Anybody heard of this type of hay or have any information about it? I was given a recommendation on it but I have never heard of this type of hay. Supposedly it’s very good for horses?
it has become more popular since the drought year last year…Tiffany is one variant…we planted Traci or terry or some other…it grew great and while we let the first cutting head a bit much, the horses (of which I myself have 25:)) have not ignored it…
best in the faraway
sold out beffore it’s even cut
Husbands farn did 20 acers and it sold like hot cakes! have a waitting list. I can pm yyou results of out test on it we did so you can them if you like.
I have 2 mares and i tried out tiffany teff and they just didn’t seem to like it. I think they preferred the regular old grass alfalfa mix. I was a little surprised actually because i had heard about high horse acceptance rates. YMMV.
How does tiffany teff compare to alfalfa or grass in terms of calories and nutrition?
for what we grew we won’t know before this Tues…as the labs (yet again) took more than 10 working days to reply…
ain’t farming grand
I’ve been using teff in S.CA for a few years and all of the horses eat it at a good rate [ie: not bolting and not leaving and wasting]. I feed it free choice to my formerly RAVENOUS IR TWH. Since using it FC, he has become a grazer and walks away from his feed rather than bolting his 2x/d feedings. YEAH!!
Based on research I’ve done, teff tests very close to timothy, which I have considered to be the “gold standard” of grass hays. Orchard usually has inverted Ca:Phos ratio [ideal being approx. 2:1 [acceptable up to 6 Ca:1 Phos] and can have high sugars/starches/NSC levels. Very palatable, tho, and an excellent mix w/alfalfa b/c it offsets the high Ca:Phos ratio of alfa. I believe that alfa/orch mixes are seeded to yield a more consistent 40/60 ratio than the “alfa/grass” mixes which are extremely variable from bale to bale. In CA, it is difficult to find a decent bermuda hay. What we get is very fine-stemmed/“stringy”. Vets here [and AAEP, I beleive]generally advise against it due to the risk of impaction colic. The vet hospitals are slowly changing to teff hay from timothy, altho’ some still use tim. As w/any hays, teff can vary in its analysis. I have seen some w/well over 10% NSC, which must be soaked to remove sugars for IR/Cushings/founder/PSSM horses. Most analyses I’ve seen on teff have NSC at about 10% ~ the max for metabolic horses per Eleanor Kellon, VMD, lead researcher on Eq Cushings and Insulin Resistant Horses [ECIR] project and Yahoo group. http://www.drkellon.com/aboutdrkellon.html
The protein of teff is much lower than alfalfa ~ also usually about 10%. Dr. Kellon urges people to get an analysis on whatever hay they are using [esp. w/horses w/issues] and to balance the minerals appropriately. A hassle, particularly in a boarding facility that gets frequent deliveries.
Another WONDERFUL feature of teff is that ~ in S.CA ~ the cost is substancially lower than tim or orchard. The local feed store has a #1 teff for $16.50/bale and a #2 teff for $7/bale. In comparison, the variable [0-50%]alfalfa/grass mixes [NOT orchard] are about $10-12/bale and tim and orchard are $25+/bale. All are “western bales”, weighing roughly 90-120lbs. in comparison to “eastern bales” that weight in at about 60 lbs. I’d LOVE to have the eastern size! Do they think that we westerners are stronger and able to hoist these cumbersome bales??!! NOT!
Barb in Yucaipa, CA
