Hay Storage

You’ve just purchased some premium quality hay for your horses, now you need to make it last.  So how should you store your hay?  Here are some tips to help make sure your hay last and maintains it quality.

1. Seal up your storage area.  Be sure to store hay under shelter when possible.  Direct sunlight will bleach and age hay, and rain will cause spoilage.  Plug any holes in your roof, as a leaky roof will lead to wet hay and development of mold.  If you have an enclosed area to store hay, be sure to check and plug any places where mice, rats, or other vermin may have been entering.  They will deposit feces, chew through twine, and nest in bales, making a mess of your storage area.

2. Do not store your hay directly on the ground.  Storing directly on the ground will cause moisture to wick up from the ground and lead to spoiled hay.  Pallets are helpful in lifting hay off the ground and promoting air circulation around the bales.  This also applies if you store hay in an area with concrete floors.  Concrete will wick moisture, so airflow is still needed under your bales to prevent mold and damage.

3. Round bales should be stored end-to-end to minimize losses.  Stacking round bales tends to trap moisture, and limits drying from sun and wind.  Outdoor storage of round bales will lead to losses, typically anywhere from 5-35%.  When storing round bales outside, so not store them in a low-lying area, and when possible, cover them with a tarp to reduce losses.  Buying denser bales can also help reduce this loss.  Studies have also shown that bales wrapped with net wrap or plastic twine have less losses than those wrapped with natural twine, but be careful to ensure all net wrap is removed.  Net wrap pieces have been known to cause intestinal blockages.

Following these tips can help protect the investment you have made in hay on your farm.  See the following table demonstrating the increases longevity of hay when store properly.

Hay Storage Options	Storage Longevity (Years)	Dry Matter Loss (%)
Conventional Shed	20	4 to 7
Tarped on Pallet	5	4 to 7
Net Wrap on Ground	1	15 to 25
Twine on Ground	1	25 to 35

This article was adapted from University of Minnesota Extension website found at https://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/horse/nutrition/selecting-and-storing-horse-hay/

Blanketing Your Horse

In North Carolina, fall and winter weather can vary widely.  It may be 75 degrees and sunny one day and then freezing rain and 35 degrees only one week later.  This can cause a lot of confusion among horse owners about whether or not to blanket their horses, particularly those horses who are out in the elements.  Are they warm enough?  Do they need to be blanketed?  If so what type of blankets do they need?

To begin with, let’s address how horses control their body temperature. Horses are naturally designed to spend their days outdoors.  In response to shortened daylight hours, the horse will grow a winter coat that is longer and has coarser hairs than the summer coat.  These hairs stand more erect rather than lying flat to the skin.  This allows the hair to trap and warm air close to the body and insulates the horse from the cold.  Additionally, fat deposited under the skin acts as a very good natural insulator for a horse.  Heat is also generated from the hind gut from forage digestion.  Feeding additional hay in the winter may help to keep your horse warm.

Each horse has a lower critical temperature, or LCT.  This the lowest temperature at which a horse can maintain their core body temperature without expending additional energy to do so.  Once the body temperature gets below the LCT, the hair coat and normal caloric intake are no longer enough to keep the horse warm.  The LCT depends on the temperature a horse is accustomed to, the amount of body insulation the horse has (length of hair coat and amount of body fat), and whether the horse has shelter from the wind.  When horses are exposed to wind, the hair coat can be ruffled and the warm air that insulates the horse can be released.  Under normal circumstances, most horses are fantastic at regulating their body temperature without the help of a blanket, provided that they have shelter from the wind.

If a horse has a shorter hair coat, has been clipped, is underweight, or is a higher risk animal (young, old, compromised digestive function, etc.), then a blanket may be necessary to provide warmth.  It is important to remember that it is possible for blankets to do more harm than good.  Sometimes good intentions can lead to undesirable consequences and can compromise the welfare of the animal.

