News
POOR QUALITY OR NO NEW SEASON HAY OR HAYLAGE?
7th August 2007
With the exceptionally wet and unpredictable weather the UK has seen over the last three months there is growing concern in some areas regarding the availability of forage and its quality. If you are in an area where it is already difficult to get forage, or the quality is very poor, don't panic - all of the Dengie Hi-Fi range products can be used to partially or totally replace forage.
Dengie are the largest growers and producers of high temperature dried alfalfa in the UK. This drying process produces consistently clean forage from bale to bale. In the Hi-Fi range, alfalfa has been blended with other fibre sources such as straw or grass making them suitable to feed as total forage replacers.
Hi-Fi Senior - Not just for Veterans!
Hi-Fi Senior combines high temperature dried grasses and alfalfa and can be used to totally replace forage. Although Hi-Fi Senior is primarily aimed at older horses who need help with chewing, it is also ideal for a wide range of horses and ponies regardless of their age. Hi-Fi Senior has been formulated to be soft and easy to chew, and as both the grass and alfalfa in Hi-Fi Senior have been high temperature dried,it is a very clean forage making it particularly suitable for performance horses or indivicuals with RAO. Hi-Fi Senior is very palatable and so is ideal for horses and ponies that can be a bit fussy!
Hi-Fi Original - Consistent Nutrition from Bale to Bale!
Hi-Fi Original combines alfalfa and top quality cereal straw with a light molassess coating and has a calorie level comparable to top quality hay. Hi-Fi Original is suitable for any horse or pony that is at rest or in light work.
Hi-Fi Lite - The Low Sugar Forage Replacer.
Hi-Fi Lite combines alfalfa and top quality cereal straw with a low sugar coating. Hi-Fi Lite contains on average only 4% sugar, which is about half what you would find in average hay. As Hi-Fi Lite is so low in sugar it is particularly suitable for horses and ponies that require a low sugar ration such as horses or ponies prone to laminitis.
Hi-Fi Good Do-er - The Lowest Calorie Hay Replacer!
Hi-Fi Good Do-er is the lowest calorie product in the Dengie range and is therefore ideal for any horses or ponies that hold their weight particularly well, or are overweight. The added vitamins and minerals in Hi-Fi Good Do-er mean that when fed at the recommended quantity no additional vitamin and mineral supplement is necessary.
Making Forage Go Further
If you have some hay or haylage but need to top up with other things to get you through the winter, you can use up to 3kgs per day of the Alfa-A range. The Alfa-A products contain much higher levels of energy and protein than the Hi-Fi range and so will make a significant contribution to your horse's nutrient requirements. This may mean that you can reduce the amount of concentrates you are feeding which has the benefit of keeping costs manageable but also promoting a much healthier digestive system.
There is also Dengie Alfa-Beet which combines alfalfa and unmolassed sugar beet in a convenient 15 minute hot soak or 2 hour cold soak. Containing highly digestible fibres, Alfa-Beet can be used to provide more fibre in your horse's diet. It is particularly useful for older horses and ponies that struggle to chew and those that are fussy feeders.
How do I feed a Dengie Product as a Hay Replacer?
To feed one of the Dengie products in place of your hay or haylage simply replace your forage on a weight for weight basis. For example, if you would usually feed your horse 5kg of hay in the stable you would replace it with 5kg of one of the Dengie products most suited to your horse. As a guide, 1 section of hay from a 20kg bale would weigh approximately 2kg. To replace this you would need to feed 2 Measuring Buckets of one of the Hi-Fi products. The Dengie Measuring Buckets are available to order on-line for FREE with just a ?3 charge for P&P. Just click here to go through to the on-line shop.
Unlike hay, the Hi-Fi and Alfa-A products cannot be fed in a haynet. We would recommend leaving the desired quantity in a large bucket in the corner of the stable for your horse to munch on as required. If you find initially that your horse eats this too quickly then we would suggest using a large football or some very large smooth pebbles on top of the feed to help slow them down.
We often get calls on the Dengie Feedline asking if our products need soaking prior to feeding. The answer to this is NO apart from Alfa-Beet which MUST be fed soaked. However if you have a horse that prefers the Hi-Fi or Alfa-A products dampened down then they are fine to feed this way as well.
I Am Not Sure of the Quality of My Forage...
There are a number of factors that can influence forage harvest and ultimately quality and one of the biggest factors is the weather. Hay and haylage are both cut and left to dry until the moisture content is reduced to ideal levels. Haylage requires less drying as this is wrapped with a higher moisture content typically 40% to encourage fermentation, which "pickles" the product so that it can be stored successfully. Hay is dried for longer so that the moisture content is reduced much further to around 20% before it is baled. Hay that hasn't been sufficiently dried before baling is very likely to mould during storage making it unsuitable to feed.
The intermittent weather this summer has meant in many areas forage has been cut and then had to lay in the field for days or even weeks before it has dried sufficiently for baling. Forage that has laid in the fields and been rained on can suffer considerable nutrient losses so even if you have forage that has stored well this year its nutritional quality may be very different from last years forage.
Although by looking at forage you can make a rough assessment with regards to its cleanliness and suitability to feed, it is impossible to assess its nutrional contribution to your horse's ration by this method. If you suspect that this year's harvest is likely to be very different from last years, having it analysed can provide information on how much of a contribution to your horse's ration it will make. Please contact us on 0845 345 5115 for details of our forage analysis service and how you can take advanatage of this in a year when hay quality is predicted to not be good.
If you would like any further information on the products mentioned or the analysis of forage please contact the Dengie Feedline on 0845 345 5115.
