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Central Western VA Mountains | I've always been told Timothy hay is the one of two Cadallic hays for horses - alfalfa being the other.
What is it about straight Timothy hay that makes it a desirable hay? What is it about Timothy that makes it a beneficial hay to feed horses?
Any sage info is much appreciated. |
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northeastern Ohio | Timothy is the latest maturing grass hay, usually at the end of May in my area. That gives it a longer harvest window, which allows you to make a higher quality feed. A grass like orchardgrass will mature in early May and if it is not cut early, then the quality goes down quickly.
With the above in mind, timothy will also keep it's green color for a longer period of time than orchardgrass. The greener the hay, the more desirable to the horse market.
Timothy also tends to have less "dust". This is probably due again to the later maturity and finding a good harvest window.
Horse market: green, dust-free, fine soft hay.
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New castle PA | I agree Jay. The biggest question we get, is "is it dusty, and is it smooth"? |
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Pedee, Oregon | It also tends to be lower in carbohydrate (sugar) than the other cool-season grasses. Good for the majority of horses that are fashion accessories. You can feed a horse, even one that doesn't do anything, all the timothy hay it wants to eat and not worry to much about foundering the thing. From a testing standpoint, timothy will be more balanced between protien/fiber/carb than other grasses (there are plenty of exceptions but you can't tell horse hay buyers anything).
Here, orchardgrass gets a leaf rust pretty bad and looks like crap before you even swath it. Timothy tends to be "prettier", and since horse hay marketing is all about the eyes of the buyer it gets more attention. |
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frederick, MD | Here the older the Timothy the more they want it. It should look like straw with 6 inch heads. |
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South cental Ohio | Every reason that the others have stated and I will add one. We sell hay to a person that does pony rides and they want straight grass hay ( timothy or otherwise) because the grass hay doesn't make their ponies urine stink as bad as if it would feeding alfalfa or a higher protein hay. You wouldn't think about this except when the ponies are confined at a fair, the fair board doesn't like a strong urine stench on the fairgrounds around a pony ride. |
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no welfare payments on this farm!!!!!!!! | now were getting to something fun to talk about, your hitting on a very good topic |
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South cental Ohio | But it's the truth LOL. |
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no welfare payments on this farm!!!!!!!! | i know it is, and its important thing about the numbers in timothy. its applied into hogs, cattle and everything by smart nutritionists. great post |
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Kingdom of Callaway - Fulton, Mo 65251 | My old neighbor always said you should feed timothy hay to the work horses, and alfalfa is for the milk cows. He always thought the current generations of horsey folks should lay off feeding so much alfalfa.
But he also was so crazy that he wore two wrist watches during daylight savings time, one was for normal time for milking, and one was for "town" time. I guess he couldnt just do the math!
They wont founder on free choice timothy. |
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| this is why I like agtalk. every so often I learn something or the reason for something that I always just knew |
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Ludington/Manistee MI area | olivetroad - 12/20/2016 09:13
My old neighbor always said you should feed timothy hay to the work horses, and alfalfa is for the milk cows. He always thought the current generations of horsey folks should lay off feeding so much alfalfa.
But he also was so crazy that he wore two wrist watches during daylight savings time, one was for normal time for milking, and one was for "town" time. I guess he couldnt just do the math!
They wont founder on free choice timothy.
Grandfather said the milk cows get the best hay, followed by the youngstock and the horses got what was left. |
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NW IL | I'll be the one to disagree with timothy taking the crown.
Here, the highest selling small square to horse people is always some combination of alfalfa and orchardgrass. I am not that big a fan of timothy for this reason. Timothy will really get big and stemmy and make some monster seed heads. I will agree that timothy is probably the better choice for consumers from a feed value comparison, but I grow what they want.
I don't really have any problem with leaf disease in my Barenbrug HLR orchardgrass mixed with alfalfa, maybe first cutting if I can't get at it until June. But as aggressive cut schedule as I have I don't see much disease the rest of the year. Maybe I am just lucky.
