchard grass round bales from Virginia, bermuda round bales from Alabama/Florida area, and today picked up some alicia bermuda square bales from Mississippi. My neighbor has timothy/orchard grass square bales from somewhere out of state. What we are finding is that the bales are smaller than what we are used to - 30-40 pounds as opposed to the 50-70 pounders we usually get - and $10/12 a bale, double what we paid last year. My horses took a few days to adjust to the timothy, but they sure go after those round bales now. My only complaint is that it's pretty coarse & they are leaving a lot of stem on the ground.

So is there then a fescue risk with orchard grass? It's harder to know what you are getting when it's coming from all over the country and you don't know the growers.

Jan

 

[Marty]

Forage is the foundation of my feed program so I go with Orchard Grass. My horses love it, there is no waste and its fescue free unless otherwise stated by the maker. Last month I had to arrange for 600 bales to be shipped from here to Oklahoma for our CMHR horses being fostered there. If you would like that information feel free to contact me. I think we paid $3.25 for good size bales.

 

[WeeOkie]

Marty, I would love to have that information. The price sounds really good, if the shipping is not outrageous. You can email me direct [email protected] with the details, if you want. Is 600 bales a full load? I wish I could store that many, but I could probably share with others around me.

 

[wildoak]

I would be interested too, Marty. I am pretty well stocked up now for winter, but we don't know how long this drought will last or what will be available here for the foreseeable future.

Email is [email protected] Thanks

Jan

 

[Margot]

We make our own hay so we never buy any except bagged chopped hay for our show horses. Our hay is a mixture of timothy, orchard grass and a little clover. With all the rain this year our hay was late so it is not the highest in protein but the horses like it as it is pretty fine even though it is older. Horses do not need a hugh amount of protein anyhow so it suits us and is usually anywhere from $3-4 depending on bale size and if it is first cutting or second or third. I have found we have to feed our second cutting very sparingly as it makes their manure quite loose, we will probably not make any this year as the fields here are so wet it is hard to get on them to make hay.

 

[disneyhorse]

Nutritionally, Orchard and Timothy hays are both "cool weather grasses" so they are very very similar. I prefer Timothy if I can get it at a good price (it's more expensive than Orchard here).

If you can get a grass with a little alfalfa, that might be your best bet, since alfalfa is higher in protein, nutrients and calories and you can feed less of it. Or, add some alfalfa cubes/pellets to your grass hay to stretch it.

Andrea