Hay, Haylage and Silage: What’s the Difference?

but expensive and will increase the cost of the feed.
What happens if forages are contaminated by soil or manure?
Any stored forage whether hay haylage or silage will not be improved by contamination with soil or manure. Manure applications utilized as fertilizer on forages intended for horses can reduce the palatability of the resulting feed unless applied appropriately. Soils coming from mud on cut grass or cutting grass too close to the soil will contaminate the feed make hay dusty and reduce ensiled feed quality. Both manure and soil contain organisms such as clostridia and coliforms which are bacteria that contribute to poor fermentation. Botulism is caused by a clostridial organism that will grow readily in an ensiled round bale producing a toxin that will kill a horse.
Cost of round bales versus hay Which is more economical?
Frequently the rationale for feeding ensiled forage to horses is cost. If a comparison of the cost of a 1000 lb wrapped round bale and the cost of 1000 lb of grass hay is reviewed the hay often appears more expensive. Remember though that the wrapped round bale is probably at least 50 percent water whereas the hay is a maximum of 10 percent water. In order to truly calculate the value of a stored forage it is important to know its moisture content so you can calculate how much dry matter you are buying. It is likely that based on the cost per unit of dry matter the hay is better value. The most important tool for good foragebuying decisions is a forage analysis completed in a recognized laboratory. At the very least a lab analysis will tell you how much water you are buying. It isnt possible to accurately assess the value of the feed for your horse until you have proof of the nutritional analysis of it.
Nutritional characteristics
The nutritional characteristics of ensiled forage are similar to those of hay with some exceptions. Ensiled forage is preserved through the fermentation of the natural sugars in the grass to fermentation acids and so water soluble carbohydrates WSC can be lower in ensiled forages than in hay coming off the same field.
There is research in both ruminants and horses suggesting that ensiled feed can have a small increase in digestibility but the significance of this is largely determined by the nutritional content of the fresh cut grass that was ensiled. Protein quality can suffer in
an ensiled forage. Growing horses and performance horses could be negatively impacted by this and so only the highest quality forage should be provided for them