How to get a horse to eat more hay

[Daftmare]

Henry doesnt eat an awful lot of hay in fact a small net will last him a full day and night and he still hasnt emptied it. hes on the very best haylage which smells gorgeous he has his topline nuts in a snak ball and sugar beet Alfa A and fenugreek seeds and a handful of nuts in feeds twice a day. I have fed him hay on the floor and he uses it for bedding so I have put it in a big big bucket thinking it might be easier to eat so he might eat more but if anything hes eaten less. He really isnt getting anywhere near enough fibre so does anyone have any pearls of wisdom how I get him to eat his haylage up like a good boy?!

[shaklana]

Have you tried some normal hay? Nice, green, thick, crunchy stalks? Is he filling up on grass?
The only other suggestion would be to feed hay replacers: Readigrass/Graze-on/Just Grass/
Rough Stuff/Lucerne hay. How old is Henry? Does he produce normal droppings?
I once saw some molasses spray advertised for making hay more palatable, you could probably make your own by dissolving some in water. I have to say, I'd have to be really desperate to get the hay into my horse to resort to this. My horse once left his hay for 2 days & I left it in his stable to "force" him to eat it, only to discover it contained ragwort!!!!!
Are other horses readily eating this haylage?

[akehurstannabel]

Sandy is a nightmare (ha ha!) for this. I'm afraid i have failed. She can eat it, she just gets bored i think, little nibble then she leaves it and i buy her really yummy green meadow hay and she'll maybe eat about one large horsehage net a week. She has alfalfa with oatinol, hi fi senior, redigrass and apple chaff on rotation, as she gets fed up i change it for one of the others! It's not getting spoiled by any rats or anything, she just really gets bored. Jo x

[Daftmare]

Yes I have tried hay he eats even less of it! This haylage is the kind horses dream of, Amber is on it and she will come in from the field to eat it! he isnt filling up on grass as he only gets an hour or so out most days sometimes more depending on what I am doing. He is 2 and his droppings are fine just not very many of them as he doesnt eat very much. I'd try the mollasses I suppose as he isnt overweight far from it he needs to gain some but then again he might never eat hay without it!! I might try readigrass but I can just see OH rolling his eyes at yet something else added to the shopping list!

[lancslass]

sarah, if you haven't already done so i would get his teeth checked out. we have found that when their teeth are sharp they tend to eat their feeds ok but struggle with the hay/haylage as it takes lots and lots of grinding work with the teeth.

[dollylanedales]

Like Karen, I think it could be a problem with Henry's teeth. My two oldies find it hard to eat haylage (although they love it) as it takes them so long to eat it, so they end up not eating very much.

I can understand why you have to keep Henry in most of the time, but he may be better if he could spend more time out on the grass if possible.

[Daftmare]

Good thinking (why didnt I think of that) I'll phone dentist today and see if I can track him down. I usually turn him out for a few hours a day while I am mucking out etc, he likes to break out into next doors field so I darent risk leaving him out when I'm not there if next doors mare is in the paddock next to my field. Oh to be able to afford post and rail everywhere!!!

[harveydales]

I have the same problem with Winnie and it is partly due to his age/teeth although he is regularly checked. I find it best to give him really fine, soft meadow hay but even then he doesn't eat enough. So I feed him Spillers High Fibre cubes dampened and in winter add Speedibeet. I also like to let him graze on good grass where I would never dream of risking the other 2!

[harleydales]

Mine don't eat hay until there's nothing else, and then they don't go mad for it uness it's really cold and miserable.
Maybe he's getting enough from his other feeds?

[julie]

Weigh your hay and feed, estimate his weight and call a feed merchant - spillers or D&H for some advice. Also get his feed checked. You have to feed according to appetite, if his is small you need a fibre dense product to top him up. Is he always like this or only recently. Many horses get peaky when changing coat. try a 5 day course of global herbs restore to perk up his digestive system

[akehurstannabel]

I didn't know that about changing coat. You learn so much on here! jo x

[tinkerdorisalison]

If his teeth are ok then I would guess he's getting enough from his other feed - what about not giving him anything else but Hay/Haylage and seeing what he does then.

He is only a little chap isn't he so he might just not need a lot?

[Daftmare]

Having stuck my finger in his mouth and nearly losing it I would say his teeth are a tad sharp! Hes not eating anything now even his ball still had some nuts in this morning. He doesnt even appear to be doing much grazing when hes out! Poor lad hes not brave you know, big ol wimp. Hes had a restore he gets one regularly. Hes bright enough though nothing that would make you think he was ill!

[lancslass]

sarah, his back miolars could well be "chewing" into the side of his mouth if teeth further forward are sharp. its likely that hes made himself sore.
did you manage to get hold of your dentist?

have you taken his temp just incase he has an infection?

[Daftmare]

Dentist is coming tomorrow afternoon hopefully hes going to try and get to us later on. He is from Manchester but he is such a good dentist. Henry is sucha fuss pot though like daniel is, Wont eat this wont eat that. He wont eat food if its sloppy or too dry. Its like trying to be a gourmet chef preparing his feed on a daily basis. Will take his temp in the morning to be on the safe side