I feed timothy hay currently and my older pony has never liked it. It is very high quality and my other horse likes it. Her mouth is in very good condition and she simply does not like the timothy. She has been given a small amount of alfalfa before and she loved it. Now i am wanting to switch her over to alfalfa hay or alfalfa hay cubes. But since she is older I do not want her to have to eat the hard cubes. So can I soak alfalfa cubes to make them easy for her to eat? Or should I just buy regular alfalfa hay? She is about 14.2 hands and is always a little thin so how much alfalfa would you feed her?

I only feed alfalfa hay. I never soak my cubs either! I feed them often in the winter, we get windy a lot!! I have never had any problems as some people say. I would switch her slowly. You can soak, if you wish.

***edit***
I feed mine 2-3 (depends on size of horse or how under weight or nursing etc. etc. etc.) flakes per horse, & feed 3 times aday. It is better for a few small feedings rather than 1 or 2 big feedings.

My husband is wanting to deliver coastal hay to New Mexico and bring back some Alfalfa hay. anyone know of any sellers?

Go here: http://www.hayexchange.com/nm.htm

And then click on view view New Mexico listings…there are quite a few of them!

Nice smell, but, oh, those bales were heavy for a young kid. And the blazing sun was relentless, and the barest touch of a breeze felt so good. The sweat pored down on your face and into your eyes, and dust and crumbled hay stuck to your face as you stumbled while slowly carrying a bale toward a hay stack. Then using your back, knee and arms to lift and stack that bale in place. Remember how your pant legs would eventually be worn through by the sharp alfalfa stems so that those stems would then scratch on bare skin. Such golden memories. Yes indeed.
Do you remember feeling exhausted after stacking that one bale, then going back to get another?
Oh yeah, the smell of clover; great aroma.

Oh, Lordy, do I remember!

The back breaking strain of piling each one precisely onto first the wagon for the trip in from the fields, and then off the wagon to the conveyor belt that took the bales up into the loft of the dairy barn.

We were lucky in that our baler made the "small" bales of 75 lbs each–the more common was the 150 lb bales.

Doing that all day long, AFTER finishing the morning 5 a.m. milking, and then making sure you're back to do the 5 p.m. milking as well….long, long days.

Getting burnt as brown as a nut by the relentless sun, and being glad of it, because overcast means a chance of rain and rain can lay ruin to a whole field of hay if the bales get soaked before you can get them under cover.

I worked for two summers doing that and more at a school friend's family dairy farm. And after that first backbreaking day I can remember that old farmer coming up to me where I hung on to the edge of the flatbed in exhaustion (so that I wouldn't fall down). He looked me straight in the eye and said "You're a keeper." then clapped me on the shoulder before going on to his next chore. I was SO proud of myself that day!

hey guys thanks for all your great answers before im taking them all into account
i just need to know before i rush of to the produce store , would alfalfa hay have a differnt name in australia????
and if so what is it??
also i wanted to know if they dont have that ype of hay is regular hay ok or is there something else i can put in there for the little fella' im not keen on putting the shavings in his enclosure because i dont want him to eat it and it can also be very messy and we have him in the house for a bit more warmth, also going on my information before(im beig quite small , no feathers , etc) do you have an estimated age .
thanks heaps guys

…..uh… not sure if I missed something here, but WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL IS IT FOR?

Alfalfa hay is called Lucerne hay in Australia.

If so, how much?
well my colt is still nursing but he eats hay too for some odd reason. I was going to give some to the mother but I thought it would be too rich for the baby

You can put hay out for the mare and if the colt wants to go over and try some out there is nothing wrong with that. Most foals start trying hay, grain and grass early on, they are more testing it out than actually eating. He is not going to eat a whole lot so you should not have to worry about him getting to much, but alfalfa is good for the mare since it is higher in calcium.

Congrats on the new baby

I've heard that giving alfalfa hay can be bad for a guinea pig. That is the kind I give to my guinea pig, but I've only had her for two days. Should I get another kind of hay? Will it hurt her?

Alfalfa hay should not be given to adult guinea pigs (with the exception of pregnant females). It's too high in calcium for the average pig, and can lead to the formation of bladder stones, which have to be surgically removed or your guinea pig could die.

Grass hays (such as timothy or orchardgrass) are fine for every day forage. Alfalfa hay is only appropriate as an every day food for baby pigs (up to 6 months of age) and pregnant females (who need the extra calcium because of the babies).

Hay is very much in demand right now, I think the price is about
$200 a ton. Why grow alfalfa hay unless you feed it to cows or
other animals? It seems $5 corn & $10 soybeans are a better
way to go. What gives you a better bottom line?

Yes, alfalfa hay is a very good cash crop, especially if you have access to race horse/show horses markets. The market will always be good for high quality alfalfa hay. Right now there may be more money in corn, but the market fluctuates widely. we've raised both for years, and much of the time corn has not paid off at all. You can't go wrong if you grow alfalfa and stick with it.

If so, is it because it's too rich? What do you do if it happens?

yes. just add some dry grass hay to get some roughege. Your horse will be alright

After you have purchased the best quality horse hay you can locate, it is necessary to pay attention to how your hay is stored.  In Florida for example, humidity and temperatures are high. Dry hay can absorb moisture from the air especially when hay is stacked in a breezeway with the doors on both ends open during rainy days. Dry hay approximately 18% moisture or lower stored in an environment of around 90% moisture in the air and the breeze flowing through the breezeway positions that hay to absorb moisture like a wick on an old-time lantern.

Hay must be kept dry so if you’re storing it in a barn make sure there’s no roof leaks or water drainage problems.  Also pay attention for the accumulation of condensation on the inside of your roof.  You can lose the whole top row of stacked hay just from condensation penetrating one to two inches into the top row causing heavy dust concentrations. Use a plastic tarp to channel water away from bales. Keep an eye out for rodents. Rats and mice can contaminate your hay. Plug any entrances with steel wool. If you can’t keep them out, cats and black snakes are great mousers!

Horse hay should not be stacked directly on concrete or dirt. The use of used pallets or placing a bed of heavy chaff four to six inches thick under your stack of hay works very well. I have seen a layer of plastic covered with a layer of gravel then a layer of chaff to be good for storage as well. Stacking hay in summer in hot humid climates can benefit by leaving some space on all sides to breathe by not having contact with walls. Square bales can be stacked on edge with narrow gaps between rows to also assist breathing in summer. Heat can be checked in the bales by driving a metal rod into the centers. Use older hay first. Pull old bales to the front or side before stacking in new hay, and feed older hay first before starting on the fresher supply.

Outside storage suggestions (best don’t do it but if necessary purchase smaller amounts and rotate often). For outside storage, hay should be stacked on pallets preferably on higher ground to prevent water runoff from storms penetrating stack. Some type of ventilated platform to keep ground moisture from infiltrating the bales would also work. Protecting stacked hay with tarps should be only considered if stack is sharply peaked at the top to prevent water from pooling on top of stack (very important). Tarps also prevent fading from the sun leaving hay somewhat brittle as well as nutrient losses.

For more of your Florida horse hay needs visit www.FloridaHorseHay.com

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