# Peanut Hay



## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

_*Welcome to horse ownership... :clap::clap:*_

I'm in Florida and feed my guys peanut hay as a "treat" and to offset the nutrients lacking in their "older" hay now fed.
Heavy bales, heavy with leaves and rich color is what I feed....:smile:

So, feeding a draft correctly is far different a diet than "normal" saddle horses...
I have read this site and vets feeding guideline description... 
_https://www.ruralheritage.com/new_rh_website/resources/horse_health/horse_health_main.shtml_
I believe Beth Valentine is a industry leader and authority in draft horse nutrition.
Actually, the diet for drafts she writes of is a good diet for many horses to be fed..

Have a read, check out the website, it is extensive for all kinds of things you might find useful.
Also all manufacturers of feed for horses today have nutrition experts on staff who can answer questions on type of forage and feed fed in your horses best interest if you need to contact any of them.

Enjoy and Good luck.
:runninghorse2:....
_jmo..._


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

All the vets I have talked to in Florida say, "Don't feed coastal hay to horses," but everybody does, sometimes with disastrous results. Coastal hay is $5 a bale. Peanut hay is $10 a bale. It gives your horse a lovely shiny bloom to the coat because of the peanut oil. And the horses love it. I wish I was so rich I could feed straight peanut to my horses. I've found that if I mix coastal and peanut hay, I don't get colic.

I don't know about draft horses, but beware of straight coastal. Never known a horse to colic from peanut. It's a LOT cheaper than alfalfa, keeps horses shiny and fat, and they love it.


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

Peanut hay is wonderful but you have to buy it early in the fall. Around here, the only peanut left is extremely stemmy by this time of year, if you can even find it at all.


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## Xymenah (Sep 29, 2014)

The reason I asked is the farm I work for already buys all peanut for all the other livestock. I know its comparative to Alfalfa in that its good for hard keepers so I was worried it might be too rich for a draft.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

You want protein without the carbs that you would get in a grass hay. What I've seen in the draft crowd is a 1 to 3 ratio. For every 1 pound of alfalfa or peanut hay feed 3 of grass. You're feeding by weight so depending on the size of your horse what you fed changes. You also want to up the fat intake to provide adequate calories without the carbs so adding a fat supplement helps. Dr Valentine recommends adding liquid oil but mine won't eat it. They do much better with a solid. I like Manna Pro Senior Weight Accelerator but Cool Cals or Amplify would work too.


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## Xymenah (Sep 29, 2014)

QtrBel said:


> You want protein without the carbs that you would get in a grass hay. What I've seen in the draft crowd is a 1 to 3 ratio. For every 1 pound of alfalfa or peanut hay feed 3 of grass. You're feeding by weight so depending on the size of your horse what you fed changes. You also want to up the fat intake to provide adequate calories without the carbs so adding a fat supplement helps. Dr Valentine recommends adding liquid oil but mine won't eat it. They do much better with a solid. I like Manna Pro Senior Weight Accelerator but Cool Cals or Amplify would work too.


Makes sense. Thanks. I've never fed anything but Bermuda and alfalfa pellets. All my previous horses have been easier keeper quarter horse types. I've also never owned a large heavy draft and know their needs are a bit different.


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