# Feeding horses cow hay?



## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

It really depends on the hay, but in general, it is usually roughage with low nutritional value and you need to watch for mold, etc. since cows will eat almost anything. Horses won't starve themselves, but the concerns are that they may forage for anything else around to eat including stuff that is not good for them if they are hungry enough, and a sudden change in diet can cause intestinal problems (e.g. colic).


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Depends on hay. The place I used to board my horses made own hay (nice little round bales) and fed it to the horses as well as their cows (they were very careful about making a hay, and it was stored in huge barn for the winter, and I know couple people bought hay there for horses). However generally the cow hay I see around is low quality - huge bales kept outside and looking moldy by Spring. I wouldn't feed it to horses. Also with round bales it's always a very good practice to give botulism shots to the horses.


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

Ditto what the others said. However, if it's a choice between cow hay and no hay, I'd choose cow hay. It will at least satisfy part of the horses' need for chewing forage a certain percentage of the day. 

If you mare is super picky, as you say, I'd look at supplementing her diet with another form of roughage to be on the safe side - beet pulp or hay cubes would both be options.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

As long as it's not moldy you should be ok. I'm actually down to cow hay as well. I had to go to a nearby dairy farm for a round bale. BUT... I did see a farmer out cutting hay yesterday so the new stuff is coming!


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

Wow, farmpony, where do you live? I haven't seen anybody cutting hay yet, but I suspect I will this week as it's unseasonably hot. Usually first cutting around here is around Memorial Day weekend.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Maura, my cattle breeder neighbors have already started cutting and baling hay.

I've cut my acreage once, and I'm going to have to do it again this weekend. Our grass has been growing like crazy!

I have my year's supply of hay booked and it looks to be a banner year for it, which is good. The last several years with the drought made hay hard to come by.

I'm getting it for $2.50 a square bale this year. Last year I paid $6.00 a square bale, so I'm psyched! I do have to go pick it up out of the fields, but who cares? 

I'm not keen on feeding cow hay, but if you can pick through it and not give the horses the moldy stuff, it should be okay in a pinch.


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

Ok folks - as a beef producer - let me say we do not feed poor quality hay. We can feed the same hay we buy for the cattle to the horses. It's not moldy or coarse or stemmy. Most of our cattle are more valuable than the horses boarded here. No offense to my boarders at all.

However - if a crop is down and rained on prior to being baled - our hay guy will specifically market it towards cattle. The only difference we have noticed is it may be more dusty.

Yes cattle can get by with a lesser quality hay but please don't label all cow hay as bad!


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## Production Acres (Aug 26, 2009)

*There is no such thing as COW HAY!!!!!!!!!!*

This absurd labeling of hay by horse lovers has no basis in fact! The best hay in the nation goes to our dairy herds. Many cow herds are fed better than you could imagine! Yes there are a lot of people out there that feed some real crap to their cows. There are people out there that put their animals in all sorts of riducoulous situations - both out of love, neglect, and ignorance. 
But call the hay what it is - cheap! or Junk! or Erosion Control Material!
Labeling hay should be based on its forage analysis, not the stock you see eating it! The stock you see eating it do not qualify as a forage analysis!
There is good hay put up in every bale dimension, in every climate, of every species of grass. There is also garbage baled in every bale dimension, every climate, and of every species of grass.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I have to agree with FP, so long as there is no mold it should be okay to get her by until some more can be found. After weeks of searching, I finally found someone who actually has some really good alfalfa hay for sale for $50 a bale (3x3x8 bales). Around here, most cattle get fed hay that is not really high enough quality for horses to be sustained on, i/e wheat straw or often times it is either grass hay or low quality alfalfa that has been rained on and is moldy.

Just check it over really well and I'm sure that she will eat what is available if she gets hungry enough.


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## Delfina (Feb 12, 2010)

Production Acres said:


> This absurd labeling of hay by horse lovers has no basis in fact! The best hay in the nation goes to our dairy herds. Many cow herds are fed better than you could imagine!


Around here if it's advertised as "Cow Hay" it WILL be crummy and moldy. 99% of people selling "Cow Hay" make sure to note in large letters that it is NOT suitable for consumption by horses. Now I personally wouldn't feed the "Cow Hay" sold here to any animal but obviously someone is or nobody would sell it. 

It's not so much about the name someone calls it as what you are actually getting. We visited about 6 places selling "Horse Hay" before we found the quality that we were willing to feed our horses (and promptly bought all he had). The guy we purchased our hay from will call us as soon as he has more ready but even though we are absolutely thrilled with what we bought, we'll still go out there and inspect it before we commit to purchasing. Our one horse coliced the last time we ran out and were forced to use cubes so we buy hay by the truckload now to try and avoid the possibility of running out.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Delfina said:


> 99% of people selling "Cow Hay" make sure to note in large letters that it is NOT suitable for consumption by horses.


