The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Horses, ponies, donkeys & mules => Topic started by: princesspiggy on November 21, 2011, 07:59:30 am
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has anyone fed silage to ponies successfully?
i normally feed haylage but have been offered silage which is apparently "quite dry so should be alright"
does haylage have the chemical added like silage, or is it just baled damp?
thanx
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Around here no-one adds any chemicals to silage but I don't know whether the same is true everywhere. Best to ask whoever's selling it to be sure.
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if it is baled silage it is unlikely to contain additives if it is clamp silage it may well contain an additive clamp silage is more prone to secondary fermentation and bad for horses better to just ask the supplier
silage = grass cut and willted for 24 hrs at least then picked up and clamped thereafter
haylage = grass cut and left also being turned to assist the drying process then baled and wrapped to stop it heating and going mouldy
hay = the holly grail grass cut and dried by the sun and wind and baled DRY either that or it is a waste of time and effort if it wont do for hay as long as it has not been left to go like sticks it can still make haylage :farmer:
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Another difference there might be is in the type of grass and whether it has been fertilised with inorganic fertiliser. Grass for hay is usually not pure rye grass, though it may be, and won't take too much in the way of 'artificial' (inorganic fertiliser) or it becomes too fragile to work and get dry. It is probably grown to a longer leaf and stem too. Grass intended for silage may be, but isn't necessarily, more likely to be rye grass; will usually be cut at three leaves - so quite short - and quite likely, though again not necessarily, will have had a good plastering of artificial. It could also be second or even third cut in the year; it is very rare up here to get a second cut of hay from any field.
And there are all variations in between; farms like ours make very little intentional silage, always hoping for as much hay as possible. But the climate usually dictates that a proportion is cut and baled as silage and some is probably cut and worked for hay but doesn't quite get there before the weather turns so gets baled and wrapped. Whether you call that silage or haylage I have never quite worked out!
I know of a guy in Devon makes small bale haylage for horsey folk. He has good grass land which has never seen a herbivore for years. He uses artificial and gets three cuts a year. Exactly what the nutritional value of that haylage, especially the third cut, would be, I do not know. I don't know whether he gets farmyard muck onto the land over the winter; that would help if he did.
All of which said, our Dales ponies eat a little bit of silage along with their hay and have never come to any harm. If you check there are no additives (and that there was absolutely no ragwort on the land of course) I would think you would be okay.
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what does clamped mean?
these bales iv bin offered are wrapped and airtight etc.
i know goats cant have silage but can eat haylage - so there must be a difference
thanx
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Clamped means its been stored in a big pit with a cover and those big piles of tyres over to weigh it down. Because it isnt individual bales it is more vulnerable to contamination and the bigger volume with a single seal means additives are often put in to ensure fermentation.
If yours is being sold baled its unlikely to have been in a pit as its a choice thats made at the outset, but still check just in case.
The reason I wouldnt feed silage (altho I know some people do and have been ok with it) is (i) its generally ryegrass which is too mono-culture to be interesting and too rich for horses if cut early, ideally horse hay should be timothy, clover, fescue etc. (ii) it often has the additives which can affect horses adversely or more often just make it unpalatable (iii) it goes off quicker than the drier haylage once opened and the risk increases of problems like colic (iv) there is a greater risk with silage than with drier forages of botulism type illnesses with silage. (v) since its not normally mande primarily for horses, there may be a slightly more relaxed approach to a tiny bit of ragwort sneaking in
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llm makes a very salient point there, pp. How many ponies do you have?
Edited: just seen the answer on another thread - 20.
A normal large round bale of silage will feed approx 200 hill ewes for one day (or 100 for 2, or 50 for 4 days), 23 suckler cattle for one day (or 12 for 2), etc. You don't want it lasting longer than 2 or 3 days really as it does deteriorate - although the drier stuff deteriorates less markedly than the wetter.
With 20 ponies they'd eat it up quick enough. :)
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Silage is baled pretty fast from when its cut, thats why its usually very wet. This summer, quite a lot of what was supposed to be silage, dried quick, and they decded to sell it as haylage, or even hay!! We have just opened a large bale of haylage for the ponies and goats, and its to all intents and purposes hay!!!
I personally would not use silage for horses, unless I really had no option. Although some farms round here seem to feed their horses the same as their cattle and sheep, and they are ok.
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20 native ponies, 20 sheep and 2 heifers.
last year we were using 2-3 bales per week, but it stayed fresh for a good 5 days. 2-3 days is quite short and would mean splitting bales up (and thats knackering! lol)
if goats cant eat silage cos of listeria atc, i presume sheep are fine?
thanx
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No danger of a bale going off before its been used, at your place with 20 at it!!!!
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I dont know if you are looking but I have Haylage made properly in big bales and also some decent hay, its down at Newmachar though, but was made with horses in mind, no clover, wilted for 4 days and smelling sweet, made with either meadow grass and new grass rye/timothy mix, all weed free. You could try both. All fields were rolled and cut evenly; you have to watch if feeding wrapped grass that there is no contamination or you risk listeriosis or other types of mould-caused problems. Sugar shouldnt be too high (laminitis can still be a winter problem if silage is too rich).
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20 ponies split up into 3 groups tho - when its delivered its on a tractor and already pierced so i cant store it. and i usually get one delivery per week. so only lasting 2-3 days would be a problem i think.
thanx guys
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neep hasher, il will pm u thanx
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if goats cant eat silage cos of listeria atc, i presume sheep are fine?
To answer your question about listeriosis - as far as I know all species can get listeriosis if silage has soil in it. Sheep definitely can.
It's the main reason farmers wage war on moles - their molehills mean it's very difficult not to get soil in the cut grass. The more the grass is turned and dried, the more soil will drop out of it, so drier silage / haylage is better for that reason too.
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I know I have always been told not to feed silage to horses because of listeriosis remember they only have one stomach to cope.Personally I prefer grass of the non pickled variety ;)
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would not feed silage to horses
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have decided against it, thanx
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The wettest "haylage" I have bought is wetter than the driest "Sylage" I have bought. It all goes to ponies cows and sheep. I get through a big bale in 4 days but I think the wetter stuff would be pretty close to going sour by the end of it.