So I’m in Florida right now and I’ve run into an unexpected problem; the hay is too nice. I am going to end up with the fattest horses on the planet if I feed them enough of this hay to keep them occupied. Up north I get cheap hay from a local farmer. Down here, that’s costal. I have never fed it, even when I lived full time in Florida, because of the horror stories of horses getting colic from it. But is it as worrisome if fed as a supplement to help with boredom? They would still get 16ish lbs of T/A a day along with it. Thoughts? Has anyone done this? Or does anyone know of some kinda crappy orchard or Timothy for sale in Ocala 
Tifton is less like to cause impaction colics than ‘coastal.’ My ponies wouldn’t touch teff and the last time I saw a bale in the store, it wasn’t even decent looking teff.
Farmer’s Direct has some kind of ‘mountain mix’ that might work for you. And I think The Hay Company has a budget mix. Green Gaits also sells analyzed hay, so you know exactly what you’re getting. They have a couple of choices.
If they aren’t used to coastal, I certainly wouldn’t give them that for sure.
What about a hay ball contraption? Or a net?
Some folks add straw to a horse’s rations when they get fat too easily on quality hay. They start by giving 1 flake of straw and removing 1 flake of hay for a week. Keep substituting 1 flake straw until you hit the right blend of hay to straw. Obviously you wouldn’t do this if your horse had known dental or digestive issues, but a top quality importer on the east coast I know used to do this. A slow feed hay net is another good option.
I saw some Teff at harvest feeds that looked good enough to be Timothy which is what got me thinking about it. Coastal always looks like straw to me. I’ll look at those options. Thanks!
I double bagged in small hole nets and they figured out how to shake the crap out of it to get their hay. They are too smart!
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Any chance you’ve got someone local who tests hay? My local place carries a low NSC low protein option. It isn’t exciting to think of paying more for “filler” hay but it’s amazing the nutritional difference of two visually identical bales.
Coastal is rarely recommended but so many horses have no issue on it. I would be less worried if feeding it mixed in with a coarser other hay option. How much are you wanting to supplement?
If your horses have any dental issues or scarf down hay, I wouldn’t feed coastal. It’s probably fine if just a very small percentage but not something I would feed large amounts of.
Try teff.
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Probably 5-10 pounds each; they already are getting about 16lbs per day. Usually they get 20 at home but I’d have to buy bigger girths if I do that much.
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Straw needs to be tested, it’s not inherently low calorie or low NSC.
5lb of Coastal in addition 15lb of the good stuff is probably fine, assuming it’s quality Coastal and not cut too late. The issues with the impaction are greatly mitigated the more non-Coastal forage there is. But as someone mentioned, if teeth are compromised, it’s generally too fine-bladed for that
Teff can be high octane as well, you have to test. Looks don’t tell you anything about calories or NSC
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Just here to add that looks don’t tell you anything about non digestable fiber. The problem with coastal is its non digestable fiber content no matter how nice it looks.
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I tried to tell someone that…
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I never had any problems with coastal in Florida, and still don’t in Georgia. Especially with them getting a more coarse hay too, to help keep things moving along.
