Re: Adding weight


cindi wrote:
> Judie wrote:
> > Eileen Morgan wrote:
> > > On 16 Sep 2005 07:25:25 -0700, "Judie" <jmstanle2002@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > >
> > > >Eileen, I think that hay flakes really vary. When I was at my aunt's
> > > >barn they had very small flakes but the ones we got in CA were huge.
> > >
> > > I bet you 1,000 that I feed more than 2x the amount of hay you do by
> > > weight/volume.
> > >
> > > Eileen Morgan
> > > The Mare's Nest
> > > http://www.eimorgan.com
> >
> > Yes you are right! You feed 2x more because your bales weigh 1/2 mine.
> > (or what I used to have).
>
> Judie, I'm in CA, near Sacramento. Our bales typically weigh 90 to 110
> pounds, alfalfa or rye grass or orchard grass. The alfalfa bales in
> particular are very heavy - one flake is so heavy it's like a brick or
> a stepping stone. I can toss it over the fence and when it hits the
> ground it barely sheds fibers as it's so dense and tight... I will
> feed 18 full size horses and 4 weanlings at most 4 bales per day (if
> that's all they are eating, which isn't the case here since I feed a
> hay pellet too - but if I did only feed hay, that's how much it would
> be - I feed a bit over 1 bale once per day and hay pellets twice per
> day now.)
>
> Hearing what your barn manager feeds didn't surprise me or sound like
> too little for what I'm used to. Without weighing flakes, there is no
> way to know for sure.
>
> In CA you basically have your "regular" bales, 90 to 110 pounds, three
> strings, rectangular in shape, and then you have your dairy bales,
> almost always alfalfa and huge, you need a forklift to move them and
> they aren't for sale at the normal feed stores and I've never seen any
> horse place using them, and that's it. I have never seen round bales
> in this part of CA although I know they exist! I saw an ad once for
> "small square" bales for "horse people" that weigh no more than 50
> pounds each, but that was last summer and I haven't seen anything like
> that before or since. I have several hay fields near me and most are
> baled into the regular rectangular bales but about a fourth become the
> large dairy bales.
>
> If you buy regular bales at the feed store and they weigh less than 90
> pounds each, they will disclose that to you, apologetically, and charge
> less. It is very rare though. I pay between $9 and $11 per bale for
> rye grass, orchard grass, or alfalfa, and grassy alfalfa is usually $12
> per bale. This is from a hay dealer/feed store type place. Buying
> from the farmer can be a bit cheaper but the hay usually sucks - dusty,
> dry, shatters when you touch it, and full of eukalyptus (sp?) leaves or
> corn stalks.
>
> We just had our back 10 acres hayed, and we got 890 bales of mixed
> grass hay. It's good for munching on but doesn't have much protein.
> Now, these bales weigh a LOT less and I do wind up feeding 1 bale per
> three horses once per day plus their hay pellets. If this was what I
> was feeding exclusively, I can certainly see feeding many many more
> bales per day, but that's because I can practically lift a whole bale
> with my pinky finger! :-) This is not the case with the nice hay that
> you can buy from the bigger hay dealers or feed stores.
>
> cindi

Hi Cindi,

At the feed store I used to go to in Shingle Springs, they posted the
type of hay along with the weight so I know exactly how much they
weighed!!! I used to get the orchard grass or rye grass hay. I know
what you mean about some of the hay being very dense! I look back at
pictures of my TB, Jade, and she was very heavy. I learned that it was
not good for her because she had a bone chip from her sesamoid in her
fetlock ligament area on her left front and the extra weight was not
helping. So I tapered off on her. Tula was the dominant mare so I did
not need to worry that she would not have enough.

Judie

.

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