Exactly. That's the type of hay I'm talking about.

The people who bale and sell hay around here _always_ indicate whether or not it's recommended for feeding to horses.

'Cow hay' is specifically cut and baled with less attention to tettering and insuring it's as dry as possible before it's baled. Because of that it tends to be more wet, and more susceptible to mold.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

Production Acres said:


> This absurd labeling of hay by horse lovers has no basis in fact! The best hay in the nation goes to our dairy herds. Many cow herds are fed better than you could imagine! Yes there are a lot of people out there that feed some real crap to their cows. There are people out there that put their animals in all sorts of riducoulous situations - both out of love, neglect, and ignorance.
> But call the hay what it is - cheap! or Junk! or Erosion Control Material!
> Labeling hay should be based on its forage analysis, not the stock you see eating it! The stock you see eating it do not qualify as a forage analysis!
> There is good hay put up in every bale dimension, in every climate, of every species of grass. There is also garbage baled in every bale dimension, every climate, and of every species of grass.


I'm sorry that you are offended. Cow hay, in my opinion is hay that has a little more "crud" in it than I would like, such as briars and weeds. It also isn't quite as "clean". Cows can eat alot more stuff then horses can. I wouldn't quite call it erosion control hay.... it's edible..... just not what I want for my horse.


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

Interesting point. In my area referring to low quality hay as cow hay and better quality hay as horse hay is common. The other part of the code seems to be "cow hay" = round bales kept outside uncovered or wrapped bales kept outside and "horse hay" has been kept inside. BUT the hay my inlaws put up on the homeplace to feed our own cows and sell is better quality than most "horse hay" I've seen. However, they are very dedicated, serious farmers and business people. 

Maybe "cow hay" really reflects that their are a lot of half-assed farmers who run 10 - 12 head of beef cows in order keep their land rated as agricultural use who don't care about the quality of the hay or the weight gain of the beef? I can't believe some of the crap I've seen people bale.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

maura said:


> Wow, farmpony, where do you live? I haven't seen anybody cutting hay yet, but I suspect I will this week as it's unseasonably hot. Usually first cutting around here is around Memorial Day weekend.


Fredericksburg area, there is only one farmer I've seen bailing. My supplier has not baled yet. I did find a lady that has some of last years alfalfa square bales that are... OK. bleached on the outside but green on the inside. I ordered some of those. I really hope they bale soon!


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## Delfina (Feb 12, 2010)

maura said:


> Maybe "cow hay" really reflects that their are a lot of half-assed farmers who run 10 - 12 head of beef cows in order keep their land rated as agricultural use who don't care about the quality of the hay or the weight gain of the beef? I can't believe some of the crap I've seen people bale.


Where I live, that is correct. The general population has 2 - 10 cows in their backyard. Judging from the living condition that most of these animals are in (kinda, sorta fenced, grazing around junk piles and old cars, water troughs that look like they were last cleaned in 1910 and so forth....) I just don't think that the people feeding them know any better. Pull up Craigslist, see an ad for some really cheap "Cow Hay" and since they *are* cows, there ya go. 

There's a place on the way to my kiddo's school that has a giant sign saying they sell hay. The "hay" they are selling was baled and stacked directly on the ground (with no covering of any sort) before school started last August. It has sat out in the open since then, it has snowed at least 3 dozen times, hailed about the same quantity and I cannot begin to count how many times it's poured. I'm not sure that what this guy has should even be called "hay" any more but yet, he's trying to sell his "cow hay" and is busy feeding it to the dozen or so decrepit, mangy-looking cows wandering around his property. :shock:


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

I'm in the middle of beef cattle country, so the smallest herd I've seen has been about 200 head. 

The beef farmers around here cut and bale their own, but I know what their fields look like and they bale _everything_, which includes weeds, inedible plants, etc. They also cut and then immediately bale it. At no time does it have time to dry properly for horses. It's intended for cattle, period.

People cutting and baling for horses do it differently. I have no problem with buying round bales if I know the hay has been cut, dried, baled, and stored properly with horses in mind. Round bales aren't inherently 'cow hay' just because they're round.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

Speed Racer said:


> I'm in the middle of beef cattle country, so the smallest herd I've seen has been about 200 head.
> 
> The beef farmers around here cut and bale their own, but I know what their fields look like and they bale _everything_, which includes weeds, inedible plants, etc. They also cut and then immediately bale it. At no time does it have time to dry properly for horses. It's intended for cattle, period.
> 
> People cutting and baling for horses do it differently. I have no problem with buying round bales if I know the hay has been cut, dried, baled, and stored properly with horses in mind. Round bales aren't inherently 'cow hay' just because they're round.


