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Re: [RC] Oat hay, is this okay? - desertrydr1Couple of things I haven't seen anyone mention about oat hay.It should be cut when the seed heads are at the "Milk" stage, which means they are immature, but formed. The hay should be green inside the bales, and should smell fresh and appetizing. Otherwise, it's just straw. You have to keep it REALLY well tarped or covered. It doesn't take much moisture for it to mold, probably one of the easiest to mold of all the hays I've tried, which include alfalfa, grass/alfalfa mix, straight timothy, oat, and a really neat mix of timothy, alfalfa, oat, barley, with a little pea vine thrown in. Wish I could get more of the latter, as the horses really liked it, and I liked the fact that it was such a mixture of things that it probably covered a lot of nutritional bases. For a couple of winters (I have pasture in the summer) I have fed straight timothy, with a supplement of either soaked beet pulp or alfalfa pellets. I would think that the oat and timothy would be a nice combo, maybe a bit lower in the Calcium/Phosphorus ratio than desirable. jeri See what's free at AOL.com.
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