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Post by lorddaxter on Sept 8, 2014 22:40:02 GMT
So looks like we have a hay shortage, this happened a long time ago before I had horses here and I heard about people just auctioning their horses off as they couldn't feed them.
I have 40 acres, 20 have not been grazed in 2 years and the grass is waist high, that field is also hilly and the snow melts from there first.
I have 2 quarter horses and 1 pony, easy keepers.
I have been told an option is to let them paw(we have snow late October through to april)and feed them alfalfa cubes soaked and some supplements.
Is this possible, we do have cold weather colic here which all had once when I fed them hard feed when it was cold and they weren't used to it, vet said its common once temps dip below -20, I have no stable, just a field shelter, I'm assuming if I start on the cubes then they are used to them so when it's really cold they won't be so prone to the cold weather colic.
I am still trying to find hay that doesn't cost the moon but no luck so far, found squares, small at $6 bale!
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Post by diamondgirl on Sept 8, 2014 23:52:46 GMT
Your grass field is real hilly, so I am guessing it's to hilly to cut the grass and bail it. We have had an extreme hay shortage for three years now, but there is still hay to be found, it's just that the quality is so poor. People here are bailing the ditch grass, but it has so much trash I would only use it as a last resort. One barn, with quite a few boarders, rented a hay truck and driver, and bought their hay out of state. They saved on buying it local, and gat better quality hay, but it still cost quite a bit.
Do you know others who might want to combine their resources, and buy hay from else where? |
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Post by diamondgirl on Sept 9, 2014 0:08:45 GMT
You know, some where people are facing this dilemma every year. Horse owners forced to sell their beautiful horses because there is no hay, or it is to expensive. I am so,,,, not smart enough to do it, but it would be great if we could have some kind of Hay Angels web sight. Those with a surplus, list how much extra hay they have, and it is matched up to people who can't hope to afford the inflated prices that a hay shortage causes. Then hay haulers move the hay for a reasonable price, rather than charging extra, because people are desperate. Please don't anyone suggest I should try to do this. I work, am a full time caregiver to my husband, take care of this farm and the animals, plus Honeys Dad had a stroke last week, and I am truly not smart enough.   |
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Post by horselover4life on Sept 9, 2014 0:55:44 GMT
I have no solutions about co-oping people needing and those having to much excess together...
Although I know hay upstate NY is "cheaper", the price to ship it is enormous with fuel, truck insurance and road taxes eating up the cheap price going over state lines.
Only thing I know of you can try is loading up on cubes and feeding them moistened, not hard & dry.
It would give the horses their needed hay and up their water intake, keep the intestines working. Also stock up on Sr. feed which if push came to shove fed in enough quantity they can and will live & thrive on it...
50 pound bag of cubes {T&A or straight A} is about $7.99 at our local Tractor Supply Store... a bag would last you 5 days per horse @10 pounds a day...so not cheap and not great amounts but it could work. Set that with some Sr. feed and you would be OK but costly...
How far are you from the US/Canadian border? Maybe doing a hay run yourself with a rented truck...buying 3 tons of square bales would work...you would need to find a supplier, have probably a 24' box truck, a set of willing hands to help load/unload and probably at least 3 days...1 down, 1 to load, 1 back and unload...biggest issue is you need a dry place to store tons of hay...push to shove a storage yard where people store their belongings...
1 ton lasts approximately 2 1/2 - 3 months for 1 horse...at least it did for me on Long Island.
It would buy you time to figure something else out...
It only costs $$....
Or....make them scrounge harder and feed less hay to make it last longer. I would expect then to be blanketing the horses to conserve their heat as they will be working hard to find forage in  and cold weather...
I can only offer good luck in your quest......
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redzip
Junior Member
Posts: 1,701 
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Post by redzip on Sept 9, 2014 1:34:34 GMT
Mid Atlantic area has had a good year for hay,., can you go in on a truck load with others?
I'd buy up all the small bales at the $6 price just to have enough hay.
Thats a far smaller price to pay than a vet bill for colic, or more than one colic situation.
