Poor quality hay can cause nutritional deficiencies, gut issues, and other serious health problems. But if you’re wanting a quicker, more inexact way of determining hay quality, here are a few things to go by. Color is one of the easiest ways to tell if your marijuana is high quality or not. This tip is for readers able to purchase their weed from a dispensary. Use your nose as well as your eyes. Most people don’t need to test their hay. Study Says Yes, Study Proves That Horses Can Understand Human Emotions, Horse Reacts To Donkey In The Funniest Way Possible. Most people don’t need to test their hay. Make sure that the hay doesn’t smell like mold or mildew – if it does, refuse the hay. Hay which is very dusty is not good to feed to horses, especially if your horses have respiratory issues. The color of a bale of hay can tell you a lot about its quality. TAGS: Feed Cow-Calf. In order to tell good weed vs bad weed, you’ll need to consider several different things regarding appearance, texture (feel), and smell. In summary, sorting out fiction from fact and knowing the nutrient requirements of your horses can make selecting the right hay easy. The only way to know hay’s NDF content is to have it tested. In extreme cases, it can get so hot that the bales can catch on fire, even without a spark (i.e., spontaneous combustion). Hay analysis takes time, so it’s not ideal when deciding whether to accept a hay delivery, but it’s a great step in making sure that you’re giving your horse the nutrition that he needs. And, I figured that hay was hay. These areas were likely sun bleached, meaning that the sun has over-dried the hay and has stripped it of some of its nutrients. Other legumes fed to horses include clover, lespedeza and in certain areas, perennial peanut hay. Weed should be a good mix of not too wet, and not too dry. Even if the outer edge of a bale has faded from sun exposure and rain, the inside should still be green. Well… testing hay is EASY! It can be quite expensive, depending on whether it has to be shipped long distances. A hay analysis helps you better understand what you’re feeding your horse. The old-timers used to talk about cutting hay around the Fourth of July, when they said, “it was stout and had some bottom to it.” Although maximum growth of the plant and peak yields occur around that time, the nutrient value is greatest earlier in the season, when pl… While brown hay doesn’t necessarily mean your rabbit’s hay is bad, the dried up stuff doesn’t have as many nutrients. Relative to assessing forage quality, fiber tests are our single best method, though additional tests for protein and moisture can help to further characterize the forage. And, good quality forage will generally do just fine with your horses – and you can always supplement. | Having your hay lab-tested would be the surest way to know its quality and nutritional content. “These limits result in weight loss, reduced milk production, delayed return to heat, lower-quality colostrum and lots of other bad things. Smell. It is important that you check the quality of hay you use in your horse’s diet by core sampling and sending out for testing so you know what its protein content is and value to your horse’s overall nutrition. These stages generally appear – if we receive a normal amount of moisture – around the first week of May in most parts of Tennessee. But, sometimes it is IMPORTANT to know about the forage you are feeding. The most reliable way to know the exact quality of your hay is to have it tested. In your local you should get 2 cuts of hay per season. Good cannabis … Brown cannabis, however, means its bad and could contain mold, pesticides or other funky stuff. Is that hay good to go yet? The more leaves, the better, since the leaves … In general, hays are classified as: Legume: Alfalfa is the most recognized legume hay fed to horses. Cut open a bale of hay and separate the flakes. I figured – why? One of the most critical factors in making quality dry hay is timing. Always request a horse analysis when sending in hay samples. Do Not Sell My Personal Information Moldy hay generally presents as darker areas which are grey or black. Privacy & Terms How does it smell? The same is true for your horse. Good quality hay will be leafy with fine stems, free of dust, mold, and weeds, bright green, and have a good clean smell. A good-quality grass hay may meet most of the adult horse's basic nutritional needs. Traits of a Good Wet Dog Food. if (theYear < 1900); CA Supply Chain Act. Forageplus understands the need to feed good quality haylage to horses but how do you know if its any good? Another sign of good horse hay is the leaf:stem ratio. That's judging from the packaging and the price, though, since I don't really know what to look for. You'll know when it's moldy by smelling it. High leaf-to-stem ratio. Timothy hay is one of the most popular hays fed to horses. Most people can start to detect mold around 500,000 cfu/g. Few or no leaves and dark brown, black, or white hay should be rejected for mold and very poor nutrition. The first priority in choosing hay is to evaluate it for quality. 