Trying to find out more about feeding vetch, anyone have any info.
I tried googling it but didn’t get a ton of useful info on feeding it to horse.
TIA
It’s a legume. As far as I know, it won’t hurt your horses. In fact, they might like it!
The farmer growing it (mixed with orchard) says its highly palatable and has better digestible nutrition the alfalfa.
I think Crown Vetch is considered poisonous to horses. It makes them slobber… Is plain vetch something different?
1 Like
Yes, there is a difference between crown vetch, which is used as a soil stabilizer along highways, and common vetch, which you might find in hay.
Just came on to search for vetch, JackSprats Mom must have seen the same CL ad! It sounds interesting. My friend got hay with Lotus Major, aka Big Trefoil – another legume-y local variant. I was wondering if this was the same thing but it doesn’t seem to be.
Found this on wiki about vetch:
When intended as fodder, the seed is sown densely, up to 250 kilograms per hectare. However, when grown for seed, less seed should be used; otherwise the crop will be too thick, reducing flower and seed production. When meant for seed, sowing is done early in the planting season for good returns; but, when for green food, any time in spring is suitable. Sometimes, a full crop can be obtained even when sown as late as summer, though sowing so late is not recommended.
After the seed is sown and the land carefully harrowed, a light roller ought to be drawn across, to smooth the surface and permit the scythe to work without interruption. Also, the field should be watched for several days to prevent pigeons, which are remarkably fond of tares, from devouring much of the sown seed.
Horses thrive very well on Common Vetch, even better than on clover and rye grass; the same applies to fattening cattle, which feed faster on vetch than on most grasses or other edible plants. Danger often arises from livestock eating too much vetch, especially when podded; colics and other stomach disorders are apt to be produced by the excessive loads devoured.
Cereal grains can be sown with vetch so it can use their stronger stems for support, attaching via tendrils.[SUP][1][/SUP] When grown with oats or other grasses, the vetch can grow upright; otherwise its weak stems may sprawl along the ground.[SUP][2][/SUP] Several cultivars are available for agricultural use,[SUP][3][/SUP] and as for some other legume crops, rhizobia can be added to the seed.[SUP][2][/SUP]
I would still be cautious. I would only trust it if I really trusted the hay farmer to know what he was doing.
I have vetch growing in one pasture which keeps trying to pull down my fence and my horses won’t go anywhere near it. I suspect it is crownvetch and the stuff is extremely difficult to mow and get rid of.
Reading on it, crownvetch can grow up to about 2 feet and the pinkish-purple flowers are in ball clusters, kinda remind me like a clover type flower. Each leaflet has up to 25 small, oval-shaped leaflets.
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/CAPS/pestInfo/pics/big/crownVetch1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/CAPS/pestInfo/crownVetch.htm&h=576&w=768&sz=139&tbnid=6_7ycTIHDWon4M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=120&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcrown%2Bvetch%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=crown+vetch&usg=__3tYc2nbwkwBqNjlouHX6MaTPtBM=&docid=Jj9OjuT5m7gW8M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JJImUfWaEIquigKgo4DgAw&sqi=2&ved=0CDEQ9QEwAQ&dur=255
Hairy or common vetch has leaves up to 20 narrow leaflets, each leaf up to an inch long and the vines grow upwards 3 or more feet. It’s flowers are also pinkish-purple, but they remind me more of a sweet pea type flower.
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.glaucus.org.uk/CommonVetch052.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.glaucus.org.uk/DovecoteBank.html&h=648&w=486&sz=37&tbnid=v1zG6pLoZK-O8M:&tbnh=101&tbnw=76&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpicture%2Bof%2Bcommon%2Bvetch%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=picture+of+common+vetch&usg=__LPVBYVNaJPzAQGGOxI9awElJzXg=&docid=gIxt7LACFk9KLM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=a5QmUcbPL4m8iwLAzoHgBw&ved=0CDQQ9QEwAg
you’d think they’d just name the two things differently so people wouldn’t have to get all confused about it. 
we have some vetch growing in our pastures, thankfuly not the poisonous kind. Our horses eat it just like they eat the grass and I’ve never noticed any problems.
I realize this is an older thread but, did either JackSprats Mom or JoZ buy the hay? I think it’s the same Craigslist ad I’ve been looking at. I am seriously considering they hay. If either of you got any, was it good hay?
I am seriously considering it to the farmer in Yelm actually says that it’s good for my horse that has kidney problems but I’m really skeptical because my vet says that he wants him on low protien? Scott says it is easier on his kidneys becsuse it is low in acid?
