HOW TO BUY HAY
By Karen Brown
As horseowners or caretakers, we buy hay nearly year-round. It's expensive,
takes up a lot of space, and it can be a challenge to find decent hay especially
during the winter and early spring seasons. However, as the foundation of
proper health care and nutrition for horses, obtaining the best hay you can find is
worth the effort. Yet, many people have a hard time determining if the finished
product of a square bale or round bale of hay is of good quality.
When talking with hay suppliers on the phone I’ve experienced what I call: The 4
BIG LIES: "It's horse quality." "It's fertilized and irrigated." "There's no
weeds." “They’re 65 pound bales.” The vision I imagine while on the phone
frequently is not the hay that shows up at my barn. Unless you’re buying hay
from the feed store or out of the field, you’ll probably be purchasing sight unseen.
You are dependent on the honesty and knowledge of the supplier you're dealing
with. Let me just say right now, if you receive a load of hay that is not the quality
you were told it would be, then send it back where it came from. Don't feel
obligated to take a load of hay that is below the standard you requested.
There are two types of hay: legumes and grasses. Alfalfa is a legume. Coastal
Bermuda is a grass and is the hay most commonly fed to horses in most of
Texas. Some owners feed alfalfa, however, as you will see, unless your horse
has a medical reason, is growing, or has a heavy workload, alfalfa is generally
not necessary in providing a complete nutritional diet. In some cases, if overfed,
it can even tip the scale in the other direction, providing more protein and
nutrients than your horse can safely absorb.
Grass hay is excellent for supplying needed roughage, protein and energy for
most horses. It can satisfy the horse's appetite and provide necessary roughage
without excess calories and protein. It can be fed free choice (all the horse
wants to eat) with no risks or side effects. Providing hay in a free choice manner
not only ensures that your horse is getting adequate feed and fiber; it can avert a
number of stable vices, such as wood chewing, pawing, weaving, to name a few,
that arise due to boredom.
Think about how horses live in the wild. They roam for 15 to 20 miles a day,
grazing the range as they travel their territory. They will eat for as much as 16
hours a day, nibbling as they creep along. Grasses make up the vast majority of
the natural diet. Horses will also nibble on the occasional tasty tree or bush, but
grass provides nearly all the nutrition a wild horse gets.
What you don't find in nature is an abundance of any kind of grains in enough
quantity for wild horses to depend on for sustenance. Horses are able to sustain
long healthy lives without the processed feeds we have come to believe are
mandatory for our domestic friends. The importance of this point is crucial.
Pasture grazing is the ideal source of nutrition and fiber for domestic horses. If
pasture is not available, then HAY should always be the foundation of your feed
program, regardless of your horse's breed, discipline, level of work, or age. If
you provide good quality hay, you will fulfill the majority and possibly all of your
horse's nutritional needs and you satisfy his instinctual need to forage and urge
to chew. With good quality hay, you can view any grain product as a supplement
rather than a staple in your horses' diet.
A mature horse will eat 2 to 2.5% of its body weight each day. For optimum
health, nutritionists recommend that at least half of this should be roughage such
as hay. For a 1000 pound horse, that means at least 10 to 15 pounds of hay
each day. The balance of his nutrition may come from a grain or processed feed
product if he needs a higher level of calories and nutrients than a complete hay
diet can provide. A horse that does not have the additional intake requirements
would eat as much as 25 pounds of hay per day, with little or no supplemental
grain.
Horse care providers tend to feed hay by the flake. However, because of
differing moisture content in each bale this is not a consistent way to measure.
Also, flake sizes can vary greatly. I’ve seen them as small as 2 inches and as
thick as 10 inches. A better way to dole out the hay is by weight. That means
you will need to hang a scale in your feed room or get really good at judging the
weight as you pick up a flake to feed it.
