[RC] How much hay do you feed and what kind? - sherman
I buy all
my hay during the harvesting season, when prices are their lowest. Fortunately,
I have room to store all I need for my 5 horses. I ended up paying $8 per
approx. 100# bale, delivered in stacks of 88, but then we had to move into the
barn ourselves. I feed the horses all they want to eat of almless
wheat hay and oat/wheat/barley, another 4 pounds of alfalfa, and a small amount
of beet pulp & oats as a treat and for getting fresh ground flax seed and
other supplements into the horses.
I think
the current price of alfalfa at the local feed store is $17 or 18 a bale!
Kathy
With all
this talk about where people buy hay and prices, I wonder how much hay people
in other areas feed, especially where hay is expensive?
I guess
I'm spoiled being in the Midwest, but I
have my choice of local farmers and have never paid more than $3.75 for a small
square bale, and that was delivered and stacked! It's been as little as
$1.50 per bale some years. If I had to pay $6 or even $11 a bale, I might
have to rethink my feeding strategy or stop having horses altogether for
economic reasons!
Currently
I feed grass hay and may put out as much as two bales a day for my 2 horses and
2 llamas (the 2 llamas together = less than one horse for hay consumption
purposes). I strive to put out enough hay so they have a just little
left over by the next feeding. They will eat more hay in the winter when
it's below zero and less in the summer when they have pasture, but there's
always some available. I also feed each horse 1-4 cups (as in
baking cups) a day of pelleted horse feed, but
that's it.
Do you
people in California
and Arizona give your horses a
single flake of hay and a big vat of beet pulp or complete
feed instead? Or do you just spend a large portion of your income on
hay?
