Agrobs Feeds....Tell me your experiences of these pls..

[Janovich]

As my EMS boy has now 'gone off' Fast Fibre, I'm hunting for an alternative cereal free/alfalfa free/molasses free feed as a base carrier for my supplements.....and one that's as low as i can find in terms of sugars and starches too.

I've stumbled by chance on this feed merchant and i've asked them to send me samples of the Aspero, the Leichtgenuss and the Musli as these are the 3 i've picked out. Although the Musli sounds fantastic, i don't think i need this and its the one with the higher sugars/starches content.

I'm literally going to be using whatever i choose by the 'good handful' as a carrier and i don't want anything that i have to soak either. It's quite hard to find a bag of something thats not got cereal/molasses/alfalfa in it!

Anyone with experiences of these feeds and those especially with EMS issues?.

thanks for your feedback in advance..

 

[BethH]

Love it - best feed ever- my horse has had all 3 you mentioned and loves them all, have been feeding it for a couple of years now - he became allergic to alfalfa from another feed company, so being grass based is perfect for him and he looks fantastic. The quality of this stuff is great but it is now expensive due to the euro/pound exchange rate, but I'll still buy it as it is the best feed I've ever come across. The Leichtgenuss is great for a good doer as it is more straw chopped than grass. But the dried grass Aspero (also great for a good doer) is lovely and when Ryan isn't fat, he gets that with a handful of the museli. I also give him a handful of charnwood linseed with it although some of the Agrobs products do have cold pressed linseed oil in any case, but he looks very shiny and healthy.

As an aside, I haven't found any of the feed heating, my horse can't cope even with haylage let alone a feed with molasses in it or he turns into a bit of a loony and he is absolutely fine on this, although I appreciate EMS is a little trickier to manage!

You might like to have a look at the treats they do as well - just grass and linseed oil, every horse I know loves them and they are very healthy!

 

[supsup]

Haven't tried Agrobs, but the new Dengie Meadow grass chaff might be worth a look, and most feed merchants will have it (or can get it). My boy who has turned his nose up at other "plain grass" products (grass nuts, Halley's timothy chaff) really likes the meadow grass chaff. Not sure if the sugar levels could be too high (nominally 12% sugar, 2% starch).

 

[ester]

Mine was on D+h grass before (plus oats and beet) and would rarely finish it and leave it if I added anything different- I certainly couldn't add any salt let alone anything nastier.

Agrobs had been a revelation, he gets the aspero as I said he didn't need flowers though the guinea pigs disagreed! A few on the yard fed the Light one but the rats did seem to eat holes in the bags which they never did the aspero

 

[greygirlie]

My mare has EMS and has had severe hind gut issues. She can't tolerate sugar beet, alfalfa, anything molassed or high protein. Have to soak her hay and limit grazing. She does very well on the muesli or weisencobs. I started her on the mash for a while until her gut was settled, then switched to muesli. Wouldn't give her anything else. And as a bonus, my slightly fussy two year old is on antibiotics for a few days so he's having muesli, which he polishes off very quickly.

 

[YorksG]

We are feeding the agrobs cobs and all of ours do well on varying amounts, we do add water for the two who get a reasonable amount, but the two who only get a handful have theirs dry. We also find them useful as rewards, as they are a good size for that and all four of ours like them.

 

[tallyho!]

I'm a new convert... do not accept imitations!!!

 

[thatsmygirl]

Fast fibre does contain molasses not sure if you knew that.

Simple systems hay care may be worth a look as well, their hay care is a great product but is a soak which Iv just noticed you didn't want. But soaks straight away with warm water and smells lush.
Do u need weight gain or not?
My ems who has cushings needs weight so I feed copra but not suitable if you need weight control. Dengie meadow grass is also a nice product but depends how much you would feed to weather the sugar level is to high which is 12% I think.

 

[TGM]

Fast fibre does contain molasses not sure if you knew that.

