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Member
Posts: 9
| Want to learn more about Bermuda grass hay. I understand it is basically as nutritious as fescue/brome hay but have heard it has higher impaction rate? Any experience with it? It would appear to have more roughage but not sure. Could sure use some insight. thanks! |
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 Pork Fat is my Favorite
Posts: 3791
   
Location: The Oklahoma plains. | Well, I have fed it on and off for years as it was available to us. KNOCK ON WOOD, never had a colic issue. But it might be because we did mix native grass hay in our ritual- more so for cost cutting and our good friend has great native hay.
Pretty sure Liana Deweese has fed it as well over the years.
My vet did warn us and I understand his concern. We also feed a pelleted feed (double gasp) but again- not had any issues and I am partial but I think our horses look as good if not typically better than most. |
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 Namesless in BHW
Posts: 10368
Location: At the race track with Ah Dee Ohs | We get ours from the Amish...sprayed and fertilized. Have never had any problems with it. That's all we feed beside hay wise. Some is straight bermuda, but some we get is mixed with rye grass. |
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Expert
Posts: 1226
| We have fed bremuda for years. We feed it more in the summer. Half alfafa half bremuda. Never had any problems. |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | It's the best choice we have in this part of the country without paying a crap ton for hay brought in from up north. I've fed it as long as I've had horses. There are small differences in varieties, some finer leafed and some coarser. Most of what I've been feeding in recent years is part Alicia and part one of the Tiftons (85 I think). |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | It's the very soft fine stemmed coastal that is known for causing impactions. The fine stemmed hay horses don't have to chew it as much as the coarser stem hay. Horses replace the digestives juices in their gut by chewing. If a horse doesn't chew enough the fine stemmed can impact like a wad of spaghetti. If you are feeding this kind it is helpful to add a flake of alfalfa as it will help keep everything flowing. Horses that have been raised on this type of hay don't seem to have the problem. I brought a horse from the Midwest that was raised on Timothy/Alfalfa hay and he impacted on the fine Coastal and had to have surgery and is why I know the above as my vet educated me real quick on this subject. |
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Expert
Posts: 3300
| My horses look at burmuda and colic they've been in the hospital ect and they say if you insist on feeding that "crap" their words lol.. You need to feed alfalfa to add fluid to the gut. They need something more nutritious anyways.. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 429
Location: Oxford, Kansas | I ended up buying a semi load of it last fall after a truck broke down and the driver needed to unload it quick to get his truck fixed. I LOVE it!! My horses did so well on it last year I am actually going to go south to Oklahoma and bring home another load this year. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
| We feed it! We moved to OK from Colorado, where we fed Timothy/Alfalfa, and this is what all of ours have been on since. Haven't had any problems with it, horses look great. |
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I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | Not all Coastal/Bermuda is the same. There are many different varieties. |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | The issue with coastal and impaction can be directly related to your horses teeth. The point made above about not chewing it well is very important. If the horses mouth is sore in the cheek or side of the tongue due to teeth issues the resulting discomfort will cause the horse will chew less. This causes two negative things to happen. first, the coastal Bermuda is not pulverized which exposes less surface area to the digestive process resulting in much of the nutrition being passed through. Second, the hay arrives in the hind gut mostly in the form it was in when swallowed. Very little break down of the hay happens higher in the digestive system. If the hay is not chewed and remains in long strands, it is easy for these strands to begin to wind around each other and form an obstruction that will lead to an impaction. I see these problems present themselves in areas that feed coastal Bermuda more than any other region. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| It is true that there are many varities of coastal. Many people feed it with no problems and others seem to have a lot of colic. I think if your horse is a pig you will have problems, i also,think if you,dont have enough fiber in your horses diet you will,have problems also if you live on sandy soil with out enough fiber you will have problems. I think a lot would have to,do,with sand and fiber and how,fine the coastal is. But, i really think you need to check for,sand also and not blame it on coastal totally. |
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Expert
Posts: 3300
| daisycake123 - 2014-07-18 6:30 PM
It is true that there are many varities of coastal. Many people feed it with no problems and others seem to have a lot of colic. I think if your horse is a pig you will have problems, i also,think if you,dont have enough fiber in your horses diet you will,have problems also if you live on sandy soil with out enough fiber you will have problems. I think a lot would have to,do,with sand and fiber and how,fine the coastal is. But, i really think you need to check for,sand also and not blame it on coastal totally.
I don't know mine was totally because of the coastal. He didn't have an ounce of sand in his gut. He's never had a problem chewing ect.. But I'm sure capital one would love me if I kept feeding it |
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Expert
Posts: 1477
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | We own about 50 acres of hay fields and it's all Bermuda. Never have had a problem with it. Knock on wood but In 16yrs of having horses we've only had 3 colics. None where caused by the hay. I hear of way more horses with coic that the owners bought what ever hay the feed store had. I under no circumstances will buy hay that I don't know where it came from. I know that's not a option for everyone but I think if you 100% for sure your getting quality hay your chances of having hay related problems are not near as high. Agin I know that's not a option for everyone but it pay to know where your hay came from and what's in it. |
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Blessed 
Location: Here | Nevertooold - 2014-07-17 4:04 PM
Not all Coastal/Bermuda is the same. There are many different varieties.
Ditto I like tifton 99 and common Bermuda |
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  Making the post season
Posts: 7288
Location: your guess is as good as mine | I've never had a problem feeding pure Bermuda...the only colics I've had were three that were not directly hay-related (same horse) and one that was on a mixed-grass round bale (that I'm not entirely sure was a colic). |
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 Expert
Posts: 4625
Location: Desert Land | I was feeding Bermuda and alfalfa and still had a mare get an ileal impaction from the bermuda. The first thing the hospital asked me when I brought the mare in was if she was being fed bermuda. Unfortunately, I lost the mare. I had fed it for a long time with no problems, but I'm quick to learn and wont ever feed it again to my horses. |
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Nut Case Expert
Posts: 9305
Location: Tulsa, Ok | We have fed bermuda off and on for the last 50 years with no problem. With that being said, we make hay available 24/7. When horses only have limited access, they tend to HOG any and all feed/hay down which leads to issues no matter what you are feeding.
As far as the advice about needing to add alfalfa, that is all well and good if you live in a part of the country where SAFE alfalfa is available at an economically feasible price. In blister bug country, that is just not necessarily possible. |
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