I’ve created monsters - picky about hay!

[QHEventer]

I’ve been feeding beautiful brome hay shipped in from out of state for the last year, which my herd loves. However, it only comes in 900lb bales.

I recently bought a load of a nice grass hay in small square bales from a supplier many friends and barns in my area buy from with no issues.

My herd will barely eat it. They pick at it, but certainly don’t clean it up, mostly toss it around their stall and trample it.

I feel like maybe I’m causing the problem…I gave in last night when I noticed piles of untouched hay at night check and gave them some of their old stuff, which they then inhaled. I also keep hay in front of them 24/7.

Do I try tough love and only feed the new stuff, and maybe only a flake at a time until they clean it up? Or give in to my spoiled little herd and continue wrestling with the big bales they love?

[Marla_100]

My vote goes for the horses. Give them what they like and eat. We have a problem here in Fl.
in we take what we can get. Other than Coastal it’s all imported. And it hurts to spend $40. for a 100 lb. bale of Orchard or Timothy that they just spread for bedding.

[Scribbler]

My mare has a healthy appetite. When she refuses a bale or a load I stop feeding it.

Obviously many horses will prefer alfalfa to grass, say, and if they are getting too much alfalfa will ignore the grass hay. But if they are only getting one kind of hay and they are on hunger strike for more than 24 hours, there’s a mismatch with the hay.

Also changing hay types can cause stomach upset.

[candyappy]

Different grasses must taste different and some horses need time to adjust. If you know NOTHING is wrong with the hay you just bought then mix the 2 until you are gradually feeding more of the new than the old.

If they are hungry they will eat. Sadly we tend to cave before they have a chance.

My horses eat everything but my cow / goats can be just this way and with some tough love and mixing eventually they eat it well.

[Scribbler]

I’ve had times where I’ve switched hay, and my mare will eat OK for several days and then start to totally reject the hay, when its the only food on offer. In those cases I figure she knows something and I change the hay.

If spring grass is coming up they could have less appetite for hay too.

[candyappy]

@Scribbler

If spring grass is coming up they could have less appetite for hay too.

That is the #1 reason they suddenly stop eating all the hay and water consumption can drop as well.

Like being a dark chocolate fan and switching suddenly to white/ milk chocolate…

[SusanO]

Mine prefer that western hay that gets shipped in. Because I think it is cured so much better due to low humidity and because it costs more than local hay. So I give them half “desert hay” and half locally grown hay. BUT I put it in a haynet because otherwise they would eat out their favorite and spread the rest all over the floor and poop and pee on it. If they run out of the preferred hay and will not touch the other hay then I analyze why. I got some Tennessee hay they will not touch because it has rye in it. Apparently rye hay pollutes the bale as far as they are concerned. I gave up trying to get them to eat it even though it smelled wonderful. The other cheaper hay they will eat after they clean up the expensive stuff if it is netted and they can’t trash it. I have spring grass coming up. The hippo still likes Colorado timothy better than green Alabama grass.

[GraceLikeRain]

If you’re sure the hay is good I’d mix it with the “golden hay” and do hay bags to limit the waste.

[QHEventer]

Thanks, all! They do get alfalfa in their stalls at night as well, so that is probably part of the problem.

After watching them today, I’m thinking they’re just being picky. All they have in the dry lots is their new hay and they seem to be eating it just fine, maybe not devouring it like they do the brome, but definitely still munching away.

I’m almost out of their favorite brome hay and will just mix the two until it’s gone!

[Mango20]

I created the same problem by buying the last of my hay from my regular guy, who didn’t have enough of what I regularly buy available. So, I got about 50% what I regularly do, and about 25% each of super beautiful and delicious hay, and hay that got rained on after it was cut, then thoroughly dried again and baled. All three types are orchard grass with some timothy or other grasses mixed in, with the best stuff being second cutting.

I started out feeding equal amounts of the beautiful hay and the rained on hay. My horses behaved as predicted and pouted over the injustice. Eventually they gave in and ate the other hay too. It ended up acting like a slow feed hay system. I’d put a few flakes of each type out at 6:30. They’d eat the good stuff right away, then they’d come back for the less tasty stuff after they had a nap (then I put out more at noon).