Even if you’re feeding free choice, you’ll want to monitor the amount you throw in
the feed tub, or you’ll find a lot of wasted hay when you clean the stalls. If you
take the time to learn just how much hay your horse will eat given a free choice
spread, then you can plan to give him just a small amount over that. You’ll still
be giving him “free choice” while minimizing the waste. Keep in mind, though,
that his intake will change with changes in work load and the weather.
When you consider that forage (hay) provides 50% to 90% of the TOTAL nutrient
intake for horses, you'll see that it pays to buy your hay based on quality rather
than price. A good quality grass hay may meet most of the adult horse's basic
nutritional needs. When we talk about hay quality, what we’re really talking about
is feed value. How much nutrition does the product supply per dollar spent? The
lower the quality, the more a horse will have to eat to meet his needs.
While the price per bale may be less, if the horse has to eat 30 pounds instead of
20 pounds to get the same nutritional value as the better hay, you’ll be spending
the same or possibly even more for the inferior product. Let’s say you buy
mediocre hay for $3.50/bale. Your horse has to eat 30 pounds per day to meet
his needs. That’s about $1.61/day. Now, if you bought top quality hay at
$4.50/bale and only fed 20 pounds per day, that’s $1.38/day. (Based on 65 lb.
bale.) Compound that over a year and you’ve spent an extra $84.00 and
change. And that’s just one horse.
By the way, it’s worth the effort to haul the bathroom scale out of the house and
actually weigh several bales of hay when you get a delivery. I’ve bought hay
from suppliers that claimed their bales were 60-65 pounds, but I learned the hard
way that the average weight was closer to 50. The cost on those shorty bales
was about a dollar a bale higher than what I thought I was paying. You should
weigh at least 10 bales and take an average to determine a fair weight per bale
for a load.
There are a number of factors you can learn to look for that will help you decide if
the load of hay is acceptable. When the hay is loaded onto your vehicle or is
delivered to your barn, the only way you can determine quality is by visual
inspection. Another method of checking quality is to have it tested by a
laboratory. Realistically, most people don’t go through the trouble, and if you’re
not buying from the same source all the time, it’s not worth the investment. It
also takes time and is not something you can do before the hay is stacked in
your barn. Most conscientious hay growers will have their own hay tested on a
regular basis and should be willing to provide a copy of this report to you.
So, how do you know what good hay looks like? Here are a handful of factors
you can quickly and easily evaluate to determine the level of quality of any bale
of hay. I am focusing on grass hay in this article, but these same criteria apply to
legumes, such as alfalfa.
The stage of maturity at which hay is cut makes a big difference in the quality.
We’re talking about how many days it has grown since the last cutting. The
problem is that it is difficult to determine maturity after the hay is cut and baled.
Ideally, coastal hay will be cut between 21 and 28 days of growth. If the hay is
extremely fine it may have been cut sooner than 21 days. If it is extra coarse and
larger stemmed, it was probably cut too late. As plants mature, the stems
become thicker and leaves fall from the plant.
The factors you can assess by looking at a bale of hay are: 1) leafiness, 2) odor
and condition, 3) foreign material, and 4) color.
1) LEAFINESS
60 percent of the total digestible nutrients, 70 percent of the
protein, and 90 percent of the vitamins are found in the leaves. Hay with a high
leaf content will also have a greater energy value than hay with fewer leaves.
Therefore, you already know that overly mature hay does not provide the best
level of nutrition since the leaves are falling off. Look for a high ratio of leafiness
compared to stems; this will tell you the hay was likely cut during that 21 to 28
day window of ideal maturity. You are looking for hay that is leafy with fine stems
that are soft and pliable. Thick-stemmed hay indicates longer maturity stage and
will have less digestible content.
2) ODOR AND CONDITION
Good quality hay should smell like a freshly
mown field. Any whiff of mold, mildew, mustiness renders the hay suspect. A
rotten smell is a red flag. Open a bale and pull a handful from the interior, smell
it closely. Given plenty of hay, horses will sort through the flakes and pass over
hay that doesn't smell good. But, if they are only fed a limited amount of
roughage, they may be compelled to eat hay that contains mold or mildew.
