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Re: [RC] [RC] Pounds of Hay - Barbara McCrary

I've been reading this with interest.  I personally would like to put out enough hay so ours would nibble all day, but all they do is toss it out of the deep wooden bin I put it in and then stomp it into the ground.  I adjust the amount of hay dependent on how much of it they eat and how much they waste. I'm feeding grass/alfalfa (heavy to grass) and one of the horses just turns up his nose at it, flings it out on the ground and walks all over it.  Sometimes, I just rake it up, put it back in the bin and add a small amount of fresh hay.  Or sometimes I don't rake it up, but just add a small amount of fresh hay to the bin.  Amazing what a little hunger will do to a horse's attitude.
 
Barbara
 
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 11:18 AM
Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] Pounds of Hay

I've always had enough hay set out as to have my horses be able to nibble at something all day.  I just think it's just plain safer for keeping a more even weight in the intestines and (I'm hoping) less chance for a twist in them.  I don't think horses are very well designed to eat a meal in the morning of about 2 hours and nothing until that evening.  I know it's not good for my BIG dogs so we feed 3 small meals a day to them for the same reason.
 
Tammy Robinson (16,000 AERC miles)
Trail-Rite Products
18171 Lost Creek Road
Saugus, CA 91390
661/513-9269 office
661/713-3912 cell
661/513-9206 fax
www.trail-rite.com

 
In a message dated 2/6/2008 11:11:22 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> I thought that "adequate" intake was about 2% of body weight.  Since 
> he is 840 lbs, that is about 16.8 - 17 lbs, which is about what he 
> normally seems to eat, including supplements.  So -- I thought he was 
> doing OK in that respect.   However, it sounds as if other folks 
> horses eat a whole lot more than 2% body weight of hay.  So -- is the 
> 2% figure wrong, or on the low end, or ??

That's maintenance.  Work or lactation takes a lot more.  Figure an intake of 3-4% of body weight for heavy work or for lactation, preferably on the high side of that for lactation, and wherever within that range meets the level of work being asked.

Heidi

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Re: [RC] [RC] Pounds of Hay, Trailrite