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Discussion on Stemmy 1st crop hay
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 30, 2007 - 1:39 pm:
Hi Dr.O. a farmer called me and asked if I would be interested in any 1st crop hay, he said I could come get a couple bales and feed it to see if the horses like it first. It has been cut and stored for around a month.
I went and got some , it is stemmy, smells fine, looks good and no dust. I thought PERFECT for the fat ones.
Right now these horses would eat just about anything very quickly that I put in front of them because of their diet. I took 1 flake and made 3 piles for them to try it out....They hate it! I gave them that leaf about an hour ago (3 hog horses) and they are still picking at it and probably half of that 1 leaf is left.
A couple questions...there is nothing wrong with that hay that I can tell, and maybe them hating it is good! they are eating it, but very slowly, so for the summer diets it is O.K.?, but come winter would the nutrition value be O.K. I wonder? On the upside they would have something to munch most of the day in the winter. I have a feeling if they don't like it much it isn't very "sugary"
They do have a tendency to get fat over the winter, more so than the summer, and I don't want to deal with spring founder EVER again.
The farmer has 200 bales of this, I need about 400 to get me thru the seasons. He said he would bale me up 200 bales of 2nd crop also. (all grass). In the winter if I fed them good 2nd crop in the morning and 1st at night, I HOPE I could keep their weight down. I just hate to buy 200 bales of something they wouldn't eat....which is doubtful.
I just wonder if they get a taste of the second crop they would refuse the 1st.
Right now I have about 20 bales of last years hay left...it isn't the greatest, but they scarf it right up. Could there be something in this hay I am missing that would make it bad?? Thanks
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Member:
alden
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 30, 2007 - 3:49 pm:
Diane,
Is this all grass? What were you feeding?
I had about 300 bales last year from a new farm that was 100% grass. My horses hated it also, but they were used to a grass / alfalfa mix. After some time they did eat it, it took a couple days for one stallion to start eating this grass. I feed this and corn over the winter and everyone was in good condition come spring. I could never find anything wrong with it, a farmer told me that sometimes horses just don't like early cuts. He didn't know why either 
If it's clean and smells good I'd use it and supplement with a complete feed or an alfalfa hay if they get too skinny.
Good day,
Alden
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Member:
amara
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 30, 2007 - 4:45 pm:
i love to feed stemmy hay because it slows them down and keeps them busy for a long time.. i do a nutritional analysis to see where i'm missing, and then supplement with a vitamin or a few flakes of some real nice hay, or some extra pasture time... i especially like stemmy hay for overnite....
it does take awhile for them to get used to it, so at first that's the only hay i feed till they accept it.. once they get used to it then i dont have any problems... i've fed some really stemmy (but clean) stuff in the past and once the horses got used to it i was able to maintain them in very easily...
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Member:
twhgait
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 30, 2007 - 5:03 pm:
Diane, I'm dealing with the same thing...see my thread under "Hay Woes"
Mine are starting to eat it more...now that I've cut back the old stuff even further for the "weaning onto it" process. Sounds like it's fine and they should get used to it. That stuff's great for weight issues!
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 30, 2007 - 5:35 pm:
Thanks, that's what I thought, it would be good busy hay and would help keep the weight down.
Kim I did read your post and that's how mine are acting...except their old hay doesn't have any alfalfa either....well maybe about 5% so that might be the difference. This hay has NO alfalfa....just what the diet Dr. ordered I think. I just called the hay guy and said I'd take it.
I WILL see ribs...I WILL I WILL!!!
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 30, 2007 - 6:31 pm:
I prefer stemmy grassy hay too. A perfect bale would be 30-40% alfalfa, but especially in the winter I like something with more chew time. This year our supplier has more alfalfa than anything as he is redoing the fields. Got some that is 50% alfalfa, hoping the last of it we're getting tonight and tomorrow is a lot less alfalfa, or none.
Last years hay was horrible, no alfalfa, and dead grass from the summer before mixed in. I gave the horses a scoop of vitamins, their mineral and salt block. A can of SafeChoice to mix the vitamins in, and every looked great come spring.
BTW, some of the more alfalfa I got this year I returned: smelled like it was going to mold, felt damp to me. I think alfalfa might mold easier and quicker too.
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Member:
quatro
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 30, 2007 - 11:26 pm:
We baled our 1st cutting grass hay, probably a day too early. It wasn't crunchy dry yet, but soft. It seems where there were any weeds it is a bit moldy. I am picking through it and feeding it now, in hopes the other will be great. WE are baling some blue grass tomorrow, that should be really dry. The bad part about dry around here is we get the dusty hay. I just shake it our really good, and hope that is ok. The alfalfa is beautiful, but more like a 80% alfalfa 20% grass.
We will see what the second cutting has to offer. Hay is going for $4.00 bale around here, and a guy took some to Texas from here and sold it for $11.00 bale. Whats the prices on the hay you are looking at Diane and anyone?
suz
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Member:
leilani
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 1, 2007 - 12:20 am:
Oh my, we have more grass now than we can deal with. It is our rainy season so it grows and grows...
$4.00 for a bale of hay. I pay $25-28. Leilani
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 1, 2007 - 6:59 am:
The alfalfa hay around here had winter kill, we got less than a third of the hay we got last year off our fields. I have heard hay is going to be very high and hard to get. The farmers are planting more corn because the price is so good and that is eliminating hay ground also.