Most of the people I sell to do not know what RFV stands for, let alone what it means for their critters. I don't bother testing much of my hay. I just do what I can to make the green stuff, spray a little propionic acid on it to keep it green and smelling good, and sell it to them.
I am seeing a huge resurgence though of folks wanting 100% grass hay. We started baling all our waterways to deliver on this. I can't see planting a field to a grass mix without a little alfalfa. If you cut early and often the waterways do not make too bad of hay. The reed canary grass can get ahead of us pretty quick though and then its cow hay.
Edited by farmer53 12/20/2016 09:33
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| Horses naturally eat ALL DAY in the grass pasture. If they get more than a flake from a small square alfalfa bale they bloat and unless they are working hard or racing they don't need all the good of alfalfa. When the owners ration the hay by the flake the horse's belly feels empty and they will eat anything, including the barn. Sometimes the splinters of barn posts cause perforations and kill the horses.
Alfalfa is just too good for hobby horses, and they should NOT be fed it. Timothy is fine, they eat all the want and don't bloat. But if timothy cost the same as alfalfa the horse owners feel the pain of buying more bales.
In the 90s I raised and sold alfalfa because I wanted the nitrogen for following corn crops. I sold most of it to hobby horse owners, but didn't always get paid so I quit selling small squares and then quit selling big rounds and quit raising alfalfa. Those buyers were very picky about any sign of dust thinking it was mold even if it was really soil from the wheel rake. I visited barns of some buyers and the wood stalls and inside fences were gnawed by the horses every time.
Gerald J. |
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Western-Central Lower Michigan | Dad always said timothy is good hay for dairy cattle if the head isnt out yet. After the head is out, its horse hay (junk).
That being said, that was just one guys opinion and he expressed that opinion in the mid 60's. |
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NW Washington | Here is a link on all of the reasons why timothy hay is preferred for horse feed. http://hayusa.net/timothy.html
If timothy lodges and gets damaged or moldy then that that fancy timothy hay becomes junk you have trouble giving away.
Some timothy is grown for the Japanese market in the Pacific NW and they are really fussy about quality. |
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Eastern North Carolina | Our horses don't care for the Timothy hay, they seem to pick through it, eat half and waste the rest... I don't feed any Alfalfa, don't need it, last batch in this area had Blister Beetles out of Kansas, didn't end well for alot of owners. Have found that Brome and Brome Orchard grass mix works best for our horses..... Alot of folks in this area feed straight Coastal Bermuda hay. We have bermuda pasture for the summer and feed hay all winter. We feed small squares, easier to regulate what, when and how much they eat. Got some older horses that would try to eat off of a large round or large square bale until they killed over.
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Eastern Idaho | I've always wondered why timothy is so sought after for milk cows in Japan? I'm talking big headed, rank growth, but no brown stem. They cows can't produce well from it do they? |
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| Do you know what their rations look like? It might be they are feeding limited amounts, and using mainly as a fiber source to keep the rumen functioning. I don't know - it's just a guess on my part. |
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Pedee, Oregon | Yep, they are mainly interested in importing roughage. They have lots of high protien byproduct feed to blend down. Our hay and straw exports from the Basin and Willamette valley replace rice straw, which is their traditional roughage. |
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Central Western VA Mountains | Thanks everyone - great info!!!!!!!
Much appreciated. |
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NW IL | rosiesdad - 12/20/2016 12:17
Dad always said timothy is good hay for dairy cattle if the head isnt out yet. After the head is out, its horse hay (junk).
That being said, that was just one guys opinion and he expressed that opinion in the mid 60's.
That's funny, I kind of see it the other way around. We and everybody else around here feed the moldy or questionable hay to the cattle and feed the good hay to the horses.
I doubt there is much timothy being fed to dairies nowadays. They are feeding high moisture wrapped high RFV alfalfa.
As far as feeding alfalfa to horses......you have to watch it but most horses can handle good alfalfa just fine. Do they need it unless they are being used or worked, no. |
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Timothy Hay - Why is it Preferred????
