Moving to Louisiana - hay types??

[tysonvalleyfarm]

I will be moving to the Baton Rouge surrounding area from North Carolina in the coming months and just happened to look and see that it’s mostly just coastal available in the deep south. I never feed coastal due to the increased risk in colic for some horses. While some are fine, I just don’t like taking the chance, so they’ve only ever gotten fescue hay.

Will I inevitably have to have my horses on coastal once I move due to limited (or no) availability of any other hay? Anyone have suggestions how they’ve dealt with this? I’m gathering that the grass hays I am used to don’t grow as well down there due to dryer conditions, but the property we’ll likely be building on will have some room for us to cultivate hay. Is it possible to grow a different type of hay like fescue or will it just not grow?

[csaper58]

There is a vet school at Louisiana State University, can you call them and ask what they reco? Or google vets practicing in the area and ask for a hay guy?

Will you board? Can you call a couple barns and ask what they feed?

Are you able to bring enough of your hay to slowly change the horses over to whatever you find available? Could you ship down enough hay to get you thru the winter?

Call the Extension Office and ask about hay?

Look at Craig’s List to see what’s available?

Last idea… check with an association for your type of riding, dressage, AQHA, hunters, etc, and find a board of directors list then call a couple folks and ask about hay.

If I were in your shoes I would try to nail down the hay issue if you are moving this winter.

Areas of west Louisiana were hit by Harvey, and local hay may be scarce. That means trying to find a source or buying costly imported hay.

Good luck with the move!

[vineyridge]

In the deep south, it is hard to grow most hays because of the amount of summer heat. Most horse hay here is based on Bermuda (coastal is Bermuda), but there are a couple of other hays–bahia and the very rare peanut hay. Almost no alfalfa is grown down here these days, and mixed grass is usually bermuda based with other grasses, weeds, clover and Johnson grass.

Although Bahia is very common for cattle, it hasn’t been adopted much by horse people that I’ve heard, but it’s becoming more common overall. Any other hay will be imported and godawful expensive.

Fescue grows here, but not well.

The Extension Service will be able to help you select a forage for your land.

[tysonvalleyfarm]

Thank you both! I will most certainly be bringing down hay, and I can get my hands on enough that we could hold them over for a while. I’m a fan of the super large square bales. We are building and won’t move the horses down until we have at least pastures and sheds set up… Though I’d like to ration them on the pastures so I’ll probably wait until the barn is finished.

I’ve read that Bahia (or is it Johnson? Now I can’t remember) has to be cut at the correct time to avoid possible poisoning…It seems like it would be way too much of a risk.

[vineyridge]

It’s Johnson grass that develops cyanide when it gets really stressed and starts to wilt.
https://cvhs.okstate.edu/news/cyanid…-johnson-grass
https://www.noble.org/news/publicati…-your-pasture/

I should point out that coastal is a very fine leaved and stemmed variery of Bermuda. In North Mississippi, Tifton 44 and Sumrall 7 are the most common varieties. In South Mississippi Alicia is very popular. They are coarser than coastal. Common bermuda is also common, and it’s coarser than the coastal hybrid.

[LovieBird]

Will your horse have pasture or will hay be his primary forage source? I found out the hard way about the bermuda hay. Now my gelding gets timothy as his supplemental hay. I did have him on alfalfa, but I didn’t like how concentrated it made his urine and also the risk of stones. That can’t be good for his kidneys.

I feed him the Standlee compressed timothy bales. Unfortunately there aren’t many options down here. I’ve heard of some people getting orchard/alfalfa mixes, but I don’t personally have experience with that type.

[csaper58]

I polled friends in the area and they advised contacting Dr. Neely Walker thru the Ag Center. She is their equine specialist.

www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/nwalker

She writes for this publication.

https://theequinereport.com/blogs/neely-walker

[mmeqcenter]

I’m in Florida, not LA. Coastal is the locally grown hay here for the most part, you can find Tifton 44 or 85, Bahia, and Peanut, but you have to really search. Fescue grass will grow in sand and hot weather, but I assume you have no breeding plans for any mares?
If LA is like FL, it’s quite easy to find the good hays from up north (Orchard, Timothy, Alfalfa), but you will certainly pay an arm and a leg for it.

[Second_Star_To_The_R]

Tift 9 used to be fairly easy to find down in the lower reaches of the country. I loved that hay but it won’t grow up here in these darned rocks I live on. Common Bermuda as stated is a thicker Bermuda as is Alicia. I wanted so badly to grow something besides fescue in my pastures that we planted crab grass last year. It’s not a great hay grass but for a forage grass it’s awesome. There is a huge hay supplier in Baton Rouge but you’ll likely pay through the nose much like my $25 squares of alfalfa…