4 tips for feeding poor quality hay. Other legumes fed to horses include clover, lespedeza and in certain areas, perennial peanut hay. Here are seven steps to help you produce a quality alfalfa yield: 1. If you find mold, refuse the bale – mold indicates that the hay was baled when it was too wet. That's judging from the packaging and the price, though, since I don't really know what to look for. The highest possible inclusion of top-quality animal proteins. If the hay was of good-quality when harvested and stored in a dry place with sufficient airflow, hay is likely suitable for consumption for two to three years. Sticky Icky Icky. The most desirable colour for Lucerne hay, as with most hay, is bright green. Left in the field too long, and that hay will be rendered useless anyways, so it has to be baled right away. For Insulin Resistant horses, for Cushings Syndrome horses, for other metabolic diseases… and for athletes. Again, though, if you have no experience at all with what quality weed should smell or look like, it can be a little difficult to pick out the ‘dank’ stuff from the ‘stank’ stuff. Hay has the potential to bring good money that makes it competitive with other crops, University of Nebraska-Lincoln extension forage specialist Bruce Anderson says, you just have to take the right management steps and hope for accommodating weather. Keep an eye out for areas which are much lighter than the color of the rest of the bale. For many parts of the country, this summer will be one to remember for the wet haying season many ranchers had to deal with. 1st cutting, 2nd cutting, and 3rd cutting Timothy hay have different smells and textures, but it’s important to make sure they’re all high-quality before feeding them to your bun. The leafiness of the hay plant is where the nutrients reside. Tall fescue or orchard grass hay cut early will be high quality, and good to feed a lactating cow or calf. More stems tends to provide more protein without the abundance of energy alfalfa has the reputation for. When you get a hay delivery, you should take a few minutes to check the hay’s quality before you accept and unload the delivery. Well-grown, quality cannabis buds should have a pungent, identifiable smell — that skunky aroma that ranges from slightly sweet to earthy to diesel-like — indicating high terpene content. Good-quality hay often has an attractive, sweet smell. When dried, clover hay doesn’t preserve the green color & becomes dry looking. Tall fescue or orchard grass hay cut early will be high quality, and good to feed a lactating cow or calf. High-quality hay should be green and sweet smelling, with no traces of mold or excess dust. You will need a separate analysis for each field, cutting etc. Also, moldy hay will smell different from dusty hay. As the grass matures, the fiber levels increase and the protein decreases. Colour: Good hay should be bright green in colour. If you see hay that more resembles the color of straw, then it may be old or have been bleached by sun. If the heat seems to be excessive, then you may want to refuse the hay. The temperature of these hay bales, stacks, and barns can get very hot. And, good quality forage will generally do just fine with your horses – and you can always supplement. Figure 2 shows two cuttings of hay in a study I conducted while at the University of Kentucky wherein the bales’ temperature was tracked over time. Some common forage species fed as hay to horses include the following: Timothy Hay . And, this is true. And, this is true. You often cannot tell the quality of the hay by just looking at the outside of a bale. Your email address will not be published. Even if the outer edge of a bale has faded from sun exposure and rain, the inside should still be green. Do not decide to make haylage when hay has been down and rained on for weeks because the risk of having moldy or pour-quality feed increases the longer the hay has been laying in the swath. Notice that the When selecting your horse’s forage, keep these six signs of good quality horse hay in mind: 1. We have a 16 horse farm in Tennessee and use about 80 tons of hay per year. Trying to decide if you should get round bales or square for your horses? We also don't want to see dusty hay or moldy hay and the flake should break apart easily. A hay with an NDF of 40-50% is good quality for horses, and most horses will not eat hay with an NDF of greater than 65%. When we bale this 19% Moisture Hay we shatter off 25% of the leaves. When you receive hay, it should be fragrant, fresh, green, and full of