Buy that hay ASAP!
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Post by spirithawk06 on Sept 9, 2014 2:22:28 GMT
We pay $6 a bale here for good bermuda and that's considered cheap in our area. We could find trash for about $4, but we pay $30 for a round bale of good bermuda and $6 for a square bale.
Hope you find some hay. We're lucky that we have a winter grass crop that comes up as our bermuda is dying, so our horses never really run out of forage. Last year, they wasted the hay we put out because there was still grass.
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Post by lorddaxter on Sept 9, 2014 11:58:44 GMT
You know, some where people are facing this dilemma every year. Horse owners forced to sell their beautiful horses because there is no hay, or it is to expensive. I am so,,,, not smart enough to do it, but it would be great if we could have some kind of Hay Angels web sight. Those with a surplus, list how much extra hay they have, and it is matched up to people who can't hope to afford the inflated prices that a hay shortage causes. Then hay haulers move the hay for a reasonable price, rather than charging extra, because people are desperate. Please don't anyone suggest I should try to do this. I work, am a full time caregiver to my husband, take care of this farm and the animals, plus Honeys Dad had a stroke last week, and I am truly not smart enough. sos (:)) That's a really good idea:) |
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Post by lorddaxter on Sept 9, 2014 12:01:04 GMT
Mid Atlantic area has had a good year for hay,., can you go in on a truck load with others? I'd buy up all the small bales at the $6 price just to have enough hay. Thats a far smaller price to pay than a vet bill for colic, or more than one colic situation. Buy that hay ASAP! I have no where really to store squares, I can only tarp and they take up so much room, if the worst comes to the worst I'll buy 100 nit much but at least I'll have some and supplement with Alfa tec cubes, seems most people already have their hay, I am way behind, mostly as I've had so much on my mind and even yet I'm not sure where I'll be:( |
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Post by lorddaxter on Sept 9, 2014 12:01:53 GMT
We pay $6 a bale here for good bermuda and that's considered cheap in our area. We could find trash for about $4, but we pay $30 for a round bale of good bermuda and $6 for a square bale. Hope you find some hay. We're lucky that we have a winter grass crop that comes up as our bermuda is dying, so our horses never really run out of forage. Last year, they wasted the hay we put out because there was still grass. The squares at $6 are tiny, I'm willing to pay $85 for rounds just not finding them! |
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Post by lorddaxter on Sept 9, 2014 12:04:11 GMT
I have no solutions about co-oping people needing and those having to much excess together...
Although I know hay upstate NY is "cheaper", the price to ship it is enormous with fuel, truck insurance and road taxes eating up the cheap price going over state lines.
Only thing I know of you can try is loading up on cubes and feeding them moistened, not hard & dry.
It would give the horses their needed hay and up their water intake, keep the intestines working. Also stock up on Sr. feed which if push came to shove fed in enough quantity they can and will live & thrive on it...
50 pound bag of cubes {T&A or straight A} is about $7.99 at our local Tractor Supply Store... a bag would last you 5 days per horse @10 pounds a day...so not cheap and not great amounts but it could work. Set that with some Sr. feed and you would be OK but costly...
How far are you from the US/Canadian border? Maybe doing a hay run yourself with a rented truck...buying 3 tons of square bales would work...you would need to find a supplier, have probably a 24' box truck, a set of willing hands to help load/unload and probably at least 3 days...1 down, 1 to load, 1 back and unload...biggest issue is you need a dry place to store tons of hay...push to shove a storage yard where people store their belongings...
1 ton lasts approximately 2 1/2 - 3 months for 1 horse...at least it did for me on Long Island.
It would buy you time to figure something else out...
It only costs $$....
Or....make them scrounge harder and feed less hay to make it last longer. I would expect then to be blanketing the horses to conserve their heat as they will be working hard to find forage in snow and cold weather...
