There are two main types of hay, they are:
Meadow Hay;
This hay comes from permanently layed pasture,this hay will
contain rye grass, clover and herbs. This hay is quite soft
to the touch. Seed Hay;
This is lighter in colour compared to the meadow hay and is
harder to the touch. Seed hay has a higher nutritional value
than the meadow hay, the other main difference of seed hay,
is that the hay comes from specially grown pasture.
There are also two other forms of bulk feed for our horses,
they are silage and haylage.
Silage
This is semi wilted grass which is vacuum packed , if brought
in big bales, you need to be feeding lots of horses with it,
otherwise it is not cost effective. Silage is a lot richer
than hay, therefore, it should be introduced into the diet
over a 2-3 week period.
Haylage
This also is semi wilted grass and is also a lot richer than
grass, therefore a small holed haylage net should be used,
this will slow your horses eating down. Both haylage and silage
are wrapped in a thick plastic wrapper to keep the moisture
in, when the plastic wrapper is broken and air gets to the
bale, it must be used within 3-4 days during the cold weather
and quicker during summer.
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