There are several safety considerations associated with blanketing horses.  A blanket that doesn’t fit well or a blanket that is not constructed well can be prone to straps and buckles sliding or slipping.  A blanket could then get tangled up in the legs or neck.  As temperature fluctuates throughout the day, a horse could easily end up being blanketed too heavily.  For instance, a heavy blanket may have been put on at night because it was 10 degrees, but as the temperature rises to 50 degrees throughout the day, the horse is now over blanketed and may have to sweat to attempt to lower its body temperature.  If your horse is out at pasture and you cannot check or adjust blankets according to temperature, then your horse is better off without a blanket.

If your horse does need to blanketed, there are several different options available.  Blankets and sheets come in two main varieties: stable and turnout.  Stable sheets and blankets are not waterproof and are meant to be used when horses are indoors while turnout sheets and blankets are waterproof and are designed to worn outdoors.  Once you have decided which of these two varieties that you need, the next factor in the process is the level of warmth that it will provide.  Sheets are thin and lightweight and have minimal, if any, “fill,” or layers of insulation.  Blankets will have varying levels of fill.  The fill is measured in grams.  A blanket with 0-100 grams of fill is either a sheet or a light weight blanket, 150-200 grams of fill is classified as a medium weight blanket, and 300+ grams of fill is a heavy weight blanket.  Turnout blankets and sheets also tend to have a heavier denier than stable blankets and sheets.  Denier is the measure of the nylon fiber density of the blanket and is essentially an indication of how tough the blanket is.  Blankets with a higher denier, such as 1200, will be more durable and water resistant than a lower denier, such as 600.

Forage Sampling and Understanding the Forage Analysis Results

Forage sampling and analysis is the most accurate way to test for forage quality. Knowing the nutritional content of the hay can be used to create a balanced ration which is a critical component of nutritional management for horses. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Farm Feed Testing Service provides producers with a detailed analysis that includes important nutritional components. A complete analysis costs $10.00. It is important to get a representative sample of the hay that will be fed in order to get an overall picture of the quality. There are different ways to sample hay. Click HERE to see an older NC Horse Blog post on sampling hay. When filling out the forage analysis submission form it is important to indicate what forage type and animal species the hay is intended to feed because there are different equations used for different species when determining some of the results.  

Above is an example of the results from a complete analysis. The analysis sheet has two columns of numbers, “As Submitted Basis” and “Dry Matter Basis.” All interpretation of the analysis is based on the column “Dry Matter Basis” because dry matter level (moisture level) varies in each sample and putting them on a dry matter basis makes the information easier to interpret. Listed below are the more important numbers to pay attention to when analyzing your forage results and determining your hay quality.

Dry Matter % The amount of dry matter in a feed is a key piece of information. The percent dry matter influences how stable dry forages, such as hay, will be in storage. Dry matter of hay should be at least 80% or the bales could possibly heat in storage which will result in damage to the nutritional value and they can grow mold. Another concern is spontaneous combustion. A dry matter of higher than 85% is preferable for hay for best results.

Net Energy (lactation), Mcal/lb and Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) % Net energy and TDN are two measures of the energy content of the forage. TDN is used to help balance rations. The total energy needed will vary depending on the status of the horse. The more work a horse does, the higher its energy requirements. A mature horse at maintenance requires 57% TDN and a mature horse in moderate work (jumping, dressage, barrels) requires 60% TDN. Usually, the higher the TDN the better the hay quality.

Crude Protein %, Unavailable Protein %, and Adjusted Crude Protein % Crude protein (CP) is one of the key nutrients in feed. Any forage has a small portion of protein that is bound and unavailable to the animal and is called Unavailable Protein. If the unavailable protein exceeds 10% of the total crude protein it means that the hay was probably heated, resulting in some damage to the proteins. Any bound protein exceeding 10% of the total is subtracted resulting in the Adjusted Crude Protein. Adjusted Crude Protein is the value that should be used to evaluate the forage and balance rations. In most forages this will be the same as Crude Protein. Young, growing horses usually require the highest amount of protein. A mature horse at maintenance requires 8% CP and a mature horse in moderate work (jumping, dressage, barrels) require 10% CP. Different grass species will have higher CP, such as alfalfa, while others, like bermudagrass, will have lower CP. Orchardgrass and timothy are usually in the middle. Generally, the higher the CP the better the hay quality.

Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) % Acid detergent fiber is an indicator of the amount of energy in the forag and stage of maturity the grass was harvested. As the grass gets more mature, the less digestible it becomes. ADF is the less digestible fiber portion of the forage, so the higher the ADF level the lower the energy.

Calcium and Phosphorus % Calcium (Ca) and Phosphorus (P) are important macro nutrients (major minerals) that are rarely deficient in forages. Generally, forages are higher in Ca and lower in P, while grains are higher in P and lower in Ca. It is important that the ratio between Ca and P (Ca:P) is between 1:1 and 2:1.

Nitrate Ion % The nitrate ion detects the amount of nitrate in the forage. Too much nitrate can cause nitrate poisoning. Nitrate poisoning is a concern in ruminants but rarely affects horses. High nitrate levels can be caused by a number of conditions and is more common in some forages, such as sudan x sorghum hybrids. Please click HERE to learn more about nitrates and nitrate poisoning.

There are also results for Magnesium, Sodium, and Potassium % and Copper, Iron, Manganese, and Zinc ppm. These minerals are usually not a concern if the horse is getting grain. If a horse is just getting hay, then a mineral supplement may be needed.

Forage analysis, along with visual appraisal, can help you select the best hay for your horses. This article was intended to give a brief description of the items that appear on the forage analysis report to help you make an initial interpretation of your results. Contact your local Extension Agent for a more detailed interpretation and assistance with forage sampling and help with balancing your horse’s diet.

Fall Care for Broodmares

Fall is a time of year that broodmares tend to require the least care and are often given no more than a cursory going-over when being fed each day. However, a little extra care this time of year could be of benefit when breeding and foaling season arrives early next year.

Now is the time to have your veterinarian check the reproductive status and health of your broodmares.  A mare that was checked in foal around 45 days or even further along earlier in the year may no longer be pregnant. Barren mares should undergo a full reproductive exam to determine if there are problems with conceiving or maintaining a pregnancy that can be addressed or treated prior to mares entering winter anestrus. 

Evaluating body condition scores (BCS) in the fall is also a valuable management practice. Mares should have a BCS between 5.5 and 7.5 heading into winter. Late in pregnancy, mares will utilize a large amount of energy to support the nutritional requirements of the developing fetus and for milk production post-foaling. To meet these high demands, pregnant mares rely on stored body fat.  Mares with a BCS less than 5 will also have a greater difficulty conceiving when breeding season arrives.  (While it has not been proven that mares with a BCS of greater than 7.5 experience problems reproductively, obese mares are more prone to health issues such as laminitis and colic.)

After determining their status and body condition scores, mares should be separated into groups.  Pregnant mares have higher nutritional requirements than barren mares, particularly entering the last three months of pregnancy, and should be fed separately from barren mares.  Pregnant mares require a grain feed with 10%-12% protein with high quality pasture and hay to support fetal development, while barren mares in healthy condition may be able to maintain on quality pasture and hay alone. Mares that need a little more conditioning and extra care should be in a group of their own.  Also, pregnant broodmares still grazing endophyte-infected fescue pastures should be removed at least 90 days prior to their due date to avoid any problems such as prolonged pregnancy, foaling difficulties, thickened placentas, and no milk production after foaling. This includes removing any access to endophyte-infected fescue hay as well.

Lastly, take the time to update and schedule any vaccinations recommended by your veterinarian.  While primary vaccines are typically given in the spring, pregnant mares require additional vaccines such as Rhinopnuemonitis prior to foaling.  A fecal sample at this time is also recommended to address any parasite issues with the proper dewormer.