When to start feeding hay

[enjoytheride]

I bought my first farm and it’s my first experience with LOTS of grass for my horses. Currently I’m stalling with hay and grain at night. In the AM they get grain and go out on grass for 12 hours.

How do you tell when you need to start feeding hay in the AM as well? I have three arabians and we just got a 17 hand TB so I’m mostly worried about him as I’ve always had air ferns. I have two pastures I rotate and they’ve grazed them down but both have patches of long less desirable grass.

I do not feed round bales.

We have a third big pasture that I was trying to get hay out of but we got a late start and the weather sucks so I’m thinking about giving them access to that. I reckon total we have about 6 acres in pasture.

[Guilherme]

I don’t hay by date, I start when the field is no longer producing a viable level of forage. For my geography and forage stand that usually happens in Dec. or early Jan. We can usually go back on grass by the end of April. My planning is from Oct. 15 to May 30.

I just rotated my mob to a new rotation pasture. We are getting some lovely cool weather and beneficial rain. That means my cool season grasses will produce heavily for a while. By the end of November or into December that production will slow and ultimately cease as the grass goes dormant. But I have two other unused fields so I’m in good shape, hay wise, until into January unless we get some really cold weather (as we did last year).

Ask your County Agent this question. They may even come out to your place to see what you fields and stands look like. But even then it’s a judgement call as to exactly what date to start. You are significantly north of us so you will start earlier than we do.

Good luck in your project.

G.

[Lah0808]

From your description, it sounds like its about time to start feeding hay in the morning too. In my experience, they aren’t ever going to eat those long patches of grass, even if the rest is grazed down. You have 6 acres total or 6 acres just in that third big pasture?

At my previous barn we had 2 or 3 horses per 10 acre pastures with tons of grass. We would start throwing hay about this time of year, if they clean it up then it was time to start feeding. If they just pick through it and make a mess of it, they don’t need it yet. We did the reverse in the spring, once they stop eating the hay in favor of grazing, we stop throwing it for the season.

[Simkie]

Ambiguous answer but: when they start eating it.

Toss out some hay and if they clean it up by dinner, it’s time to hay. If they leave it, try again in a week or two.

[S1969]

@Simkie

Ambiguous answer but: when they start eating it.

Toss out some hay and if they clean it up by dinner, it’s time to hay. If they leave it, try again on a week or two.

This, exactly. A flake of hay for each horse in the pasture and keep an eye on it. Generally they won’t eat it unless they aren’t getting enough grass.

That said - there is a difference between the horses getting enough for themselves and overgrazing the pasture. Some will eat the grass down to the roots before they give up on it. You might want to take them off at some point, if you have turnout options. I will be doing this any time now - they will get access only to a sacrifice pasture with hay until the ground freezes.

[Toblersmom]

@Simkie

Ambiguous answer but: when they start eating it.

Toss out some hay and if they clean it up by dinner, it’s time to hay. If they leave it, try again in a week or two.

Assuming you don’t have an odd duck that prefers hay. My boarding barn has one of those. Normally they keep the horses on large dry-lot paddocks with free choice hay, but it’s been so rainy and unrideable they’ve been turning a lot of them out into the grassy areas that were previously reserved for riding to take some of the pressure off the paddocks and let them get scraped and leveled. One of the horses still just parks himself by the round bale and eats away, while everybody else is happily taking advantage of the situation and grazing.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

With the weather so wonky here in TN in the fall these days. I wait until my pasture grass is looking a bit sad, and I’ll start putting out some hay in run-in sheds. Check it every few days. Once its disappears entirely, I know its time to keep putting it out. Mine are outside 24/7. I do start adding/upping grain sooner however, when they start putting on their winter coats (slowly building up to their winter ration), to ensure they are getting enough calories to put on their coats, maintain body temps in the 40+ degree temp swings and make up for nutrients lacking as the grass wains.

[lovezehorses]

@Toblersmom

Assuming you don’t have an odd duck that prefers hay. My boarding barn has one of those. Normally they keep the horses on large dry-lot paddocks with free choice hay, but it’s been so rainy and unrideable they’ve been turning a lot of them out into the grassy areas that were previously reserved for riding to take some of the pressure off the paddocks and let them get scraped and leveled. One of the horses still just parks himself by the round bale and eats away, while everybody else is happily taking advantage of the situation and grazing.

My mare is like that, huge grass pasture and all she wants to eat is hay. But I agree, if you throw hay out and they eat it, they will let you know. Only issue is around this time, is the nutrition content will start to decrease but I live in a colder climate area.

[Sweetums_Mom]

@Simkie

Ambiguous answer but: when they start eating it.

Toss out some hay and if they clean it up by dinner, it’s time to hay. If they leave it, try again in a week or two.

This ^^…I drive the gator around the field tossing flakes everywhere. The next day, I go again and if I see they’ve not eaten anything or very little, I wait several days and toss another bale. Eventually, there will come a day when all piles are mostly eaten up and then I will start throwing out a bale in the morning and a bale overnight. In the middle of winter, I can use up to 4 bales a day.

Another indicator is how much hay are they eating while in their stalls. If they are just picking at it, then they are getting enough outside and vice versa.

[2DogsFarm]

@Sweetums Mom

Another indicator is how much hay are they eating while in their stalls. If they are just picking at it, then they are getting enough outside and vice versa.

This is pretty much how I judge.
Mine are turned out all day & night, with free access to stalls & come in to be fed - hay & grain 2X & 1X for hay only < PM barncheck.
If they clean up what I give them AM & PM & at 10P I try upping the amount.
If that disappears they stay with the increase, if morning shows uneaten hay in the stalls I’ll cut back.
As pastures get leaner & Winter approaches it is a seesaw.
Once fields are under snow I toss a few random flakes outside so they can “graze”

[Cynical25]

@Simkie

Ambiguous answer but: when they start eating it.

Toss out some hay and if they clean it up by dinner, it’s time to hay. If they leave it, try again in a week or two.

Same here. On the flip side, when they stop eating hay in the spring even while stalled, I know they are waiting to fill up on grass.