Ever heard of this horse hay substitution?

[Dodgegal79]

Horses need to eat all the time. If they are getting enough nutrition from their grain, speciality feed and some good hay then feeding strawe if fine. It would also reduce the chances of horses that are enclosed in forming bad habits. Horses do not chew cud like cows and sheep, so they need to continual eat to keep themselves full.

 

[lcountry]

I agree that you wouldn't want to feed a horse straw in normal circumstances. But, there may be cases when it might work.

Horses are better when they are eating a diet of roughage on an almost continual basis. They are made to be grazers eating for large portions of the day. We (many owners) can do them a disservice by two grain meals a day with a couple flakes of hay each time. While they are OK on that, it's not really their make up.

So consider a horse that is overweight or has ulcers. If you give him enough hay to eat all day long - as he would grazing, you may be overfeeding and possibly creating additional physical problems. For example, I had a horse who had ulcers and really needed to have something in his stomach at all times. However, he also had hock issues and didn't need any extra weight. He might have been a good candidate for adding some straw in for "munching" during the day IN ADDITION to his normal grain/hay diet.

I'd NEVER do it for money reasons, and I'd only do it in specific circumstances. But, it's good info to know IF the right situation ever came up.

 

[FarmGirl01]

I fed my mules and goats oat straw and alfalfa. It was a cover crop that was planted on the new alfalfa field. The oats help the hay field get started. The goats and mules loved it. What they didn't eat went to bedding in the goat and hen barn. The owner just gave me 80 bales. It was all I fed all winter. Except for 2 round bales. Their body conditions are great.

 

[GwenFarms]

I don't think you can compare alfalfa to straw, atleast not what I think of as straw. We live in the south and we can't grow alfalfa here. Lucky folks with lots of money have it shipped in for their brood mares occasionally, but other than that, most folks can't get it around here, except in dried forms

Hmmmm..wonder if ups will bring me what you don't want of it