My farmer is a beef farmer. He has round bales that are "cow bales" and he has round bales that are "horse quality". And what you are saying is exactly correct. The horse hay comes from a completely different field then the larger one that bales cow hay. It's a different quality even.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

maura said:


> Wow, farmpony, where do you live? *I haven't seen anybody cutting hay yet*, but I suspect I will this week as it's unseasonably hot. Usually first cutting around here is around Memorial Day weekend.


Two farmers next to me cut orchard hay this week here in MD as well. Grass is HUGE this year.


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## ShannonSevenfold (Oct 11, 2008)

Uhm, well... Jeeze. I didn't really think this thread could possibly offend anyone, but let me explain my "absurd labelling" of the hay:

The hay we feed to our horses is a grass/alfalfa mix. It is cut, dried and baled as all hay is. However, what makes it different than "cow hay" is that it is much...softer (for lack of a better word). Cow hay around here is more stemmy and woody and generally has some amount of mold in it. It is lower quality than most hay being sold specifically as "horse hay". That is not to say that ALL farmers feed their cows low quality hay. I work on two different farms and the hay between farms is drastically different in quality. So... I am sorry if I offended anyone.


So.. The general consensus is that it is OK as long as it is mold-free? If she won't eat it, what do I do? Someone suggested hay cubes... Would that work?

Thanks for all the responses!


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Yes, as long as it's not moldy it should be okay. She might not eat it, though since it's a lesser quality and probably coarser.

If she won't eat the cow hay, alfalfa pellets or cubes are acceptable substitutes for hay until you can get some.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

ShannonSevenfold said:


> So.. The general consensus is that it is OK as long as it is mold-free? If she won't eat it, what do I do? Someone suggested hay cubes... Would that work?


If she's picky on Monday she will get over it by Wednesday!


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

It's funny because around here cow hay means two different things - either it's dairy cow hay, and it's SUCH rich alfalfa it's unsuitable except in very tiny portions for horses or it's just "filler" hay.

I don't think they actually mean it's "cow-hay" - people aren't exclusively feeding their cows garbage hay. What they mean is that cows CAN eat it whereas horses should NOT eat it. You can put half good hay and half crap hay in front of a cow and at the end of the day it's all gone - they may eat the good stuff first, but they'll eat it all period and not be bothered. Most people I know use lesser quality "filler" hay.

Anyway, also keep in mind there's no reason why she can't eat oat straw either. It has virtually no nutritional value, but is usually clean and dry. You can supplement her on alfalfa pellets/beet pulp/etc. for actual nutrition, but let her eat the oat straw just to fill her belly.


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## luvs2ride1979 (Nov 9, 2007)

I have done it in a pinch. It's not great, but it works. When I had to, I used extra alfalfa pellets to supplement better nutrients and protein than what the hay provided. You should beed 3-5 lbs of alfalfa when you're supplementing with it.

Or, if you can find them, Timothy Alfalfa blend cubes or pellets work even better. Lower protein, but still high in nutrition. If you're worried about choke, soak the pellets or cubes with just enough water for them to break apart.


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## vivache (Jun 14, 2009)

Also, watch for foxtails. Some people don't have an issue, but the barn where I used to ride had a BIG problem last year. The horses started getting sores in their mouth, colic, etc.. they couldn't figure out what was wrong. 2 horses ended up dying of colic. After that, the USDA came out. Took one look at the hay, held up a foxtail, and said 'there you go.' The horses had to have their mouths washed out.. had to have special mashes daily. After 2 weeks on good hay, their mouths healed, and they could be ridden. It was scary, though.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Around here, the serious dairy/beef folks do indeed feed high quality hay. However, excluding that industry, any hay that horse folks won't buy is commonly called 'cow hay'. That can include anything from an unmanaged field (no weed killer or fertilizer) to an unfortuneate rain on 'good' hay that was cut but not yet cured and baled.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Wow, vivache, that's scary. Could you maybe post a picture of foxtails so that the rest of us know exactly what it is and to watch out for it? Thanks.


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## vivache (Jun 14, 2009)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/2590415254_8afd67562f.jpg 
http://weedscanada.ca/images/Gr8-foxtail-barley.JPG

Those are close pics. Of course, in the hay, they'll be yellow and dry.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Thank you, I appreciate you posting those. Fortunately, I don't think we have any of that around here. I have never seen it anyway.


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## vivache (Jun 14, 2009)

We had some serious wetness issues in VA.. the weeds grew like wildfire.


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## 5cuetrain (Dec 11, 2009)

Bein from Texas I prefer square bale Coastal Hay grown by people who know how to grow good grass--fertilize, weed, etc.

If I have to feed round bale, or square bales from someone I don't know, I always check each flake before I feed it to anything. With round bales that means un rolling it and feedin it in increments.

If you buy a round bale from someone you don't know and just toss it out to the horses you are askin for trouble no matter if its called horse hay or cow hay.


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