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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
 
Location: Oklahoma | My dad (out of the goodness of his heart and just not familiar with feeding horses!) brought my geldings a bale of Bermuda grass this morning while he and my mom fed for me. What can I do to make sure my geldings keep their systems moving? Oil to feed, salt to feed? I have a square bale of alfalfa left here at the house... Should I give them a few flakes of it? It's not extremely fine, but more fine than the native grass mix they were on.
any input is appreciated!! |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
  
Location: Florida.. | Id add alfalfa and id also add water to their grain or soaked beet pulp and make it soupy.. fluid to gut is always a good thing.. |
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 Expert
Posts: 5290
| One bale probably wont do anything but mixing it wth alfalfa is going to get some long stem forage in there.. |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | FLITASTIC - 2015-01-17 5:58 PM One bale probably wont do anything but mixing it wth alfalfa is going to get some long stem forage in there..
It's a round bale... :(
They're both eating a flake of alfalfa right now and I will get some beet pulp soaking for dinner! Thanks! |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | Bibliafarm - 2015-01-17 5:56 PM Id add alfalfa and id also add water to their grain or soaked beet pulp and make it soupy.. fluid to gut is always a good thing..
This is what I do and add salt or an electrolyte to the soaked beet pulp to get him to drink. |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | Thanks guys! The older (17) gelding has had a bowel movement and drank water during the time I was just down at the barn. The other gelding is having gut sounds, but haven't seen him do anything but eat on the alfalfa. I made his extra soupy and he'll be in a pen for the next few hours so I'll see if he's had any movements. I see plenty on the ground around the hay, but I don't want to just assume. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| Bermuda (coastal) is all that I feed and have for about 30 years. I do feed square bales though. I have never had a problem. |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | streakysox - 2015-01-17 11:10 PM Bermuda (coastal) is all that I feed and have for about 30 years. I do feed square bales though. I have never had a problem.
it usually doesnt cause issues but if horse has not had any it might.. its better to be aware... |
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I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | Bibliafarm - 2015-01-17 10:25 PM streakysox - 2015-01-17 11:10 PM Bermuda (coastal) is all that I feed and have for about 30 years. I do feed square bales though. I have never had a problem. it usually doesnt cause issues but if horse has not had any it might.. its better to be aware...
Horses that are raised on it don't seem to have the problems that horses that come from a different area plus all Coastal/Bermuda isn't created equal. The real fine Bermuda is the one that tends to cause impactions.
The number one cause of impactions in Texas is Coastal/Bermuda hay with pelleted feed coming in second. |
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Expert
Posts: 3147
| I've fed bermuda hay for over fifty years and can count on one hand (with several fingers left over) the number of impaction colics my horses have had. And I've owned from one to twelve head at any one time. My pasture ornaments get nothing but grass and free choice bermuda. The only impaction colic I can remember was due to the mare not drinking enough water during the winter. We had moved her to a different pasture and the water tasted nasty to me, too. |
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Expert
Posts: 2685
| I was wondering if maybe I was missing something. My horses have eaten Bermuda for as long as I can remember. I did have 1 gastric impaction that was fatal but I don't think it was the hay... to many other factors
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | Will I need to give the soupy BP daily? He had about 3-4 movements during the five hours he was penned, so I think he is adjusting amazingly.... But how long until I know he's going to be perfectly fine.... Or will I never know?
I doubt the hay is as fine as some are, it's just that neither have had any Bermuda this fall/winter. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 448
Location: lone star state | As already mentioned water is the key to preventing impact colic. Add salt to their grain as much as they will eat without leaving it. Usually 1-2 tablespoons per feeding. In the cold (lower than about 35) give hot water as a choice. Horses LOVE a bucket of hot water. Kinda like coffee or hot chocolate to you or me on a cold day.
Bermuda is not a guarantee that your horses will colic. The finer the stem (indicating better quality) the higher the risk the coarser the stem (indicating more mature or a tifton variety) the less risk. Someone already stated that mixing with alfalfa is a good idea. Sounds like you are already doing. Stop fretting. They are fine. I try to always be diligent in monitoring for colic especially in really hot or cold weather anyway. |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | RoaniePonie11 - 2015-01-18 12:48 AM I was wondering if maybe I was missing something. My horses have eaten Bermuda for as long as I can remember. I did have 1 gastric impaction that was fatal but I don't think it was the hay... to many other factors Everyone is missing that Horse has not had any at all and its a huge change in hay diet.. is why she was concerned.. when putting them on coastal its done slowly not heres a round bale have at it.(or maybe you do I dont know. ) we all feed it for years .. our horses were used to it , hers was not. she is being proactive.