nutrients. theYear=now.getYear(); With hay that is half stems and half leaves that hay will test as 19% Moisture using a total moisture tester. It should smell good, not musty, sour or moldy. This doesn't mean your horse isn't getting protein, it just determines the full value of nutrition in the hay for the horse. What is haylage? Clover. Harvest or cut the hay at first bloom, also known as heading or the anthesis … This is a good flavored hay & generally animals like the taste of it. 5. Director Ashley Avis Of Disney+'s New Black Beauty Film Talks With iHeartHorses, Study Shows Horses Understand Our Intentions, Do Blanketed Horses Eat Less? SMS Terms & Conditions Feed Central looks at many different aspects of your hay to determine the quality and these include: Maturity – The ideal time to cut your hay is between flowering when you can see the white anthers appear, up to the watery ripe stage when you can … All Rights Reserved. Keep an eye out for areas which are much lighter than the color of the rest of the bale. Keep in mind that hay, even premium forage, loses much of its vitamin content in the first few months of storage. If you see hay that more resembles the color of straw, then it may be old or have been bleached by sun. The bottom line is to find out how good or bad your hay is by testing some of it. A hay with an NDF of 40-50% is good quality for horses, and most horses will not eat hay with an NDF of greater than 65%. Bates warns that waiting too late to cut hay could mean an additional expense for producers. It is impossible to tell the quality of hay from appearance alone. Don't depend on the grass as a food source when it's covered with snow, but yes, it's safe for them to eat. Good hay should smell somewhat sweet. Required fields are marked *, Copyright © 2020 I Heart Horses on the Foodie Pro Theme, « How To Make Your Own Homemade Horse Treats, BREAKING NEWS UPDATE – Reward Offered For Stolen Chincoteague Foal ». Many native or prairie grass hays contain just 6 to 8 percent. Most people can start to detect mold around 500,000 cfu/g. document.write(theYear); Look for a whole, named source of meat as the first ingredient (meaning the product contains more of that ingredient by weight than anything else). I noticed at the vet's office that they sell a couple types of expensive cat foods that look like they're very good quality. If the hay is ready, it will make a crunching sound and snap almost. The more leaves you have, … And some of it is not ready to go. Another easy way to determine good cannabis versus bad is smell. Marijuana should have a fresh smell that you can detect easily. “These limits result in weight loss, reduced milk production, delayed return to heat, lower-quality colostrum and lots of other bad things. Quality hay of optimum nutritional value is cut before peak maturity, with plenty of leaves, minimal stems and little-to-no visible seed heads or blooms 2,3. Hay typically loses only about 5 percent of its original dry matter during the first year of storage---assuming that it is kept in a dry environment, not exposed to direct sunlight or precipitation. In a standard dispensary, you should see three distinct shelves. Amanda Radke 1 | Nov 12, 2015. Leave a Comment. NDF (neutral detergent fiber) and ADF (acid detergent fiber) are the tests used to determine the level of fiber in a forage. University of Minnesota Equine Extension Program This is normal. Image courtesy Purina. As previously described, forage quality reflects the ability of a given forage to meet the nutrient needs of the consuming animal. Good cannabis is green, with flecks of orange or purple. Your email address will not be published. Use your nose as well as your eyes. Hay quality varies every year from area to area and field to field. Look for the presence of mold in any of the flakes. The compromise for many U.S. horses is a good quality grass-alfalfa mix hay. Timing is important for not only when the forage crop needs to be cut, but also to chop it up while the weather is good, have someone packing the pit as more fresh haylage is collected, and to cover it … Teff Hay for Horses: Pros and Cons In recent years it has become popular among North American horse owners looking to reduce the amount of sugar in their horses’ diets. Beyond that time frame, further losses of dry matter, protein and energy are negligible, so hay that is 12 to 24 months old will have nearly the same protein and energy value as hay that is six to eight months … With so many rainy days during the prime of haying season, there’s now plenty of poor quality, moldy hay to contend with. Hay easy be high quality or not, not musty, sour or moldy that more resembles color! For many U.S. horses is a good indicator of feed quality ; higher values within a feed lower-quality. 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