STITCH THE Appaloosa mule, owned by Terri Doyle (Marshall), is shown here munching on some beardless barley hay.
HAY WITH PROPER nutritional value is important for horses of all shapes and sizes. Most hay sold at feed stores in the area comes from Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington and usually has better nutritional characteristics than hay from around this area.
With so many wet and rainy days during the fall and winter season in Clark County, many horse owners begin to feed their horses more hay instead of leaving them out to graze in the wet weather.
Making sure horses are still getting the proper amount of nutrients is important, especially when their diet consists mainly of hay. Common issues that can come up when horse owners purchase hay for their animals can include weeds in the hay, pesticides on hay and hay that is sometimes moldy and damp.
Several feed stores in the Clark County area carry hay and try to make sure it is high quality. Cathi and Mike Agard, owners of Pioneer Feed in Ridgefield and Northwest Feed in Battle Ground, carry hay from Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington due to the fact that they said the loca hay sometimes has problems with weeds, low nutrition, mold, etc.
Mike and Cathi said most weeds found in hay are not toxic to horses and if there are any in some bales, most horses tend to eat around toxic weeds unless they are starving. Also, the Agards said some weeds actually have high nutritional value.
“The biggest problem around here is the cost to spray,” Mike said. “A lot of people don’t want to spend the money to spray their hay.”
Most of the local hay that is available in the area comes from private growers who sell the hay out of their barn. The hay from Eastern Oregon and Washington is quite a bit more expensive than local hay, but Mike and Cathi said its nutritional value is far more superior.
“For pet horses, the Eastern hay actually has too much nutrition,” Cathi said. “If they aren’t working, local hay has its place. Some people feed local hay at night and Eastern hay in the morning.”
Cathi said that they actually have a lady who works for the feed stores who has a degree in animal nutrition and can help customers who might have questions about the nutritional value of hay.
Wilco is another large feed store in the area that carries some different varieties of hay. Jake Wilson, marketing and communications manager, said Wilco sells three different varieties of forage – Eastern Oregon Orchard Grass, Eastern Oregon Alfalfa and Valley Grass Hay. The local Valley Grass Hay is a timothy/orchard grass mix.
“Most of the hay comes from Central/Eastern Oregon with some from the Willamette Valley,” Wilson said. “Our standards are that they are less than 90 pounds, there is no mold, no rocks or dirt, and there must be weed control on the fields. Typically this means the fields have been sprayed to keep them weed free.”
Wilson said that at Wilco they have not encountered weeds or over-ripe problems with the hay this year so far. He said there are many things people can do to assure the quality of hay they purchase, including:
• Buy hay from a reputable source that is doing the quality control for you
• It can cost more than buying direct, but buying through brokers or farm stores gives access to forage experts that should be doing the quality control for you
• Visit the field where the hay is coming from, then you can see if there are weeds, lots of dirt and debris and get an idea of what is in the bales
• Make sure the hay was not rained on
• Pay to do a hay test that will show the nutritional value
• See how it is being stored
• Check if it is protected and under cover
• If bottom bales are on bare dirt, they will often be moldy/damp if stored for a while
Other things to check for could include checking for toxic weeds like tansy and blue pine, and smelling hay to check for mold by making sure it isn’t musty smelling.
