Re: RC: Oat Hay????

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

> I just found some very clean oat hay and gave some to the boys and they
seem
> to like out.  I don't know anything about the nutritional benefits of oat
> hay.  If I fed that primarily, would I need to supplement with other
feeds?

For all intents and purposes, any of the cereal grain hays have a pretty
similar nutrient profile.  As long as the quality is good, it's fine.  If I
had a choice, I would still supplement with either some grass hay, or a bit
of the alfalfa/grass mix, as the calcium-phosphorus ratio in the grain hays
can be just a bit variable.  The cob and beet pulp as treats is fine, also.


> I don't like to feed a lot of alfalfa.  We have very hard water here and
I've
> seen to many rocks come out horses bellies in the area to pass it off as
> merely coincidence (MY opinion and observation, please don't flame me).

It's not a coincidence.  95% of the horses presented to UC Davis for
enterolith surgery are on diets of 50% or more alfalfa; and hard water is
also being pretty strongly implicated as a factor in raising the pH of the
hindgut and predisposing to enterolith formation.

Susan G