Haylage costs NW (Cheshire/Manchester)

[Deliaskis]

Hi all, just wanted a bit of a sample of what people are paying for haylage at the moment. It seems to have gone up a lot, which is understandable given everything in life has! But my latest bill for July haylage for a 13hh Welshie who is out from 6pm until 9am and in eating haylage in the day, is a LOT. She's on assisted livery, and it's a bit difficult to say how the price for haylage is arrived at because there are 25ish liveries sharing large bales, and we pay a share each, but I am wondering if the in/out pattern and potentially size of horse is not being accounted for (as those out in the day only will be consuming a lot more overnight, as ours does in the winter). Following physio advice pony is having hay on the floor which in my head feels harder to to quantify than simply 2 nets at night, 1 for the day, so I'm just wondering whether my judgement is a bit off.

Another consideration is that although she is out a lot, the grazing is a bit slim at the moment due to the dry weather, so I can understand the need to top up during the day. I don't think she's going hungry or anything, she is getting haylage, I'm just a bit surprised by the price at the moment.

Anyway....money where my mouth is, my haylage bill for her for 1 month is just under £45. Does that sound....OK? Or ridiculous, or should I count my lucky stars?

Would appreciate any thoughts.
Thanks.

That sounds a lot to me

She is in all day though, but it looks like they are doing a split based per horse/pony with no account for varying sizes. Might be worth bringing it up gently.

At rough average weights and costs, your pony should be getting about 4kg haylage per day, ie about 1/50th of a standard haylage bale. A large bale of haylage round here is £50 this year, so £1 per day to feed your pony, give or take a few pennies.

It may well be that your pony is being given more than she needs if haylage is being fed loose on the floor - I know my ponies would hoover through their day’s worth of forage in an hour if given it all at once. It’s also possible they are giving more if the grass isn’t growing where you are atm. (It is like a desert here! There is nothing to eat in the paddocks so I am giving more hay.)

it’s also possible you are being charged a flat rate of one large bale per month, regardless of pony size. If you were feeding your point from your own supply, you would not benefit from the economies of scale you get when a lot of you share a large bale. I only have 3 horses, and so have to use small bales because a big bale would go off too fast, so my haylage is much more expensive.

Whichever of the above is correct, I’d be delighted if my forage bill came in at just £45 per pony per month.

Thank you @backinthebox some useful thoughts there. It's been such a strange summer re grazing really, and for us switching to hay on the ground, that everything feels very topsy turvy.