Figure this one out Horses and hay

old

Well-known Member
So I set out 3 big round bales of hay with my Ford 841S that has a loader. 2 of the bales there almost not touching but the 3rd one they have pretty much destroyed. All baled out of the same field and all baled with the same baler.

So why do they go after the one bale more then the other 2.

I'll have to set out another bale soon but put what I did out so as to not have to worry about doing it with all this ice on the ground
 
Sounds to me like something about the other two bales is making them nervous. Are the bales close together or separated?
 
Come top think of it, is it possible a snake was baled up in one or both of the other two bales and the horses taste or smell it? Just thinking out loud.
 
The 3 bales are maybe 15 or so feet apart from each other and all came out of the same barn where they are stacked on top of each other and next to each other and sit tight to each other
 
What is the proximity of the field they were taken from to other fields? Could it be that the hay had
chemical drift on it from an adjacent row crop? Or maybe those bales came from an area of the
field that had a few weeds that they just don't like. On the other hand maybe the one they went
after had a little clover or alfalfa or some strain of better tasting grass. Would you eat Spam if you
just had to make two steps for steak? Just some thoughts.
 
I think I would rather that they eat 1 bale at a time-it would keep the other bales 'sealed' so to speak until they eat it.I have had cows do this before,same hay,same field,no difference,and when they go to the second bale,they eat it completely too.I think they just decide to stand in a same place and eat for what ever reason.But I only was only feeding a few cows,when they did this.Mark
 
You are seeking logic from an illogical animal? It may also be that they tore into that one first and the fact that some animals can be naturally competitive over feed may account for it. I would leave the other bales and see if after cleaning the one up if they go for the others. Everything with them is instinctual or conditioned; nothing more.
 
I put the bales in the barn as they come out of the field and no sprays or other chemicals used all 1000% organic nothing added to the fields at all
 
Not to steel your post, but another mystery of horses is why do they leave very strong growth of fescue patches in pasture and instead graze on 1/2 inch growth? Matter of fact, they will go out of their way to poop in long growth fescue patches.
My take on eating only from one round bale and leaving others is that they are a herd animal, and will follow the alpha leader.
 
(quoted from post at 16:17:26 01/14/17) Maybe your tom cats peed all over the other two. HeHe
Loren

I lost a hay sale because of cat pee a few years ago. I want thinking, and when a gal came to get a few bales to try I grabbed 2 or 3 bales that were stacked in the silo room for a few days, maybe a week. Once she was gone,I went back in to shut the door to the silo room and all I smelled was cat pee.

She called me back a couple days later to day she was going to pass, her horses didn't touch the stuff. Live and learn, after that it was always a fresh bale out of the mow that came out for samples and sales.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
Palatability. Taste. Fescue is the lowest ranked grass in taste. Most grazing animals rank fescue lowest in taste....hence will eat other grass first. Apparently frost improves the taste of fescue. Never tried it myself.

Horses tend to poop in one spot, but don't eat there, so the grass and weeds grow long but don't get eaten.
These areas are called roughs. Horse owners mow to control grass and weeds and chain drag to spread the roughs.
A more eco-friendly method is to rotate horses with cows (or sheep). Cows will eat the rough areas.
But I ain't got no cows or sheep and don't plan to get any.
Can't race a cow. Prefer mine Medium.
 
Can't blame the horse at all. Just my own brain fart that led to me misrepresenting my own product. Still had no problems selling it all so not much of a loss in the end.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
Of course it is. Nothing wrong with the grass since the flood was in Dec so the grass was not growing when it was under water and the rain in the summer would have settles the dirt and sand etc before it was cut
 
Ya probably. I set out 2 or 3 because I now have 6 horses that I feed so that way they do not fight over it as much plus if the weather gets like it is right now no big deal if I cannot get another one out for a few days
 
In 2015 in July we had a flood but I had that part of the field cut and baled before the flood. But I did also get a 2nd cutting and that did prove to be a bit hard on the sickle bar mower since some of the hay had a bit of sand still on it since it was growing and flooded at the same time but even that hay proved to be pretty good once baled. But at least 12 of those bales in Dec ended up in/under water so I have those bales piled up so they will compost down and make some real good soil for the garden. Having the 6 full size horses and the 3 mini horse this year looks like it will sure provide a lot of garden fertilizer
 
Horses are spot grazers, they will eat certain parts of pasture down to nothing and let other areas grow to unpalatable levels. If sand is in your bales you are risking sand colics and other digestive disturbances. Your Missouri fescues are also problematic as endophytes present in fescue are abortifacients. Your risking the health and lives of your boarder's horses. Ironic that western history represents sheep as harsh on pastures when the horses ranchers rode to drive off sheep men were just as bad.
 
I've had horses well over 20 years now so I know about the problems and have yet to have any. The sand was a problem for the sickle bar mower not the hay it self since sand is heavy and fall off but the sickle bar was in the sand it self so tha tin turn caused some problems. As for fescue I have been working on getting rid of a lot of that over the past 36 years on being here o I have a good mix of grasses in my pasture and keep adding more things like red clover every year to make it even better. As for the way they graze yep that is also why I can graze and hay the same pasture and have a good hay crop plus a good pasture all at the same time
 

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