How much hay do you feed the average horse per day in the winter?

Question

Trying to calculate how much hay to buy for my new horse to get him through the cold seasons.

My horse is a yearling Paint stallion that is already 15.1h tall and weighs a little over 700ibs. I do know for those of you who replied "one bale per day" is too much hay! I figured approximately 4-6 flakes per day, divided into 2-3 feedings, but wanted other experienced horse owners advice. Oh, I am feeding him 100% alfalfa hay, along with Heritage 14% grain and a small amount of cracked corn.

Answer 1

"A healthy adult horse should eat a "flake" of hay twice per day."

"We recommend that you give your horse bran at least once per week to help with their digestive system."

"During winter months, you can supplement your horse's diet with grain to help keep your horse warm."
She might like to compare her list with the four-point list I sometimes use when I'm giving a short talk on the same subject:


give your horse access to clean water, salt, and clean, good-quality forage (pasture or hay) at all times; if you can't provide forage 24/7, at least feed the horses several times a day and be generous with the forage.
learn to do condition scoring so that you can easily evaluate your horse's condition; it's also useful to know your horse's actual weight
weigh ALL feed, so that you know exactly how much hay (and other feed) your horse is getting
talk to your veterinarian about your horse's nutritional program, and ask him to recommend ONE supplement that can make up for actual deficiencies in your horse's daily diet
For people who are willing or able to make only ONE change to their horse management protocol, weighing the feed is probably the most important action they can take. Just as most people make wild guesses when asked to estimate their horses' weight, most people also make wild guesses when asked how much they feed their horses. Since horses require to be fed at least 1.5% of their own weight every day in forage alone, you'd think that every horse owner would make it a point to know (a) what each horse weighs, and (b) how much forage each horse needs at a minimum... but far too many people continue to guess.
At a barn where I taught recently, there were stall cards that showed each horse's name, owner's name and telephone number, what to feed in the morning and at night, and what the horse weighed. The horses' owners had filled out the cards, and oddly enough, almost all of the "horse's weight" lines had exactly the same number: 1,000 lbs. I could easily see that some of those horses actually weighed around 800 pounds; others would tip the scales at 1375 or 1400 pounds. If they're all being fed as if they weighed 1,000 pounds, some are being overfed - and some are being underfed. Not only that, but what happens when it's time to deworm them? Do their owners actually use appropriate amounts of deworming paste (that is, less than a full tube for the 800-pound horses, and more than a full tube for the 1,400-pound horses), or does each owner use one tube per horse and cross off "deworm today" on the calendar?

What happens when you're out of town? If you've ever left your horses in someone else's care for a week or two and returned to find them much thinner or much fatter, you have some idea of the big differences there can be in individual interpretations of "a flake" or "a scoop".

It's much easier just to go ahead and weigh all of your feed - not necessarily every time, but often enough that you KNOW that (for example) when you fill your blue scoop level with oats, it weighs two pounds, and when you fill it with pellets, it weighs three+ pounds, or (again, just as an example) that a 2" thick flake of your alfalfa weighs five pounds, but it takes TWO 4" flakes of your grass hay to add up to five pounds. Your grain may not weigh the same as your neighbour's grain; your hay flakes may be heavier and more dense than your neighbour's hay flakes (or they may be lighter and more loosely-baled); your scoop may not be the same size as the one your neighbour uses, and so on.


FEEDING AND CARE OF THE HORSE, 2nd edition, by Lon D. Lewis (DVM, PhD) is easy to read and understand, and should be required reading for every horse-owner.

Another useful book on nutrition is STOREY'S GUIDE TO FEEDING HORSES, by equine nutritionist Melyni Worth.

Hay is the basic food of domestic horses. Only feed good quality hay to horses. Inspect hay carefully before buying it, asking the seller to open a bale. Make sure the bales are green and dust and mold free. Stick your hand down into the centre of a bale to make sure it's not warm. Feeding moldy hay can cause colic and dusty hay can cause respiratory problems. (To avoid dust, it's a good idea to pull the flakes apart and shake them out well before feeding. As a precaution, you can also soak hay before feeding.)

The type of hay available varies according to the area you live in. Three basic types in Alberta are grass hay, alfalfa hay and grass/alfalfa mix. Common grasses are timothy and brome. Alfalfa has a higher protein content than grass. Many horse people consider a grass/alfalfa mix the best for horses, and timothy/brome/alfalfa is a common combination.


also, here is an excellent link I found on winter feeding.

http://horsedoc_org.tripod.com/winter_feeding1d7.htm

Answer 2

I would stay away from alfalfa. It has to much protein for a horse that isnt worked an extreme amount. unless your horse is lazy and then alfalfa is fine. I know that lucerne and unmolassed sugar beet are easier for the horses to digest, however if that is a problem you can always soak your grain. And if vitamins and minerals are a problem supplements can help with that. However I would talk to your vet about using those because mineral/vitamin overloads can cause a TON of serious problems. About the grain, i would feed the horse a pellet, no sweet feed because it has to much protein for a horse that gets about three days off. Also it depends on the height if the horse is 15h to about 16.2, and the horses metabolism if the horse has problem keeping weight on then you will need to feed more but if the horse is fine with keeping weight on then i would feed the horse about 1lb.(1/4 scoop) to about 2/3s of a scoop. If the horse has problem keeping weight on then i would say 1/2-1 scoop. The hay stuff depends on the quality of the pasture. Since its winter i'm guessing the grass doesn't look to good. So i would go with 3-4 flakes in the morning, or if you or someone else is at the barn during the day spread the hay out, maybe two flakes in the morning 1 more flake around noon and then 1 more flake about two hours before the horse comes in. At night i would stick with 2-3 flakes or less, because the horse isn't using that much energy at night you dont need to feed them quite as much. The supplement stuff just depends on the horses problem if they have any. Its always a good idea to do half an ounce of electrolytes in the morning. this guarantees that the horse is drinking his/her water. If the horse has joint problems then i suggest cortaflex. other than that if your horse has other problems i would talk to a vet.

