Hay should be clean and free of dust or mold. Color is not always an indicator of nutritional content. Hay should smell fresh and slightly sweet
Horses need a MINIMUM of 1% of their body weight in forage in order for digestion to work properly. That's 10 lbs of hay for a 1000 lb horse. Remember that's only a minimum, and the best equine diet is free choice forage.
Orchardgrass and Timothy are excellent grass hays and very similar nutritionally, followed closely by bermudagrass. Fescue is generally much lower in protein and nutrients; alfalfa (a legume) normally has the highest amount of digestable protien and nutrients. Basically you would need to feed more fescue than orchardgrass, and more orchard than alfalfa, based on how much nutrititive value is in the hay. This is why fescue hay is generally priced lower than orchard or timothy, and why alfalfa hays are usually the most expensive. It is normally not recommended to feed fescue to pregnant mares in the last 60 days of gestation. Do the research to determine your horse's nutritional needs.
We supply hay year-round. Variety and price may vary depending on availability and shipping costs. We grow orchard, alfalfa and fescue on our farm. We trailer-in alfalfa and timothy throughout winter. We update our site regularly and make every effort to provide a variety of hay types and price ranges.
Hay Info
Alfalfa
Silage
Scroll down for current availability
Hays are priced by bale weight and hay quality.
Hay quality determines nutritional value. Weedy, overmature hays may be cheaper--but you will have to feed more in order for your horse to get the nutrition he needs; you'll also spend more time mucking the stall as he eliminates a larger amount of undigestable fiber!
Hay should be clean and free of dust or mold. Color is not always an indicator of nutritional content. Hay should smell fresh and slightly sweet.
In the barn as of 11/1/09:
Grown on our farm:
Orchardgrass - small squares $7/bale (limited supply of our own & we'll have some beautiful orchardgrass from Ohio around Thanksgiving - price TBD).
Alfalfa - small squares $8/bale
Silage
Hay silage is an excellent option for cattle over the winter. It maintains more nutrients than dry hay, and they love it.
Alfalfa $90/ton or $45 wrapped bale approx 1200 lb bale
All prices are for pick-up in barn.
If we have what you need, please be aware that it may sell out in 2-4 days.
Delivery is available for $1.00 per bale within 100 miles, anything over 100 miles will have additional delivery fee.
Poplin Farms Inc.
