My mare has PPID and is what we used to call a “good do-er”. She is presently on 24/7 turnout
and wears a grazing muzzle 16 hrs/day, weight is good. We are moving to a new city and I’ve found a great new barn. Unfortunately they only administer meds to stabled horse so she will be in a stall overnight. I want to limit the amount of excellent hay she gets to keep her weight down but I’m worried about long periods without forage. Has anyone added straw to a horses ration in this situation? If so, what kind, and how did they feed it? The BO has said she would allow me to mount a slow feed haynet in a wall frame. I think I can access oat straw, and definitely wheat either chopped and bagged or baled. I haven’t seen any barley straw for sale.
Thanks!
I wouldn’t but my boy is very delicate, even though an air fern. I’d look at hay feeders/bags that limit access, and maybe consider trying to find last year’s first cutting that will have lower nutritional value.
To clarify- mare will have a very small hole hay net while stabled, but she’s very efficient at emptying that quickly! Poor quality hay seems riskier than straw.
[quote=“demidq, post:3, topic:789371”]
Poor quality hay seems riskier than straw. Why do you think that? 
If its still clean its still good hay just lower nutrition. imo
The important thing is the sugar content of the forage. Good hay can and should be low sugar. I believe straw can be high sugar. Get it all tested.
Hay can be “poor quality” because it is over mature with a lot of indigestible fiber and less nutrition, but low nutrition hay can be “good quality” in that it is clean, dry, fragrant, palatable. Overly mature hay can be low sugar or it can be scary high sugar depending on the climate and when it was baled. You can’t tell by looking. Just as you can’t tell by looking at pasture grass.
It’s reasonably common (though less so than in the past) here in the UK to feed straw as part of the forage ration, preferably oat straw. Lots of chaffs/chops here are also straw based.
In many stables in continental Europe decades ago, horses were fed chopped straw and alfalfa along with some grain.
We bedded in straw and some horses would eat some of it, many would not.
I don’t see why you would not be able to feed straw, but many horses may not eat it all by itself?
We regularly feed straw as part of the ration to our metabolic horses and ponies if they are starting to put weight on from the hay / haylage.
Oat if you can get it, barley will do, but avoid wheat as it’s generally the most course.
I have also used pea straw and that was lovely with a slightly higher protein profile which worked well for the older PPID affected horses.
Could you try a slow feed hay net and check how fast she eats? I have two easy keepers that are stalled at night, When I first started using hay nets I checked on them a couple of times around 10:00 p.m. to see if they still had hay left . . . they did. They had enough left that they wouldn’t go more than 4-5 hours without hay. Their bags are always empty in the morning, but they’re doing fine. I’m using the 2 inch size nets, but I may go to a slightly smaller hole next time I buy nets. If you do decide to try a hay net, maybe start with a larger hole until your horse gets the hang of it.
I believe Teff hay is high in protein and fiber and low in sugar and calories, so this might be another option to research. It is technically straw. Standlee sells it, I think, and offers a guaranteed nutrition profile.
Grey
I also have an air fern that makes quick work of a couple flakes even in an extreme slow feed haynet. I bought an automatic feeder that I put hay pellets in that ration a flakes weight worth during overnight hours. I worry about empty stomach issues and this has really eased my mind about that. It’s called iFeedNaturally to google.
Thank you all-
- I will be boarding, so no control over hay supply. Moving in to an apartment, I will have no place to store a supply of my own purchased hay.
- Mare gets her hay at night in a very small hole hay net (1.5 inches) and can still polish off 2 flakes in an hour-she’s very efficient and greedy!
- teff hay and pea straw are not available in our area (small city in a not very horsey location in central Ontario), nor have I seen barley straw.
- hay while on turnout is good first cut round bale in a net, and I know from experience that mare will spend her day eating non-stop so nutrition isn’t an issue. The challenge is to give her forage to nibble on while stalled and feeding straw as part of her night’s ration seems like it might be a solution. Night hay is at 8 PM and breakfast is at 7AM, too long to go on 1 flake of hay.
Hightale- how do you feed the straw? Do you chop it and add to feed or do you feed it mixed with hay in a net?
An automatic feeder is an interesting idea that I’ll check out but not sure how it would work in a boarding situation.
Personally I wouldn’t to a PPID. Dr. Kellon recommends against it and I trust her and the ECIR group.
Can you leave her in a grazing muzzle overnight?
Grey
What kind of grazing muzzle is she in? I have one in 24/7 flexible filly, which is not ideal but it’s that or partial stall or dirt lot, which causes behavioral issues. Since spring, no rubs or signs of tooth wear. They can slowly eat hay with that style.
If yours is really sensitive, would not recommend the flexible filly any time there is serious grass but for overnight hay it might do nicely
Try a 1” haynet. That half an inch difference made a difference in terms of a couple hours for my gelding. He’s very efficient after having it now for over a year, but two flakes will last him a good 3-4 hours.
I’ve had mine now at four different boarding barns as of tomorrow. No issues with barn owners about it; you just need to make sure that electrical outlets are an available and that the stall has bars of some type to attach it on to. I see my horse everyday so I manage setting the timers and filling it myself so it’s not an extra thing for staff to deal with.
Teff can be as low as 5% sugar and the only other hay that’s this low in sugar is bluegrass straw
Haychix makes an extreme slow feed net which has 1 inch holes. The holes are small and takes a lot of work to empty.
Susan
Though on other forage threads it’s been pointed out that teff can vary a lot by climate and harvesting practices. If NSC matters it should be tested like any forage.
