I am buying hay for the first time. There is a farm right down that road that has two hay options. One 60% bluegrass, 30% timothy, and 10% orchard grass mix and one full orchard grass. There is also a third option from a different farm that is an orchard bluegrass mix. I have attached the three reports. Would you be swayed on way or the other by looking a these reports? Is there anything that stand out about any of these?
For reference I have a 6yo TB, I would not label him as a particularly hard or easy keeper. I am wanting low sugar has which all of these are low NSC options.
If it was me and all 3 met your low sugar needs I would go with the Bluegrass/ Timothy/ Orchard Grass mix. No particular reason except I think it had the highest protein % and my own variety of animals love a mix of grasses. My horses eat everything in sight though.
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What feed/balancer are you feeding? That will determine which is best.
A and B have a low Ca:P ratio, and not enough Ca for an average horse eating 2% of his weight, but probably taken care of with a fortified concentrate
910 cal/lb may be too much for an easier keeper, but if you’re feeding 6lb+ of a feed now, it might allow you to feed a ration balancer instead
C has plenty of Ca, and a good Ca:P ratio, the DE is also on the higher side. It’s the only one with the trace minerals, which are typically low in Cu and Zn (and A and B are also very likely low as well), but nothing a quality fortified feed can’t fix. You MAY need to add additional cu/zn if you find you have coat/skin/hoof issues, but it’s not a given.
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He is on TC 30% balancer with ~1lb of alfalfa pellets. Thank you, all good things I will look more into and compare with our balancer!
TC has a higher amount of cu and zn than many balancers, ,so you’re covered there, and don’t need extra unless the horse says you do. Offhand, I think it will also cover the bases for Ca and P , for hays A and B, when fed at the proper rate for his weight, and certainly if you feed at the higher end amount