Consider yourself very lucky if your horse doesn’t colic.
Dust is another problem. Pull a flake of hay apart and watch for a dust cloud.
There will likely be some, after all it’s a product grown in dirt. But, too much dust
can cause respiratory problems or heaves and can be another sign of mold
spores.
3) FOREIGN MATERIAL
Just like the check’s in the mail, all hay is
weed-free. Believe it when you see it. Pull the bale apart with your bare hands.
Look and feel for weeds, stickers, clumps of dirt, or other deleterious materials
like wire or objects that could injure the horse if put in his mouth or swallowed.
Most weeds aren’t dangerous to horses, but unless you like paying for filler, buy
your hay from a reliable source of proven weed-free hay. Even a small amount
of weeds will cause a horse to toss the hay around, which means he ends up
standing on more than he eats. And if your horse does nibble down some of
those weeds, you’ll get to see those very same weeds start popping up in your
pasture once the seeds pass through your horse and he courteously drops them
in a nice pile of fertilizer for future growth.
4) COLOR Color is probably the most confusing and most mis-understood, yet
the most common factor used to determine hay quality. We all love to see that
beautiful rich green that says the hay came straight out of the field. And that is
what you want to look for. The most desirable hay color is the bright green of the
immature crop in the field. A consistent green throughout the bale and the entire
load usually indicates that the hay was properly cured, and was protected from
rain damage, molds, or improper storage.
There are some conditions where hay is not that pretty green, but is still good
quality. These conditions include slight levels of rain exposure or dew, and sun
bleaching. Slight discoloration from these conditions are not too serious. Again,
dig inside the bales to determine if the color loss is only on the outer surfaces or
if the entire bale shows the lack of good color. If only the outer edges are faded,
they were allowed to get sun-bleached during storage. This does not damage
the quality of the interior of the bales and the outer edges are still acceptable
fodder. If the hay is yellow throughout the bale, the color loss is from overmaturity and is not a top quality product.
Now, if the hay is brown or black it has a serious flaw. If the hay is rained on
after cutting, valuable nutrients can be lost. Growers have a tough job deciding
whether to risk cutting and curing when there are impending rainstorms. Heavy
dew or fog can also cause hay to turn dark due to the undesirable moisture level
in the freshly cut hay. Over mature hay will often look brownish even if cut and
handled correctly.
The brown color is caused by heat and moisture. If the hay is too wet when
baled, it will begin to mold and also to produce varying levels of heat. If you open
a bale that feels warm or hot, it is suspect and should be examined very closely
before being fed to your horse. You should also examine the rest of the load for
heat. It is possible for the hay to get hot enough to combust. Brown or black hay
has lost most, if not all, of its nutritional value and can only be considered as a
danger to horses.
Having said all this, color can be deceiving and is actually the least important
criteria for assessing hay quality. Color has little bearing on how well horses will
eat it. They will pick the best hay based on smell, not sight. Use all the factors
described to evaluate your load of hay, balancing each factor with the others.
Every load of hay is bound to be a little different from the last, as no two loads
will have been produced with the same weather conditions or even come out of
the same fields. This is where knowledgeable growers make the best hay
suppliers as they have studied the art of producing a consistent product in an
ever-changing environment.
Now we’ll look at how to interpret the results of laboratory testing. The sample
given is from coastal Bermuda. Hay quality can vary from one grower to the
next. If you are buying from a hay broker, you may never know which grower
produced the load you bought. Quality varies due to regional differences, but
also is determined by the skill and knowledge of the grower. Frequently, a wide
range of quality of hay will all be priced the same.
If you buy hay in large quantities, or if you are tying to establish a rapport with a
regular supplier, you may choose to have the hay tested for nutrient content.
