Really interesting. Anyone here actually feed Teff hay to their horses?
I have a friend who planted a test plot, grows VERY quickly.
My PPID hinny went IR on me this winter. Soaked hay all of Jan and Feb, and then found tested teff (ESC and starch combined under 10, protein around 9). Bought enough to get him through next winter. He LOVES it. It’s a “soft hay” that is a lighter green than either timothy or orchard grass. If it’s available again (supposed to be), I plan on buying enough for my entire little herd–about 400 small squares. The batch I got is a little inverted for calcium and phosphorus, so I give my hinny some calcium carbonate powder to bring his calcium up, plus I mix his supplements into soaked beet pulp.
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It is an annual grass in northern states, dies over winter freezes. New planting every spring. So it might be expensive up there.
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It doesn’t have a good ca: phosphorus ratio usually so it’s great on starch but I felt the need to feed
alfalfa pellets or something for the ca supplementation
I’ve been feeding Teff for many years. It’s a tough crop to bale in humid climates as it doesn’t like to dry easily, and as pointed out it doesn’t survive below 40°, so has to be planted annually. Farmers seem to have a love/hate relationship with it. In a good year, it’s very productive for them, in a bad year they want to slit their wrists.
It’s generally more expensive than other grass hays. But it is soft, palatable, has very high protein and low sugar.
Many years I used to test my hay and discovered that first cutting is the best in terms of protein, second cut is usually much lower.
In my area, its also high in iron, which can be a factor for some.
Its a bright light green, and when cured correctly I think its the sweetest smelling hay, to me it smells like honey. My horses love it, but I know of other owners who say their horses won’t touch it.
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I’ve heard it recommended for horses with Cushings, but haven’t fed it myself (or even seen it in person that I can recall!)
I bought some a couple years ago… or at least that’s what I was told it was. Truck came in from Ohio, delivered 180bales. My horses didn’t seem to like it at first, but adapted quickly and it kept them going through winter. They are all nto much more than pasture ornaments, so I can’t say a lot more about it from a nutritional or behavior standpoint. ONe thing I personally didn’t like was that the stems were so long and thin they were almost needle-like. So I didn’t like handling the stuff without gloves and a coat that was more substantial than the fleecy stuff I’ll usually wear in the Spring.
Husband has a friend who just tried growing it in Iowa. We were thinking of trying some test strips in our grass hay fields.
The Iowa friend said the bales were almost too heavy to lift, hence what someone above said about it being hard to dry
I’ve fed teff for a few years and love it. The hard part is finding a consistent source from somebody who knows how to make it. There is an art to planting it, cutting it, and drying it (even more than regular hay). As others have said drying it is the hardest part. It usually takes somebody a few years and a lot of equipment trial and error to figure it all out, which is why a lot try it and then swear it off for life. :winkgrin:
The one benefit of it around here is that the timing of it being ready for cutting/baling falls in between when grass/alfalfa is being cut/baled. First cutting for grass/alfalfa is usually late June but teff isn’t ready until late July. So it’s a way for producers to spread out their work.
Buying teff isn’t always a guarantee that it’s low in NSC. But if you grow a standard grass hay and teff under the same conditions, the teff should be lower in NSC.
Here’s the analysis for the load of teff rounds I got last year:
crude protein: 14
WSC: 4.6
ESC: 2.5
starch: .5
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My horse love it. I just started feeding it in January. I had a Cushings gelding with fecal water syndrome and nothing helped (tried everything for years). Vet suggested Teff hay and I lucked out with a gorgeous delivery of the most beautiful hay. Within 48 hours, his symptoms had cleared up.
I have read that it is really tricky to cure properly. The stems are hollow? and using a moisture meter you get a read that the hay is ready to bale when it still has too high a moisture level. And then if it is over mature horses will not eat it. I think it is best grown and baled in the more arid states. I haven’t seen any in the southeast but I it is grown here. I would sure try some if it was available here.
I got some a few years ago for the ponies when they spent a summer as weed nibblers in the fields behind the clinic --mostly out of curiosity and concern for their waistlines. They were a little miffed at first (SW Idaho tends toward alfalfa and alfalfa/grass mixes), but eventually accepted their fate. When summer ended, they went back to the barn and the experiment ended. That’s all I’ve got.
I tried Teff hay a few time over the years. My horses seem to find it unpalatable and don’t readily accept it. Although it is supposed to be very good for IR and overweight horses it does have an inverse calcium/phosphorus ratio, and it is an oxalate grass meaning that it binds calcium in the diet and a supplementary source of calcium must be feed. It is also contains synephrine - a substance that will swab positive if you are competing your horses. It’s one of those feeds that has both pros and cons and needs to be weighed up against what kind of horses you have and what you may want to do with them.
