My three horses are on coastal (and alfalfa).  This is Texas and that's about all we can get.  I get the best coastal squares that I can find, and feed a flake in the AM, two in the PM and they are turned out on a coastal field during the day. 

Well, we haven't had rain, and there is no grass so I bought some organic round bales from a grower.  The horses have had round bales every winter but not summer before, so I didn't think that there would be a problem.  They WILL NOT eat the hay.  They walk around looking for the stray blade of grass instead and then demand to be put up early.  I can pull out a handful and they will eat that if I offer it to them, but not stand and eat it. 

Do they know something that I don't or are they just being really picky?  The growers horses eat the hay.  I have enough cow hay and none of the growers have round bales to sell right now.  I guess I could use squares out in the pasture for daytime munching but that is really expensive.  Suggestions??

It's coastal.  A bit coarser and stemmier than there VERY LOVELY square bales.  I can't figure it out.  I used other round bales last year and they ate them fine.  I'm sure the hay won't kill them or make them sick, but it's so strange. 

The woman who baled the hay is also behind on how much she has, and was asking if I'd sell it back to her as she was afraid her horses would get sick on the non-organic hay she can find.  I'd do it if I could find more hay at a decent price now.  But, I always need cow hay too. But, I had to really work at not asking her if her horses really eat it!

You'll want to check the hay for spear grass.  Flip up the front lips of your horses and check for cyst like lumps inside their mouths.  If you find some contact your vet and return the hay or burn it in place.  Spear grass doesn't seem to bother cattle but horses can't stand the stuff.

I had the same thing happen quite a few years back and just thought that over time and when they were hungry they'd eat the hay.  They finally did and it was a nightmare!

Check your horses often and look for soreness.  They could just be picky eaters but trust your gut instinct and return the hay if you need to.

Are you sure it's a recent baling, that they didn't sell you something kind of old?  Well, I sure you did ask that and you would have noticed if it looked old.  My last bale was a little weathered on the outside.  I had to peel off a layer to expose the nicer stuff underneath.  Then they got to chomping.

While we're on this subject....  I recently learned that round bales shouldn't be fed to horses (especially if there's only a couple of them eating it) d/t possibility of botulism (during baling there's the potential of little animals getting 'baled').  The vet giving the lecture said he's seen several recent cases.  Any of y'all have this experience out there?

We have farms in two places, and do the round bales on the cattle, and pretty much the square bales on the equines to keep them from looking like they are the round bale!

I know many farms, and 2 vet clinics/farms that feed a great many round bales.... and little critters get baled up in square bales, mice, snakes, rabbits, other little critters...

It was first cutting so a little stemmy but OK.  And I only feed the round bales when it isn't going to rain (booohooo, that would have been all summer now) and let the cows in to finish the last part.  Botulisum scares me.

Here's a hint to keep birds, squirrels, etc from drowning in the water troughs and maybe causing a round of botulism - put a t-post in the water trough (with the yellow cap on the end).  The ridges allow critters that fall in to scamper out.

We got a load of coastal from a friend who raises it in Longview, tx.  I don't like to feed straight alfalfa, and the coastal looked fine.  My horses WILL NOT eat it, hungry or not.  Neither will the neighbors goats!

Marla

It's coastal.  A bit coarser and stemmier than there VERY LOVELY square bales.  I can't figure it out.  I used other round bales last year and they ate them fine.  I'm sure the hay won't kill them or make them sick, but it's so strange. 

     I bought a round bale of coastal out of Tx that looked great.  3 of my horses coliced on it and one ended up in sugury.  The suguron said the hay was probally to mature and they couldn't digest it.  When my filly went to sugury my husband "assisted" and he said that she was packed from stomach to rectum with undigested hay.  The vet said her intestines were 3 times their normal size.  The other two were able to pass the hay with lots of fluids/oil/epsom salts and it was mostly undigested too.  The sugeon said that the number of impaction colic cases that they have had in El Paso and their Weatherford clinics had almost trippled.  This was in late April early May and was fresh baled hay.

     My horses didn't want the hay at first, if I had listened to them I'd have saved my self almost 8 grand in vet bills and a lot of heartache.  If your horses don't want it, trust their judgement.  There may be something wrong with it that you can't see.

If they don't want it, get ride of it.  I don't take any chances myself.

yep - it's cow hay now. . .  Thanks for all the replies. 

Now, if anyone knows where I can get more hay for the horses!!!!

After the colic episodes I switched to hay cubes.  We've had a lot of rain this year and finding hay that hasn't been rained on is hard and alfalfa molds quick.  It's a little bit more expensive but not by much and is easier for me to find.

I'm using a bag every three feedings at $11.60 a bag vs 2 feedings a bale at $6.00 a bale.