Answer 3

I have 2 horses, a 2 1/2yo paint stallion and a 13yo arab mare. Winter feeding schedule consists of 2 flakes of hay, grain, alfalfa pellets and soaked beet pulp. Also, in really bad weather, I add cornoil to the grain/alfalfa/beet pulp mixture. Always presoak the beet pulp as it has a tendency to expand quite a bit and can cause colic if not fed properly. A 50 pound bag of pelleted beet pulp lasts both horses around 1 month ( 4-8oz cups of pellets will expand to 4 times that amount when soaked.) $14 per bag, alfalfa pellet (50ld bag) lasts about 2 weeks and costs $14 each and 50 lb bag of grain lasts 2 weeks at $12 each. about 3 bales of timothy hay a week $4 per bale. Prices change depending on where you live and what you feed but that is a general idea based on prices here in Finleyville PA.

Answer 4

I have two horses and we buy 1600 pound round blaes.
They get a bale about every 3 weeks in the winter and about every 4 -5 weeks in the summer when on pasture.
I but 20 bales and that is about a years worth of hay for them.
They figure a horse should be getting about 1-2% of his body weight in hay per day do a 1000 pound horse would get 10 pounds of hay.

Answer 5

This really depends upon the type of hay you're feeding. The age of the horse also has to do with it too.

Quality of hay is everything. While alfalfa is a good high protein type hay, it may be too "hot" for your horse - a good quality grass hay is fine and maybe add a bit of Purina Equine Junior to supplement any vitamins or minerals which may be lacking in your area.

I don't usually use a "rule of thumb" for feeding - I go by the horse, body condition and whether or not they clean up everything they are fed before the next feeding. Horses need to be digesting food to produce heat which keeps them warm in the winter - a fat horse isn't necessarily a good thing and doesn't stay any warmer than a horse that's in good, working condition.

Here is a good link that I use for my hay customers when they are asking the same question:

http://www.sport-pony.com/care/hay.html

Answer 6

Adv feeding per day:

2 flakes per horse. Have 7 horses which equals out to one bale. Which means 2 bales per day.

However, I will just use my mare, who eats the most due to her high metabolism as example for a "one horse" comparison.

Abby is a 2 a bale a week horse. Meaning, she eats 2 large flakes a day. Yet, I also supplement her with extra feeding (extra 5 pounds of alfalfa pellets, brand and mare n foal or senior feed). I do not use oats and will only use sweet feed (corn molasses's) in winter to help keep warm etc.

Calculation depends all on your horse though. Every horse is different. No two stallions, mares or geldings are exactly alike to give enough accurate information on here. So, need to figure out his adv he eats and add based on 1) performance of riding 2) breeding 3) his body.

For his size and stature, I would start out with 2 good size flakes of hay and his supplements. (based on his activity that is). Needs to burn off some calories he puts in to be able to maintainer that weight.

If you feel that is too much and he is gaining, slowly decrease the amount to a flake and half with supplements. etc.

I always have to adjust my horses each year. We bought 25 ton ourselves. I would recommend to buy at least a ton for now and see how that ton works and how long it works for you. Have to see your adv for this horse.

Answer 7

It's very important to weight your hay daily. Every horse is different and depending upon their activity and age all depends on how much they should eat. Also in my area orchard grass hay weighs about 110 lbs per bail. My horse weighs 1200 lbs. so I feed here hay during the winter when no pasture is available because of deep snow, about 3-4 flakes of hay daily. Which weighs about 18 lbs on the scale. But when the pasture isn't under snow, then she gets only one flake of hay in the evening to keep her occupied during the night. Ask your vet for the best nutritional suggestions. I only supplement with 1/2 a can of grain daily spit in the morning and night time, during extreme cold weather to keep her warmer, Keep accurate records and adjust your hay for your horse if needed.

Answer 8

Very much depends on the horse. I have a BIG QH that gets only 3 flakes a day, 1 morning and two night, otherwise he gets very overweight, I also had an Arab that got 7 flakes a day. You have to look at your horses metabolism and go from there. On average I would say probably start by figuring 2 flakes more per day in the winter than summer and go from there...

Answer 9

General rule of thumb is to feed them 1 % of their body weight twice a day. So a horse weighing 1000lbs would get 20 lbs of hay/feed per day (10 lbs am, 10 lbs pm). With a young horse, I'd give him that much if he's active because he's gotta grow. Best to check with a vet to be sure. Alfalfa will keep weight on better than Bermuda, but has a lot of sugar so can make them hyper.

Bale of hay per day for one horse? LOL Who said that???

Answer 10

I try to figure 2 bales per horse, per week. It usually comes out pretty close, with a little left over in the spring. Hay is pretty expensive this year in some areas, due to drought.

Answer 11

I buy a 500 lbs hay square for my 5 horses every couple of days so I would say for you horse like 100 lbs of hay like every 4 days would be good you can also judge by how much he eats if he is really hungery he may need more