How big a deal is it not to transition to new hay. I’ve been down with pancreatitis for over a week and just found out this morning that hubby used up all last year’s hay and is now feeding the new stuff w/o transitioning, (he knows we need to transition but “forgot”).Normally I make the switch over a week period, but now it’s cold turkey, and at a time when I’m totally unprepared to deal with colic. The good news is it’s the same type of hay, orchardgrass, and from the same supplier, but a different year and different field.
It’s good to transition but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t. I have personally found the most common reaction to changing hays is diarrhea. I would watch for that and colic. But honestly changing to a different batch of the same hay is low risk. I buy from a hay dealer and have no.guarantee every bale in a batch is from the same field. And if I move between stacks delivered on different dates, I’ve never had a problem.
For me its all.good quality 2nd cut Timothy from the same region, so hay is similar.
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I checked the hay analysis between the two years and the big difference is an increase in protein from 14.6% to 17%. I’ll have him watch for diarrhea.
If it’s the same type from the same dealer I’d say it’s fine. Sadly for me I only have room for about six huge bales at a time. It lasts my two about a month. Sometimes I’ll have a few days to change over but normally due to room and set up they just switch. It’s always the same kind of hay from the same place. After over a year and a half I haven’t noticed any issues with either of them.
Most of the places I have boarded or co-opped at did this all the time. It isn’t feasible for many of us to keep a large supply of hay on hand. As long as it is the same type of hay and is reasonably similar to the last batch, they should be fine. I’m always more worried about mold or other contaminants in a new batch of hay than the actual switch.
I’ve never bothered. I suppose of you have a horse who is sensitive to such changes, but I’ve never owned or managed that horse.
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I’ve had horses get diarrhea coming off pasture onto hay, and have fed probiotics to make the switch. I wouldn’t worry too much about a 2 and a half % gain in protein.
My suspicion is that our diarrhea is more about a big increase in sugar and/or a big increase in non digestible fibre.
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Another vote for not to worry 
Hope you’re feeling better soon!
I wouldn’t worry. I worked at an equine hospital for over five years and unless owners supplied their own hay all horses were fed what he had (assuming they weren’t a colic case, choke case, etc.). So basically all were immediately put on a different hay than what they were used to. Never saw an issue and none of our numerous vets worried either.
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At all the boarding facilities I’ve kept horses at over the last 25 years, none of them transitioned the horses when a new shipment of hay came in every 2 months. The company that delivers hay to my current place sources semi-truckloads from all over the midwest. Never the same hay twice. Sometimes 1/2 grass & half alfalfa, sometimes mostly grass and various percentages in between. Sometimes it’s bright green and beautiful - sometimes more like 3rd cutting with more yellowy stems (but never moldy or “bad”). Never had an issue…yet.
I usually get hay in for 1-2 weeks at a time. It’s rarely the same hay. I’ve never had a single issue with it.
I also wouldn’t bother, unless you have a horse who is known to be that sensitive.
If you’re switching from alfalfa to grass, then I’d be a bit conservative, and especially from grass to alfalfa. Or switching from almost anything to Coastal Bermuda.
But “normal” grass hays, I wouldn’t bother, UNLESS the previous batch was really poor quality and the new stuff is great. I think most horses will self-regulate going the other way LOL
I don’t bother transitioning either. I get a new 10-12 tons of hay every 6 or so months. I used to spend several days slowly adding in the new hay and then quit doing it maybe 10 years ago. I also started buying hay at shows rather than bringing hay, which meant that the horses would switch to a new hay from a new state/region for a week or two and then back to the home hay. I’ve never had a horse have a problem with different hays. That’s not to say I haven’t had hay problems, just nothing that was ever attributable to or a result of the change.
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I generally still have several bales of last year’s hay left when I get my new supply each Summer.
Same hay - orchard grass/Timothy - from same hayguy, though cut from a variety of local fields.
They deliver & stack for me.
I keep hay in my barn, on pallets, so they generally leave behind a generous amount of fines along with any bales that might break being unloaded.
I feed the new loose stuff to my horses right away & have never had a problem.
So maybe you can relax the transitioning Rule?
Sorry about your bout with pancreatitis.
Winter is hard enough without being less than 100%