While visual inspection allows you to determine the general quality of the hay, lab
tests will tell you exactly what the nutritional values are. Chemical analysis does
not reveal defects such as dust, musty odor, mold, foreign material, and leaf
shattering.
The best sample is comprised of core samples from a variety of bales in a load.
Combine these samples and send them to the lab.
The forage laboratory then determines the following by percentage:
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Dry Matter (DM)
Crude Protein (CP)
Crude Fiber (CF)
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Minerals including calcium, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium
Digestible energy content
Potential dry matter intake (how much of it the horse will eat)
Relative feed value
Crude protein (CP) and Crude Fiber (CF) are key to assessing the hay's
nutritional value. Some labs will break the fiber down into two components - acid
detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) - to better estimate its
digestibility.
Essential nutrients not supplied by the forage must be supplemented by
concentrates, which add to the total feed bill. Thus, the higher the hay quality, the
lower the amount of concentrates needed, and the lower the feed costs.
Forage testing is a valuable tool for determining the value of hay as well as
providing information for selecting commercial feed and doing a complete diet
evaluation. In forage testing, a representative sample is taken from several bales
and sent to a laboratory to be analyzed for protein, fiber, calcium, phosphorus,
copper, zinc and energy (TDN/Horse Digestible Energy).
High levels of digestible energy in hay mean that a pound of feed will provide
more energy for growth, milk production, or body maintenance. Digestible energy
is measured as total digestible nutrients (TDN), or as net energy lactation (NEL),
or as net energy maintenance (NEM) and net energy gain (NEG). Digestible
energy is a measure of the solar energy captured by the plant which can be
digested by the animal. Relative Feed Value (RFV) is reported on many forage
test reports. It is a combination of the forage's digestibility and DMI. Hay with an
RFV of 115 will provide about 15% more digestible energy than a feed with an
RFV of 100.
Dry matter intake (DMI) is best described as how much hay the animal can eat.
As more highly digestible forage is eaten, more energy is available to the animal
for growth and milk production.
Most people buy hay based on how it looks, smells and feels. These are
"qualitative" factors, and they are important. When appraising hay, keep in mind
the following points:
1. It's what's inside that counts. Ask that one or several bales be opened so
you can evaluate the hay inside the bales. (Do not worry about slight
discoloration on the outside, especially in stacked hay).
2. Choose hay that is as fine-stemmed, green and leafy as possible, and is
soft to the touch.
3. Avoid hay that is overcured, excessively sun-bleached, or smells moldy,
musty, dusty or fermented.
4. Examine the leaves, stems and flowers or seed pods to determine the
level of maturity.
5. Select hay that has been harvested when the plants are in early bloom (for
legumes) or before seed heads have formed in grasses.
6. Avoid hay that contains significant amounts of weeds, dirt, trash or debris.
7. Examine hay for signs of insect infestation or disease. Be especially
careful to check for blister beetles in alfalfa. Ask the grower about any
potential problems in the region.
8. Reject bales that seem excessively heavy for their size or feel warm to the
touch. (They may contain excess moisture that could cause mold, or
worse, spontaneous combustion.)
9. When possible, purchase and feed hay within a year of harvest to
preserve its nutritional value.
10. Store hay in a dry, sheltered area out of the rain, snow and sun, or cover
in the stack to protect it from the elements.
Bounce test: Pick up the bale by the twine. A good vale has some flexibility and
sags a bit when you lift it. The degree of sag depends upon how tightly pressed
the hay was during baling.
Poof test: When you release the twine, good-quality hay poofs out and expands
because of its springiness.
Color test: Any shade of greed is a hallmark of good hay. Yellow or brown hay
is sunburned and, while generally safe, probably has lost some nutrients along
with the color change. Gray or black coloring is grounds for immediate rejection.
Sniff test: Take a close-up whiff. Good hay smells sweet and grassy, without
the slightest hint of breath-catching mold or dust.
Copyright, 2007. Karen L. Brown