Certainly everyone remembers the big drought of 1999, but some of the biggest effects may not be felt until early in the year 2000. No, it's not related to the millennium bug, although some will certainly think it is. The problem I'm talking about is either the cost or availability of good quality horse hay. For those who can buy and store full truckloads of hay, the impact may not be as bad. The mid-section of the country and the West Coast has plenty of hay. But for those of us who only have a couple of horses, many of us are at the mercy of what we can find locally.

Fortunately, there have been some real improvements in forage alternatives. In the past, you had your choice of alfalfa cubes and one or two complete feeds. Now, there are other cube options, chopped forages, and a broader spectrum of complete feeds. Here are a few key considerations when choosing the best forage option for your feeding program.

First, fiber length of the fiber source is very important. Most nutritionists agree that fiber length of 1î to 1 * ì is most desirable. The fiber length is important to assure good gut motility and to avoid lack of "scratch factor". Scratch factor is a desire within the horse to meet certain fiber requirements. Without meeting this requirement, research has proven horses develop bad habits, such as wood chewing. Second, the digestibility of the fiber is important. Hay is often labeled as poor quality because of the high lignin content. Lignin is the indigestible portion of the cell wall in plants. Lignin gives the stem strength as the plant gets older. Therefore, overly mature hay and straw is high in lignin and not very digestible.

Third, fiber consistency is very important. Recent research indicates that a leading cause of colic is a rapid change in fiber. Most horse owners know to change the grain portion of the diet slowly. The same is true, and perhaps more importantly, with fiber products because of the microbial population in the cecum. The microbial population contains the bacteria necessary for converting digestible fiber into energy and microbial upsets are largely responsible for colic and laminitis (founder). The bacteria need a period of time to adjust to the new fiber source to avoid microbial upsets. Fourth, since the fiber portion of the diet should constitute at least 50% of the total intake, you need to consider protein content. If you start feeding considerably lower quality hay than normal, you may need to consider a higher protein grain source, or visa versa.

Now that you know a little of what to take into consideration, what options do you have to choose from when considering a forage alternative? First you need to figure out if you need to consider replacing all of your hay or supplementing the fiber you can lay your hands on. If you are supplementing your fiber, are you supplementing to improve poor quality or do you want to stretch out what you have, or a combination of both.

Complete feeds are defined as a diet that supplies not only the protein, vitamins, and minerals required for proper nutrition, but also sufficient amounts of fiber. These products work great for extending or improving hay resources but typically lack sufficient fiber length to act as a complete replacement. Therefore, some long stem fiber is recommended.

Cubes historically consisted only of 100% alfalfa cubes. Now there are different combinations of alfalfa and timothy hay or alfalfa and whole corn plant. Cubes will still basically always be at least 50% alfalfa because of the binding properties of alfalfa to retain cube durability. They work very well to supplement hay and can also work well as the total hay replacement because you do maintain the proper fiber length. Alfalfa pellets are not the best option for fiber supplementation because of the lack in fiber length that cubes have.

Now there are some other cube options as complete cubes hit the market in the Southern States distribution system. Complete cubes have the advantages of vitamins, minerals, and added energy that complete feeds can provide with the added fiber length that cubes provide. Winner's Choice is a new cubed feed line from Triple Crown Nutrition that combines an alfalfa/timothy based complete cube with many of the attributes of Legend and Triple Crown such as added fat, organic minerals, yeast cultures and probiotics.

Chopped forages have been around for a few years and continue to be a great option to supplement or replace hay. They have the necessary fiber length and can offer the option of 100% timothy hay that cubes cannot. The hay is chopped to about 2 inches in length and then molasses and corn oil is applied. They are currently not available fortified with vitamins and minerals like complete diets.

Other less desirable fiber alternatives include shredded beet pulp, soy hull pellets, and even straw. These options have some real concerns but have been used successfully as a fiber supplement only under strict management guidelines.

Below is a chart that lists the forage alternative products available through Southern States to help you through the forage crisis:

*Would like long stem hay fed if possible.

Eric Haydt
General Manager
Equine Specialty Feed Company, L.C.
800-267-7198