Edited by Bibliafarm 2015-01-18 8:17 AM
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I'm a Cry Baby
Posts: 3780
Location: n.c. | Yes, if I switched mine off Coastal Bermuda I would probably have problems. Or fresh bales ( not a problem at this time of year)
of coastal can cause major problems. Just depends on what the horse is used to. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 600
Location: Oklahoma & Texas | I'm in West Texas and we feed Alfalfa and Bermuda ...if it's a round bale of Bermuda and they aren't used to It can u only put them on it a few hrs a day or limit their access to it til they are accustomed to it? Water intake is the best thing to watch I'd just put some electrolytes in their feed to stimulate more drinking...usually if horses are well fed and don' gorge them selves on it from being hungry they pace themselves and don't over eat...we have round bales of it out and never have problems but if they aren'tused to free access hay they can over eat causing an Impaction just like with any feed or hay they suddenly have free access to.... |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | BBrewster - 2015-01-18 1:28 PM I'm in West Texas and we feed Alfalfa and Bermuda ...if it's a round bale of Bermuda and they aren't used to It can u only put them on it a few hrs a day or limit their access to it til they are accustomed to it? Water intake is the best thing to watch I'd just put some electrolytes in their feed to stimulate more drinking...usually if horses are well fed and don' gorge them selves on it from being hungry they pace themselves and don't over eat...we have round bales of it out and never have problems but if they aren'tused to free access hay they can over eat causing an Impaction just like with any feed or hay they suddenly have free access to....
No way to really limit them.... I do have one muzzle that will fit one of the geldings, but I don't have another lot I could move them to. They seem to be extra regular today.... I do a pretty good job of keeping the manure picked up and when I went down this morning it almost looked like a bomb had gone off..
They've ways had 24/7 access to a round bale (grass hay with alfalfa supplemented on the side), so I don't think I have to worry about them gorging as much if they didn't have 24/7 access, but I just get paranoid! They have a water tank that is controlled by a thermocube (the heater that is) and one tank that stays at the outdoor temperature. They're drinking regularly and have been taking breaks from the bale. They're acting 100% normal, so I'll stop fretting as much, but keep on doing all the suggestions as they seem to be working! I told my dad about my concerns and he laughed and looked to my uncle and said "she worries more about those horses than I do about her!" |
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I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | Bibliafarm - 2015-01-18 8:15 AM RoaniePonie11 - 2015-01-18 12:48 AM I was wondering if maybe I was missing something. My horses have eaten Bermuda for as long as I can remember. I did have 1 gastric impaction that was fatal but I don't think it was the hay... to many other factors Everyone is missing that Horse has not had any at all and its a huge change in hay diet.. is why she was concerned.. when putting them on coastal its done slowly not heres a round bale have at it.(or maybe you do I dont know. ) we all feed it for years .. our horses were used to it , hers was not. she is being proactive.
I didn't miss your point and if it was me..I would be taking that round bale out and just peeling some off and throwing it into their pen. But there is also a huge difference in the different varieties of Coastal/Bermuda. The real fine stuff is real scary. Horses that are use to eating a coarse stem hay and then get it tend to not chew it enough and inhale it. Horses replace their digestive juices by chewing and those juices are heavier then water and is key to good digestion. I found this out the hardway. |
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Blessed 
Location: Here | Nevertooold - 2015-01-18 3:35 PM
Bibliafarm - 2015-01-18 8:15 AM RoaniePonie11 - 2015-01-18 12:48 AM I was wondering if maybe I was missing something. My horses have eaten Bermuda for as long as I can remember. I did have 1 gastric impaction that was fatal but I don't think it was the hay... to many other factors Everyone is missing that Horse has not had any at all and its a huge change in hay diet.. is why she was concerned.. when putting them on coastal its done slowly not heres a round bale have at it.(or maybe you do I dont know. ) we all feed it for years .. our horses were used to it , hers was not. she is being proactive.
Exactly |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma |  is this considered to be really fine? I know that the pasture wasn't atraight Bermuda and it wasn't grown on the coast (if that's a qualification for coastal). |
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Blessed
Location: Here | Longneck - 2015-01-18 4:35 PM is this considered to be really fine? I know that the pasture wasn't atraight Bermuda and it wasn't grown on the coast (if that's a qualification for coastal ).
