Grinding / Chopping Hay for the Older Horse

[Pecos]

Looking for ideas how to grind or chop hay for my 24 year old mare. Curently in good shape, teeth maintained and UTD on medical care. (She is also on 24-hour turn out with access to a stall.)

She has always been a hay diva. Hoovers alfalfa but picks at coastal.

Last winter the alfalfa eventually got very stemmy and she would strip the leaves off, leaving the stems. Some of the alfalfa I have been getting this year is already starting to look stemmy.

I have tried several of the bagged chopped forages, but she just looks at them and says, “Meh”. The one brand of forage she did like is no longer available from my local feed stores.

Tried soaking alfalfa cubes, but that was hit or miss with the Picky Princess.

If I find a way to chop my own, I could just buy hay as usual (I have a gelding, too) and chop hay for my diva. Any ideas or suggestions how to chop? Is there a hay chopping aparatus or something is this something I am going to have to MacGuyver?

[BuddyRoo]

So her dentition is good, it’s more a matter of her preferences?

[Texarkana]

I had posted a similar thread about chopping hay earlier this year. No one had any really helpful suggestions that would work for my situation. From what I’ve learned in my online research, most wood-chippers and mulchers don’t handle hay well and eventually break down. They do make forage grinders for cattle, but they are sized for commercial operations and they’re expensive.

One COTHer did mention using a lawnmower and drying the clippings-- might work if you’re in an arid climate! Someone also mentioned putting hay in a water trough and going to town on it with a weedeater or hedge trimmer-- I wasn’t brave enough to try that!

Unfortunately, my oldster who needed chopped hay passed away suddenly early this fall… so it’s now a moot point for me. But I hope someone has some better suggestions for you!

[Hermein]

My elder lacks molars now. He likes porridge for which I use various types of feed. Thankfully, he is fine with soaked cubes, pellets, various senior feed–all of which are expensive, but less labor intensive than cutting up hay.

You can soak cubes until they’re about to fall apart, then set them aside and let them dry out, and then crumble them up and feed. I’ve done this on a very small scale, leaving the soaked cubes drying overnight.

I’m told that they make special blades for chain saws that will allow them to be used to cut up hay – if you do this with a regular blade, you’ll have to take it apart after you use it x number of times and clean it. Electric or cordless grass cutters will work, but watch your fingers!

A friend of mine used a leaf mulcher for awhile. She said it was similar to a weed eater inside a bag–maybe you have to put the leaves inside the bag, and whirl away.

I have wondered how it would work if you ran small amounts of hay through a food processor.

Good luck.

[Pecos]

[QUOTE=BuddyRoo;7268210]
So her dentition is good, it’s more a matter of her preferences?[/QUOTE]

Yes. She has always been picky about hay.

[Pecos]

I kinda understand her opinion on this. If you offer me a cheese sandwich or a steak, I am going to pick steak. :lol:

Thank you to everyone who replied.

Any other takers?

[poltroon]

You might try soaking the cubes and mixing them with a more yummy senior feed. Another option to consider is beet pulp.

[csaper58]

I have the Homelite 4.8-volt Grass Shear for this purpose, bought it at Homedepot $29.99.

Using a big hedge trimmer, tie the bale up real tight, and cut on the stem side of the bale works well.

[Cindyg]

Have you tried a bagged chopped forage?

[Pecos]

[QUOTE=Cindyg;7268786]
Have you tried a bagged chopped forage?[/QUOTE]

Yes, several. The only one she cared for is no longer available from my local feed stores. I wish it were just as easy as buying bagged forage.

I may try some of the other suggestions offered. Thank you all for your replies.

[HenryisBlaisin]

Some feed stores or mills can hammer hay for you. Around here, it costs about $2.50 a bale, and you can add other ingredients if you wish, such as molasses or rice bran.

[jaysjmpr]

So Sorry to hear she passed away. A few more hoof prints in heaven.

[SueNH]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZzKn4JXc0A

find a hay she likes and chop away

[ReSomething]

They have the old fashion manually operated forage choppers out there, they are just antiques. Silage choppers.

[fooler]

[QUOTE=poltroon;7268402]
You might try soaking the cubes and mixing them with a more yummy senior feed. Another option to consider is beet pulp.[/QUOTE]

This is what I do for my nearly 35 year old, maybe I will eat hay today or not, TB mare. If she eats 2 flakes a day, that is great.

She still has 90% of her teeth but does best on wet TC Senior. I soak a scoop of alfafa cubes in hot water and once the water is absorbed add a scoop of TC Senior. She eats it all since the TC Senior “flavors” the alfafa cubes.

She is just as picky with plain soaked alfafa cubes as she is with hay. Just a suggestion, use the soaked cubes mixed her favorite feed. This might encourage her to eat better.

[PRS]

My 30 year old toothless mare ate soaked beep/alfalfa cubes/senior feed 3 times daily until she died in June. I still feed the same mixture to my 28 year old and a 23 year old boarder every night…they slurp it up happily.

[ReSomething]

I have another picky one. He has traditionally refused gruel of any sort so soaking anything is hit or miss including the Sr feed he likes. Over time I’ve discovered that he loves timothy pellets over all else forage, but they’re expensive and not as high in protein as alfalfa, which he doesn’t like. He WILL eat tim/alf pellets, and as winter is setting in here we needed to increase his longer stemmed hay so I’ve opted for the tim/alf cube. TSC carries the Standlee cubes. I have to soak it for hours and let it fluff up just like Hermein does and so far we’ve had good success.

[Texarkana]

[QUOTE=ReSomething;7269563]
They have the old fashion manually operated forage choppers out there, they are just antiques. Silage choppers.[/QUOTE]

My in-laws have one, which started my entire search for one… but they’re hard to come by these days and EXPENSIVE!

[ReSomething]

[QUOTE=Texarkana;7270089]
My in-laws have one, which started my entire search for one… but they’re hard to come by these days and EXPENSIVE![/QUOTE]
I’ve seen a manual forage chopper in use in, oddly enough, a Bollywood movie. I can’t recommend traveling to Uttar Pradesh to bring one home either, talk about expensive!

[Archibald_Tuttle]

rebooting this eternal thread about ‘prechewing’ hay for older or otherwise compromised dentistry or digestion. In accordance with a few freehand tests of a weed eater in a barrel we purchased a upside down string trimmer on a stand style leaf mulcher which did seem to do the job pretty well when fed flakes edge on. the one thing that distressed me is that i did two flakes and it had used up the twine. I didn’t really think that hay would cause that kind of string wear. i have a half a mind to try some #12 or 14 THHN and see how that lasts (monitoring of course for any large bits breaking off and dropping into the mix. unlike the weed eater, this is kind of contained so i do see the stuff leaving like missles, and it will not experience running up against a rock or something really hard.

but perhaps the twine provided is just not of the best abrasion resistant charcter. various reviews favor Oregon Magnum Gatorline or Husquvarna Titanium. I’m hesitant to invest in a big roll of either without some feedback that it really last’s much longer.

this is definitely wearing down, not breaking off. the hay is 1st cutting , a little coarse but not that bad and no sticks or anything. i was shocked at amount of line wear which the idea of frequent replacement in the cold is a deal breaker on this method.

thanks for anyone who can offer experience in this dept. (or recommend practical alternative method).

Brian