Is legume hay good for horses?
Legume hay is higher in protein, energy, calcium and vitamin A than grass hays. While hay alone may not meet the total dietary requirements of young, growing horses or those used for high levels of performance, high-quality hay may supply ample nutrition for less active adult horses.
Is timothy A legume hay?
Timothy is grown primarily as hay for horses but is frequently included in pasture mixtures. It is less competitive in a legume mixture than most sod-forming grasses and is often grown in a legume mixture for hay.
What is the most commonly fed legume hay?
Alfalfa hay
Alfalfa hay is the most well-known and widely fed legume (called “lucerne” in many parts of the world), and clovers areanother type of legume that are also commonly incorporated in many feed programs. Alfalfa’s high protein content makes it ideal for milk-producing livestock and animals with high energy requirements.
What legumes can horses eat?
Legumes such as alfalfa and white clover can meet elevated needs and can be planted with grasses to improve the nutritional value of forages. Alfalfa and clover contain more digestible energy (DE) and crude protein (CP) than grasses. They are a good option for owners who want to limit feeding grain to their horses.
What are examples of legume hay?
Legume hay is generally higher in protein, energy, and minerals than grasses harvested at the same maturity. Examples of legume hays include alfalfa, clover, bird’s foot trefoil and lespedeza. Grass hays include Timothy, orchard grass, bluegrass, bromegrass, ryegrass, fescue, and bermuda grass.
Is alfalfa a legume?
alfalfa, (Medicago sativa), also called lucerne or purple medic, perennial, cloverlike, leguminous plant of the pea family (Fabaceae), widely grown primarily for hay, pasturage, and silage. Alfalfa is known for its tolerance of drought, heat, and cold and for the remarkable productivity and quality of its herbage.
What are types of legume hay?
Legume Hay for Horses Alfalfa, white clover, red clover and birdsfoot trefoil are common types of legumes, with alfalfa being the most popular choice. Benefits: Legumes are higher in protein and calcium than grass hay, and may also provide more energy and a higher level of total digestible nutrients, such as vitamin A.
What kind of hay is bad for horses?
Some hay types are particularly prone to high nitrate levels and should be avoided if there are options. These include: Sorghum, Sudan, Johnsongrass and Pearl Millet. High levels of simple carbohydrate (sugars, starch) are an issue for horses with insulin resistance and can occur in virtually any type of hay.
What hay can horses not eat?
Oat hay has thick tougher stalks that some horses will not eat. Oat hay tends to be higher in nitrates and also high in sugar (NSC), so this hay is not an option for insulin resistant horses. Here’s a comparison chart so you can see the differences between alfalfa hay, timothy (grass) hay and oat hay.
Is alfalfa hay and grass or legume?
In the United States, legume hays typically include alfalfa and clover. Grass hays include many varieties of grasses and can include the grain (oat) hays. One of the biggest differences between legume and grass hay is protein content. On average, legume hays contain much higher levels of protein.
Why is ryegrass bad for horses?
Whereas clovers and other broadleaf plants store their sugars as starch, easily broken down by enzymes, rye-grass stores its sugars as ‘fructans’ for which no mammal possesses any enzyme capable of breaking it down. Fructan is a known cause of laminitis in horses.
How many different kinds or types of hay are there?
Alfalfa — I know Californian Jeff Fowle grows some alfalfa hay each year cause the guy tweets all the time about cutting hay,turning it or baling it!
What are the different types of legumes?
Peas. One of the field pea varieties is known to be the out of the first few crops that were domesticated.
What type of grass is best for hay?
Timothy Hay. Timothy hay is a common favorite among horses and owners.
What are the examples of legume vegetables?
Peanuts.