Posted 2016-04-25 4:59 PM Subject: RE: coastal hay or alfalfa hay?
Accident Prone
Posts: 22277 Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR
Mine get free choice Bermuda (coastal) hay or pasture, and I supplement with alfalfa and rice bran instead of feeding grain. Whatever works best for you situation--there is no right or wrong answer to that question.
Posted 2016-04-26 11:42 AM Subject: RE: coastal hay or alfalfa hay?
Expert
Posts: 1695 Location: Willows, CA
I know I sound like a broken record here, but if you are going to feed a straight coastal program you need to be sure that your horses teeth are really up to date. A hook on the inside of the lowers or a rough edge on the outside of the uppers will irritate the side of the tongue or inside of the cheek and prevent the horse from chewing the coastal as much as is needed for efficient digestion. This is more important with coastal than many other hays because it is fast through the hind gut and a little tough to digest in the short time it is there. The more it is broken up by complete comfortable chewing the better. Adding an alfalfa source will also slow the transit time through the hind gut and allow more time to break coastal down. This can be the basis for a very good diet, but the horse has to be able to chew it first.
coastal hay or alfalfa hay?
