Hay pellets as forage extender in evenings?

[fizzlepop]

Hello! What do y’all think of using hay pellets as a late evening addition to forage over the winter?

For a little background, I board my gelding at a full care facility, and the evening feeding seems to happen a bit earlier in the winter. My gelding has often finished his hay by the time I’m out at the barn after work. I’m in the PNW and the paddocks are already mostly mud, so the grazing is poor. I’m thinking of adding hay pellets as a late evening forage. Haystack Farm and Feeds has several pelleted hay options that are available in my area. I could increase his evening flakes, but I don’t think that would really solve the problem since he’d still get fed the same time.

Furthermore, would hay pellets help any with heat production in the winter? My horse has a fuzzy coat, is at a good weight (and honestly tends towards the easy keeper side of the scale), and solid shelter in the evenings, but I still worry.

Interested in hearing other’s thoughts or experiences. Thanks!

[Texarkana]

More forage-based calories is always a good thing.

Feeding hay pellets may offer some additional warmth, but not as much as the actual long stem fiber. It’s the “slow burn” of the fiber in the hindgut that helps with warmth, and when you grind up that fiber to make pellets, it speeds along digestive processes.

You’re right that feeding hay pellets in his meal won’t help the problem of having no forage and an empty stomach overnight.

Overall, adding hay pellets has enough benefits to make it a good idea, especially since he may not be getting a high enough percentage of forage in his diet if he is finishing his hay so quickly. But it isn’t going to “solve” your problem of no forage overnight if the pellets are fed at mealtime.

When I was in the same situation, I’ve done a few different things depending on what the barn allowed. I bought some of my own hay to supplement and put it in a small hole net. I used cubes: both soaked in a bucket and dry in an Amazing Graze toy that releases one cube at a time. I’ve also bought bags of chopped hay (Dengie) and put out a bucket of that at night.

[vxf111]

The better option would be to get someone to hang a slow feed hay net. Even if hung at the same one as the regular hay feeding, the net would slow him down and make the hay last longer.

[DMK]

I’ve fed soaked cubes, pellets and chaff at one time or another, not as an extender (they have free choice hay) but as an attempt to make them think they get a meal that isn’t just the 1lb of ration balancer. In each case they finished it up pretty fast so other than making them really happy and getting more water in them, I don’t know that it solves the forage problem. The best solution is never the cheap or the easy one, you need to add a slow feeder or nibble net or feed a lot more hay.

That said, some soaked cubes or pellets is still something, and if that’s all you can do, it’s still a good thing.

[fizzlepop]

I figured slow feed net would probably be the recommendation. They just make me a little nervous, though I’ve never had a bad experience with one. I’ll talk to BO this week and see what she’ll allow. She runs a tight ship but can be odd about certain things .

I understand hay is the best option, but do you think soaked cubes are better than pellets? Or fairly interchangeable?

[JB]

Cubes, beet pulp, and chopped forage are long-stem fiber, where pellets aren’t. They also take longer to eat than pellets. So, unless you’re feeding pounds and pounds, he’s still going to be without food for most of the night.

I would absolutely get on with a hay net, even if you have to fill them yourself to just be hung.

[DMK]

Or if the budget permits it, one of the slow feeders like portagrazer. They are a bit easier to fill. If it has to be a net, maybe buy 2-3 and have them prefilled and ready to hang to make it easier for the help (If it isn’t going to be you)