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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 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.
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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