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Drought-stressed hay -- too rich?
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Kerry Isherwood
i went to pick up the last of my "safe" hay and its bad, all of it, leaving only this year's first cut which was severely drought stressed. It was cut last week (dont know what time of day). Its a fine-stem mixed grass/timothy (no alfalfa) stunted from drought w lots of seed heads and it was baled very dry and the farm has been feeding it out of the field without issues. Ive tested this farm's hay in years past & its always well-below 10% ESC & starch, so my questions are:
How much (in general) does drought-stress affect ESC & starch? Is the approx 30% reduction of sugars with soaking enough of a safeguard, or is it still too variable to consider that a safe option? The good news is that both of my IRs' diets is 10-15lbs/day ODTB cubes and the long-stem component comprises only about 5-lbs/day as a boredom buster. The bad news is that i cant get an alternative hay until next week bc, of course, I waited til im down to my last bale to get the next load (sigh). Obviously i cant get an analysis done before feeding, either. Opinions needed. Kerry in NY Sept 2014 |
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The bottom line is there are far too many variables to begin to predict what's in this hay, all the way down to the weather when cut and time of day. Nitrate is a concern with stressed forage too but in your favor is the relatively small percentage of the diet. Just soak it and be vigilant. If you suspect a problem, just go to 100% cubes until you can get safe hay. Eleanor in PA www.drkellon.com
EC Co-owner Feb 2001 |
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To add some personal experience....
In the Northeast 2012 was a similar spring to this one. No rain in April. Majority of growth in May. For 10 or so years prior my hay had always been well below 10%. In 2012 i hay cut at 4 AM, the ESC came back at 9%+. Spent the following winter soaking. Pre and post labs showed ESC lowered by nearly 50%. In the research that has been done here and in other places, the amount can vary and the average amount of reduction is 30%. If the hay comes back high again this year, will be looking seriously at all ODTB Cubes versus a year of soaking in sub zero weather. Still hoping the hay deities will smile on us.... Nancy C in NH ECIR Moderator 2003 FACT: With knowledge of the nutrient profile of the forage and the animal's weight and level of work, one can supplement only what is needed to target nutritional needs. See Smithey and Gustafson, Nutrition Complexities and Mineral Profiles of Hay 2013 NO Laminitis! Proceedings, Equine Cushing's and Insulin Resistance Group Inc.
---In EquineCushings@..., <drkellon@...> wrote : Just soak it and be vigilant. If you suspect a problem, just go to 100% cubes until you can get safe hay. Eleanor in PA www.drkellon.com
EC Co-owner Feb 2001 |
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