I have ran out of hay in my area and have found some Alfalfa hay a couple of hours away.  Any tips on swapping my horses over? I know I will have to be careful on the amount I feed but I need more infomation on do's and don'ts.

HELP!!!!

I only fed one flake at a time and fed in a low hay bunk, not on the floor.  If you can transition over a two week period it would be best.  I had too much waste to make it economical for my horses, lots of stems on the floor as mine only ate the leaves.  Don't feed yellow bales...they should be dark to medium green, think well fertilized yard grass.  Not all Alfalfa is horse quality...it could really be dairy quality but sold to horse folk!

I found feeding the alfalfa pellets or cubes worked better and then I could buy as I needed, no storage issues, no waste and no fear of blister beetles or other problems.

I only fed the alfalfa to my show horses but they also ate bermuda hay to meet their roughage requirements and fill their bellies.

Pretty much all they grow here is alfalfa, but one of the growers didn't want it for her horses and put in a coastal field.   You need to look at the inside of the bale because sometimes the good stuff will be yellow on the outside because of sun bleaching.  My horses will eat the leaves first then the stems, then the coastal.

Here in the west Alfalfa is the dominate forage for livestock. Including horses. Many old timers fed nothing but alfalfa and their horses did just fine.

It's richer than grass hay and will give your horse the "runs" if you change over too quick. Like any change in feed, transition over a week or two to allow the gut bacteria to adjust.

Dairy quality alfalfa is 20-22% protien. This is very rich for a horse that has been eating grass at 10-13% protien. Alfalfa has more calories than grass. So you will need to feed less unless your trying to put weight on.  Some horses feel very cheated when they get all the calories they need in a few minutes of dinner and don't get to linger over a manager of hay. Try to find some not  dairy quality alfalfa, It's cheaper and better for the horse. Dairy quality alfalfa is cut just before the bloom. If you see dried purple blossom in the hay it's past the prime for Dairy quality and they Protien drops very quickly.  Hay in a haystack will bleach in color on the outside, But should be green inside the bale. Watch for mold and don't feed bales that have any mold in them. Also don't buy bales with any Foxtail

A horse will not use all the extra protien in alfalfa. Hence the excess is converted into Urea and pee'd off in the urine. This has two effects. First, the horse goes through more water to eliminate the waste. If not allowed to drink more, they can dehydrate. Usually not a problem with a horse standing in stall, But it's a concern to endurance racers and other long distance performance horses.  2nd the extra urine produces more amonnia vapor in a closed in stall. Which in a closed in stall can hurt lungs. Also horses that eat a diet high in Alfalfa often have a heavier lather for sweat.

Alfalfa is also very high in Calcium.  This can upset the Calcium - Phosphorus ratio in your horses system. There are many suppliments available that will boost the Phosphorus level to offest the calcium from alfalfa.

Check your genetics and age of your horses. HYPP horses don't need very much alfalfa, same with young horses. Always have plenty of water available when feeding alfalfa.

I did know about the blister beetle issue.  Anybody have in insight on how to spot them and what they look like. I need  more knowledge before I pick it up on Saturday.

Never mind. I found a ton of information.

http://www.google.com/search?q=alfalfa+blister+beetles&hl=en&rls=GGLR,GGLR:2005-46,GGLR:en&start=0&sa=N

I do have a report for that hay when it was tested. Hang on I'll get the numbers. I only had 3 numbers on the report.  The last was Nitrates<1250ppm whatever that is. What are good numbers for RFV?

RFV=18.97

CP=18.54

there is a coastal bermuda hay supplier in Moultrie, ga.   avery farms.   148 avery rd.