My hay isn’t great quality, and it’s really hard to find good hay in my area - how do hay replacers work?
Their answers were…
Laura Meszaros from Dodson & Horrell says:
In most circumstances, particularly during the winter months, calories from fibre are predominantly provided from either hay or haylage. If you have an older horse who is perhaps struggling to chew hay, or you perhaps have a shortage of hay in your area, fibre intake is likely to be considerably reduced.
Fibre is essential for healthy gut function, it is therefore vital that you replace the fibre your horse is not receiving, this can be done by providing what is known as a hay replacer. Hay replacers work by effectively providing a substitute to hay or haylage. Dodson and Horrell recommend using a combination of products - High Fibre Nuts, Alfalfa and KwikBeet. The feeding guideline for this hay replacer is 600g dry weight of each product per 100kg of body weight. Ideally this should be divided into several small meals and spread throughout the day. Alternatively you may look to replace a proportion of your horse’s forage with high fibre chaff such as Dodson & Horrell Fibergy.
Nicola Tyler from TopSpec says:
Hay replacers try to supply the fibre that is normally supplied by hay in a horse’s diet. If haylage is excluded from this question then it is worth looking at an appropriate chop e.g. TopChop Lite, which is an unmolassed mix of alfalfa and oat straw. If chops are not the solution for your horse because of poor dentition then soaking cubes to a mash is a successful alternative e.g. TopSpec FibrePlus cubes.
Isabel Harker from Spillers says:
Nutritionally good and hygienically good hay is essential and in some areas can be hard to come by, hay replacers are a good alternative and normally come in the form or a short chop fibre such as SPILLERS Happy Hoof. Be sure to check whether the hay replacer you choose can be used as a partial or full hay replacer. Full hay replacers will provide a nutritional content i.e. calories, protein and fibre similar to hay. Partial hay replacers generally have a higher calorie and protein content and therefore should be fed alongside other forage sources.
Lorna Edgar from Baileys Horse Feeds says:
Hay replacers are dried grasses that will ensure your horse is receiving a very good quality digestible fibre source, to complement or replace the poorer quality hay. They can be used for horses in work, elderly horses at rest, and when you struggle to find good quality hay or haylage. Using a hay replacer is a good addition to the feed room to try and maintain condition through good quality fibre, which the hard feed will complement.
Anna Pyrah from The Pure Feed Company says:
If a horse has limited supply of fibre in the diet then all kinds of problems can occur, from weight loss to gastric ulcers. This is all due to the fact that the horse’s digestive system has evolved to process a near constant supply of fibre – wild horses have to graze on poor quality vegetation for the majority of their day in order to obtain enough nutrients. It is really important to keep the fibre levels in the horse’s diet high and unfortunately, getting hold of a consistent supply of good quality hay can sometimes tricky. This is where hay replacers work – they are an alternative form of fibre and will help to ensure that the horse has access to fibre even when hay and grazing is poor. Many popular hay replacers include haylage, chaff, grass pellets, fibre nuggets and oat straw.
Bryony Biddlecombe from Allen and Page says:
Hay replacers are just very high fibre low calorie feeds to help to replace the lack of good quality fibre in the diet. In your case, I would use a hay replacer as an addition to your hay to increase quality fibre intake so the horse is getting the nutrition needed to maintain weight and stay healthy. I would not remove the hay from the diet as although nutritionally it may be poor, having rough long fibre in the diet keeps the horse’s gut active and healthy and allows it to make the most of the other sources of calories you are putting in e.g. hay replacer or hard feeds. The only time that I would recommend using a total hay replacer would be if the horse has a veterinary reason for being unable to consume hay or haylage, like lack of teeth in old horses or trouble with choke. Allen and Page make a very high fibre feed call Fast Fibre which is a soaking feed, takes just 1 min to soak, and can be fed as a partial or total hay replacer. It is also a complete feed so is fully balanced with vits and mins, so no need to add hard feed unless the horse is underweight or needs energy, in which case, it can be used as a base bulker and more calories added in the form of a competition feed or conditioning feed.