The guy I am getting this hay from puts up those HUGE square bales that weigh about 70#s. I am going to get that for $2.75 a bale....for 1st crop. 2nd crop is usually a little more expensive, but I am going to try to keep him at $2.75. I can feed my horse for about 3 days on those big bales in the winter and a week in the summer, I hate moving them they are sooooo heavy, but I can't beat the price.
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Member:
kathleen
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 1, 2007 - 9:17 am:
In San Antonio we are paying 9.95 for Coastal hay and 12.95 for Alfalfa.
Kathleen
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Member:
twhgait
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 1, 2007 - 9:32 am:
I paid $3/bale for this first cutting I just got. I bought the whole thing....700 bales (it'll take me to next years first cutting).....my girls are all on the heavy side and this stuff has enough stems to keep them busy and enough grass to be nutritous. I might supplement with some alfalfa mix hay when it gets cold but I figure between their higher weight, the grass hay I'm feeding now, and their pasture time, they should be more then fine thru September-October.
Diane, they ARE eating it now...I think they're done holding out....maybe 
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 1, 2007 - 9:42 am:
Diane,
Yes you certainly could be missing something but what that might be I really don't know how to tell.
The article on forages discusses evaluating hay and if you are worried about chemical contaminants you might ask the farmer about the growing of the grass. However, as others have noted it is not unusual for horses to pick at new and unfamiliar forages.
DrO
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Member:
jerre
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 1, 2007 - 12:21 pm:
First cutting orchard grass 92# bales is $12.99.
With my gas to pick it up, it's about $300/ton. A friend got similar hay delivered for $260/ton, but I don't have enough storage.
I feed 4 bales a week to my two. They pretty much eat whatever is in front of them. And if they start leaving too much (and it looks good to me) I cut them back by 25% and suddenly they clean it all up. 
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Member:
sunny66
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 1, 2007 - 12:50 pm:
I'm lucky to get 100 pound timothy bale for $15! $3??? I need to move ;)
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Member:
leslie1
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 1, 2007 - 8:23 pm:
here in central arizona We pay 16.00 bucks for a bale of bermuda (100lbs.)
I think timothy goes for 18.00
alfalfa goes for around 13.00
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Monday, Jul 2, 2007 - 8:05 am:
Got my 550 bales in, $2.10 a bale this year. 40-50 pound bales. Half are 40%- 50% alfalfa, half are grass. When the horses are off pasture, trying to feed the left overs from last years poor crop. I think that 120 of half brown grass and half kinda green grass may end up being bedding as they don't want it; just keeping looking over at the pastures willing them to grow!
I keep saying I want to move south but after reading the prices of hay...maybe NOT! Of course you all get more than 90 days of grazing I bet.
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Member:
muffi
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Posted on Monday, Jul 2, 2007 - 6:04 pm:
WOW Leslie - i don;'t miss AZ Prices but then the bales were bigger. In Northern NM I pay $10 a bale for what we call Designer Grass 60 # bales (only can store like 60 at time) it's like orchard grass but also FIRST CUT - but its not really stemmy but the horses think it's absolutly delish. They normally get Bermuda - 100# bales - 15 a bale and VERY DUSTY - i believe it's from California. alfalfa goes for the same from the same NM Farmer - $10 a 50 LB Bale but that first cut is VERY STEMMY. I feed very little Alfalfa to them cause it makes them buggy and they are not ridden enough for that kind of protein so they get mostly GRASS Grass and hey some more Grass.... but they love the first cut grass stuff.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Monday, Jul 2, 2007 - 7:47 pm:
Man! We're missing the boat here! We just filled out loft with our first cutting; some of straight grass, and some grass/alfalfa mix. I should have sold it to TX, CA and AZ and bought hay for my bunch; I'd be way ahead!
We're having a very dry year so far, so we may only get one more cutting off our fields. Hay around here will be going up if we don't get rain soon.
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Member:
kathleen
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Posted on Monday, Jul 2, 2007 - 10:15 pm:
Sara,
You can have some of our rain, I'll try to send some your way.
Kathleen
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 3, 2007 - 12:58 pm:
Would love it if you could, Kathleen!
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Member:
stevens
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 3, 2007 - 5:36 pm:
Now I remember why I don't read these threads. I pay $22 for a 100 lb bale of Bermuda in So Cal.
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Member:
magulas
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 3, 2007 - 6:24 pm:
I guess this is another case of location, location, location. I'm also in So Cal and pay $11.00 per 100# bale..... Inland Empire
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Member:
erika
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 4, 2007 - 11:49 am:
$2.50-$3.00 for grass, up to $4.00 for alfalfa--delivered. I also get the most fantastic alfalfa mix round bales for $35-$40 here in northwest New Jersey.
Now to really rub it in...heard on the news today that New Jersey has the cheapest gas in the country, and we don't have to pump it ourselves!!
I'd better shut up now...I prefer that the masses think of the turnpike and factories when they picture NJ, not rolling hills and farms!
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Member:
ilona
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 7, 2007 - 8:39 am:
In New Mexico I have found GREAT grass hays at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Department. Grass hay here generally costs $12+. At the department it is $6.00 and superior quality. I do have to haul it though. The other rub is that there is a waiting list that you work your way up and I can only reserve 100 bales per cutting (5 cuttings a year). So I have to get friends to reserve for me too as I need 4-5 bales per day. Another resource was to call the State Agricultural Department for the names of farms they check have, and call them directly. Its cheaper, its verified and you cut out the dreaded 'middleman'. I don't resent anyone making an honest living at all...I just like to keep my costs down.
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