Nope I am quite a bit aways from the coast and we have coastal growing here as well as tifton 99 Thank goodness the cows are over where the coast is and the Tifton and cowboy bermuda is over on horse side. Coastal doesn't have to do with location it is just the variety |
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Blessed
Location: Here | http://www.bermudagrass.com/pasture/#.VLxCJ9DnZ9A
http://www.tifton.uga.edu/fat/bermudagrass.htm
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma |
Thank you! Very educational links! I'm going to have the extension agent protein test it and tell me just what all is in the batch that my dad baled. |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | Nevertooold - 2015-01-18 4:35 PM Bibliafarm - 2015-01-18 8:15 AM RoaniePonie11 - 2015-01-18 12:48 AM I was wondering if maybe I was missing something. My horses have eaten Bermuda for as long as I can remember. I did have 1 gastric impaction that was fatal but I don't think it was the hay... to many other factors Everyone is missing that Horse has not had any at all and its a huge change in hay diet.. is why she was concerned.. when putting them on coastal its done slowly not heres a round bale have at it.(or maybe you do I dont know. ) we all feed it for years .. our horses were used to it , hers was not. she is being proactive.
I know I was just talking to the ones pointing out thats all they feed and why even be concerned.. i just want them to know whay she was concerned.. |
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Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| BMW - 2015-01-17 11:45 PM
I've fed bermuda hay for over fifty years and can count on one hand (with several fingers left over) the number of impaction colics my horses have had. And I've owned from one to twelve head at any one time. My pasture ornaments get nothing but grass and free choice bermuda. The only impaction colic I can remember was due to the mare not drinking enough water during the winter. We had moved her to a different pasture and the water tasted nasty to me, too.
I think that you need to explain that in 50 years that you have had horses that were not on bremuda all of their lives. I know that I have gotten new horses and do not have a clue what hay they were eating before I bought them. That is all my trainer feeds and she gets in new horses all the time. As someone mentioned water intake is critical. That means how much they drink. |
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Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| For those of you who feed Tifton 44 or Tifton 85 they are Bermuda grass. To my knowledge there is no Tifton 99 , at least not in E TX. |
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Blessed
Location: Here | streakysox - 2015-01-18 11:23 PM For those of you who feed Tifton 44 or Tifton 85 they are Bermuda grass. To my knowledge there is no Tifton 99 , at least not in E TX.
You are correct. thank you 99 is Midland 99. here is another great article on the different varieties. Also time of cut, fertilizer, weed control, can also make a big difference.
http://www.noble.org/global/ag/soils/warm-season-perennial-forage/nf-so-12-01.pdf |
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 Expert
Posts: 4625
Location: Desert Land | That bermuda looks great! I would feed that. The bermuda they grow out here in CA is the fine crap. I learned the hard way unfortunately. I had my favorite broodmare die from an illieal impaction from bermuda. I had only been feeding it about a month and the mare had been colicy. Took her to the clinic and the first thing they asked was if she had been fed bermuda. |
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | If there is other hay to feed along with it, in general, there should be no reason to panic. In my opinion, for what that is worth, the big deal with Bermuda impaction is almost always combined with poor condition of the teeth. As long as the horse can chew comfortably, and is able to completely pulverize the hay there is very little risk of problems. If the mouth is sore, the horse will chew less and swallow longer stems of grass hay resulting in the possibility of those long stems wrapping around each other and forming the start of a blockage. Fix the teeth and feed the coastal Bermuda as part of a balanced feeding program. |
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I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | winwillows - 2015-01-19 4:10 PM If there is other hay to feed along with it, in general, there should be no reason to panic. In my opinion, for what that is worth, the big deal with Bermuda impaction is almost always combined with poor condition of the teeth. As long as the horse can chew comfortably, and is able to completely pulverize the hay there is very little risk of problems. If the mouth is sore, the horse will chew less and swallow longer stems of grass hay resulting in the possibility of those long stems wrapping around each other and forming the start of a blockage. Fix the teeth and feed the coastal Bermuda as part of a balanced feeding program.
The teeth can cause a problem with any feed but I can guarantee you the horse that I had that impacted, teeth had nothing to do with it. He came from eating Timothy/Alfalfa from the Midwest to very fine Bermuda. It was like a bowl of spaghetti in his intestines.
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Bermuda and impaction prevention