I can only offer good luck in your quest...... Good advice, thanks, I don't relish feeding those soaked cubes but if I have to I will! |
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Post by lorddaxter on Sept 9, 2014 12:06:23 GMT
Painted pastures from ht has given me a number for a guy she knows has rounds, I'm hoping he delivers, he's only 10mins from me, if not I know a guy with a trailer who I can pay to do it as long as he's not gone hunting then maybe I can ask the neighbour to come set them up somewhere to tarp with his tractor, so fingers crossed everyone he didn't sell the last last night, it was late when she emailed me!
im still unsure if I'll be here this winter but as neighbour said it'll be easy to sell if I have to!
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mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
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Post by mistersmom on Sept 9, 2014 12:31:02 GMT
Yep, call this guy as soon as normal people wake up! Leave a message saying you want to buy x bales of hay and have cash in hand. Like your neighbor said, if you end up moving, it will be easy to sell them.
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redzip
Junior Member
Posts: 1,701
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Post by redzip on Sept 9, 2014 12:42:41 GMT
^^DITTO^^
Good luck!
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Post by horselover4life on Sept 9, 2014 14:01:33 GMT
Agreed.......get on the phone. QUICK.......
Commit to all you can get that you will need...if you move...you'll find a way to take them with you as you will still need them to feed the animals.
Good luck...let us know how you made out!!
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Post by lorddaxter on Sept 9, 2014 15:17:40 GMT
So I have one guy out counting what he has left!
Another 2 lined up waiting,
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Post by lorddaxter on Sept 9, 2014 15:27:25 GMT
Woohoo neighbour texted to say he'd come stack it for me with his tractor once it's here:)
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Post by Shelly on Sept 9, 2014 15:42:34 GMT
Ya I would definitely be calling around and trying to find some hay asap. If you have a shortage then you can maybe to both? hay and cubes?
What ever hay you may have extra I'm sure will sell for what you already paid, or during the winter hay may be even more scarce and it may be worth even more. Definitely time to stock up now.
Best of luck!
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Post by 1fatmule on Sept 9, 2014 16:12:51 GMT
last year we bailed 850 bales, this year 780. we had an excess 100 bales, and hubby hauled it to our local hay/straw auction. we paid $4.50, i think for it, at the auction it sold for $7.75, the guy that bought it was buying all the first cutting, good quality hay he could get for under $9 a bale, and hauling a semi load "west" where he knew he could get $12/$15 per bale. we felt bad after that ... nice 1,100# round bales can be bought for $35/40, alfalfa $50/55, and there seems to be plenty, combining an order with a friend, or two makes sense, can you haul some from Mi.?
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Post by diamondgirl on Sept 9, 2014 17:52:00 GMT
last year we bailed 850 bales, this year 780. we had an excess 100 bales, and hubby hauled it to our local hay/straw auction. we paid $4.50, i think for it, at the auction it sold for $7.75, the guy that bought it was buying all the first cutting, good quality hay he could get for under $9 a bale, and hauling a semi load "west" where he knew he could get $12/$15 per bale. we felt bad after that ... nice 1,100# round bales can be bought for $35/40, alfalfa $50/55, and there seems to be plenty, combining an order with a friend, or two makes sense, can you haul some from Mi.? The guy, I buy my hay from had a very poor yield this year, and so did everyone else locally. Hay is going to be expensive and the quality will be poor, but I will supplement to make up for the poor nutritional value.
My question is, is it going to cost that guy who bought your hay $4.25 $7.25 a bail to haul it west, or is he taking advantage of a bad situation? There are so many surplus, good horses going to the auction, only to be bought by the meat buyer, because there are to many horses, and not enough owners. If he is taking advantage of people, in a bad situation, and causes a responsible owner, to have to sell their horses, because they can't afford to feed them, then shame on him.
There is a big hay dealer here who has been selling his hay in areas that are worse off then we are, at a huge profit. He is taking advantage of people who are already hurting, and also, causing a bigger shortage here, driving our prices up too. 
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Post by diamondgirl on Sept 9, 2014 17:54:32 GMT
Oh sorry. I jumped on my soap box so fast, I forgot to say I am so glad it looks like you are going to find hay LD. Wheeeew.  |
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and cold weather...
