Haylage is grass, cut just like hay but, instead of being allowed to dry out completely, it is baled when the moisture content is still relatively high. Dust and spores are retained along with the moisture and will not become airborne when the bale is open.
The bales are immediately wrapped in multiple layers of polythene to exclude all air from the bale and allow a mild fermentation to take place to preserve the bale with no waste. Our production of haylage is entirely natural and we do not use any artificial preservatives.
The haylage is then left for 10 to 14 weeks when each batch will be laboratory analysed to check not only the nutritional levels but also the moulds and spores. Assuming that the results meet our high standards, the haylage is then ready for feeding.
Horses need adequate fibre in their diet to keep their large intestine working preoperly and traditionally, in the winter period, this has been supplied by hay. Good quality hay does provide the fibre the horse requires but does have some drawbacks. Apart from the possible dificulty of actually sourcing the hay, the main problem results from dust and mould spores present in the hay. Estimates of the proportion of horses suffering from respiratory difficulty vary considerably but if your horse is coughing there is a high chance that it has a problem and are likely to be having an allergic reaction.
To overcome the problem, hay is often soaked in the hope that the dust and spores will stick to the plant stems, and be swallowed rather than inhaled. As anybody who has had to do this will tell you, soaking hay is a time-consuming and messy task. Soaking hay also considerably reduces the nutritional value and the waste water is a pollutant similar to sewage.