What is a good Rfv for horse hay?

What is a good Rfv for horse hay?

NDF levels under 65 percent are generally good for horses. Horses likely won’t eat hay with NDF values over 65. A RFV of 100 is about average.

How long should you soak hay for laminitis?

Soaking hay for 12 – 16 hours in cold weather and no more than 3 – 6 hours in warm weather can help to reduce WSC content by up to 50% in some cases.

Which hay has the highest calcium?

Orchardgrass and timothy hay are both excellent, but orchard grass gets the nod as the best of the two. It has a higher protein and calorie content and balanced levels of calcium and phosphorus.

How do you read hay test results?

NDF levels between 40 and 50% represent hays that will be highly palatable, while those above 65% will likely not be readily consumed by most horses. However, high NDF hays can be used as “busy hays”. Both ADF and NDF can be used to help determine maturity; the higher the values, the more mature that hay tends to be.

Can you soak hay too long?

Don’t soak the hay longer or you’ll risk leaching beneficial nutrients. Soaking hay to remove sugars that can exacerbate metabolic conditions such as insulin resistance takes more time.

What is poor quality hay?

Poor-quality hay may be damp and moldy with a musty or fermented smell. Hay that appears weathered, straw-like, or brown is likely low in nutritional value. If hay has been cut late in maturity, seed heads will be apparent in grass hay and blooms will be evident in alfalfa hay.

What is low quality hay?

Characteristics of low-quality forages include high fiber content, low crude protein (CP) and energy (total digestible nutrients or TDN) content, and reduced fiber digestibility. Low-quality forages also may have tough, coarse stems and reduced leaf-to-stem ratios, which can reduce palatability to livestock.

Which cutting of hay is best?

Timothy Hay Timothy must be harvested in the pre- or early-bloom stage to ensure a high nutrient content. The first cutting usually has a higher weed content, and quality decreases after the second cutting, so the second cutting is usually the best to feed.

What type of hay has the lowest sugar content?

Low sugar hay is extremely important in a horse’s diet due to its health properties and the enormous benefits it can offer. While lucerne usually has lower sugar than a lot of grass hays, it more often than not tests HIGHER in sugar, starch & protein compared to our Low Sugar Hay.

How much hay should a laminitic horse?

Feed: Hay – feed approx. 1.5-2% bodyweight hay (depending on whether weight loss is needed (1.5%) or not (2%), so 7.5-10 kg for a 500 kg horse, 3.75-5 kg for a 250 kg pony), soaked for at least 1 hour then drained to reduce sugars (or analysed to show combined sugar/starch no more than 10%).

Is steaming hay better than soaking?

However, steaming is beneficial for the hygienic quality of the hay and whereas soaking increases the bacterial presence in hay, steaming reduced bacteria numbers by 98%. So whilst steaming hay for horses deals with the respiratory challenges, it is still recommended to soak hay to remove WSC.

How can you tell good quality hay?

Look for the following characteristics:

  1. Maturity – High quality hay will have a high proportion of leaves in the bale, with few or no coarse stems or seed heads.
  2. Condition – High quality hay will contain little dust or mold.
  3. Color & odor – High quality hay generally has a bright green color and a sweet, fresh odor.

Can Dengie products be used to replace hay or haylage?

However, there are some situations in which hay and haylage are no longer ideal for your horse’s ration. Our quick guide gives a breakdown on the Dengie products that can be used to replace or supplement the usual hay or haylage rations. Hi Fi Senior – Suitable For A Wide Range Of Horses and Ponies, Not Just Veterans!

What do the numbers on a hay analysis mean?

On a hay analysis there are two columns of numbers: “As Sampled” and “Dry Matter.” As sampled reports nutrients in their natural state including water. While dry matter reports nutrients with the moisture removed.

What is Dengie Pure Grass for horses?

Made from a blend of British grown grasses including Fescue, Rye and Meadow Grass, Dengie Pure Grass is soft, easy to chew and highly palatable. Suitable to use a complete or partial hay replacer or extender to provide more enrichment in the stable as well bulking out your horse’s bucket feed.

Can I use Dengie fibre feeds as forage replacers?

A number of the Dengie fibre feeds can be used as partial or full hay replacers. Dengie’s Pure Grass brings the field to the stable, or for good do-ers Hi-Fi Lite is an excellent option. We can provide more information about Dengie’s range of forage replacers, including those suitable for veterans with poor teeth.