No it doesn't, ingredient list here: http://www.animalfeedstore.com/Fast-Fibre-Composition-Nutritional-Analysis.aspx

 

[Fruitcake]

I really like it. If you're looking for something tasty to get your pony to eat supplements with, I'd say that the Aspero may be a little dull by itself. I use the Muesli and even give my Cushings pony a handful. It does have a higher sugar and starch rate than I'd usually choose for his 'proper' feed but he seems to be fine with a handful mixed in with his Speedibeet.

 

[WelshD]

I've fed the Museli and found that it didn't go very far which for the price was a bit of a disappointment

I do feed the Compact grass blocks though which the ponies love, they crumble easily so I also use them as a chaff for the pony with allergies, its probably not the cheapest way of doing things but saves on storage space

I found the cobs a bit of an odd product and they got damp so easily so I didn't buy those again

I work for a feed retailer and the Agrobs products have has two price hikes in the last few months which is a real shame

 

[Janovich]

Thank you all so much for your feedback, it's good to read other folks experiences of this feed product, which certainly seems to be a very positive one indeed!

Whichever bag of feed i choose, it will literally be a good handful of and be mixed with supplements of Mag Ox, Linseed and a Winter Balancer at present (changes to a Summer one when the time comes) from Forage Plus.

He can't tolerate Haylage so he's on hay (soaked) as he's a sensitive hind gut as well. Pasture time in summer is restricuted to the 'fat paddock too, but is safe enough to go into the big field come winter when there's plenty of foggage to chew on!

I'm now leaning towards the Musli from some of the comments from the EMS/Cushings owners above! Musli comes in at 9.7 sugars and 2.8 Starch and the Aspero 6.3 sugars and neglible starch. Aspero was my favourite to go for initially. Ah well,...we shall see when the samples arrives i guess. Whichever i choose will be dampened with a little water. I don't need/want anything that's going to be weight gaining, so a token feed to give to him once a day is what he gets, literally to feed the supplements.

The price hikes will no doubt be coming from the 'wobbly Euro exchange rate' at the moment and hopefully in the future it will settle down again. Time will tell. If a bag cost me £25 (including delivery) i can handle that as i can see a bag lasting me quite some time which is a bonus.

I'm looking forward to receiving my samples now and i've been in email conversation with Michelle from Red Rufus and i can order direct with her too so that's good to know.

 

[Leo Walker]

Have a look at Pink Mash, it sounds perfect for you. It does need soaking, but it takes about 5mins so its not a huge faff. 0.5% sugar, 4% starch, everything seems to find it palatable and its very gut friendly. Its got Protexin in and some other stuff I cant remember. I find it incredibly useful as a carrier feed for good doers and the gut friendly bit is a huge bonus with the new pony.

 

[ester]

If he is super fussy I would go for the muesli. It's not the cheapest but if it meant mine ate all the more expensive stuff I was giving him it's a drop in the ocean!

 

[Janovich]

Thanks for the recommendation LeoWalker,...although i'm really wanting to stay away from anything that has to be soaked now as he's gone of the 'sloppiness' of everything. FF only took 60 seconds so nothing to speak of, but that said,...i think it's the overall consistency that he's not keen on anymore.

He's not a fussy eater really, but as you've quite rightly said Ester,...my supplements aren't cheap by any means and i don't want them being wasted,..they're too expensive for this!

 

[9tails]

I think every horse that is truly loved needs a bag of Musli. It's a very palatable feed but how are you going to mix your supplements in? I assume the supplements are powder?

 

[criso]

The musli has been the only thing my fussy tb really loves as opposed to eating it in a "well if there's nothing else I suppose I'll force a couple of mouthfuls" way. Easy enough to mix powder supplements in, just slightly dampen so they stick.

You might like to have a look at the treats they do as well - just grass and linseed oil, every horse I know loves them and they are very healthy!

The treats are lovely and like horsey crack, mine go crazy and will do anything for them (I swear they solved my loading issues with one) but they are not just grass and linseed oil and so I feed in moderation.

Ingredients Pre Alpin dry green fiber, sugar beet chips, parsnip, carrot, apple pomace, malted yeast extract, herbs (holy thistle, blueberry leaves, rose hip, sheperd´s purse, nettle), cold-pressed linseed/sunflower oil, sea algae chalk, beetroot, honey

 

[Casey76]

I feed the plain straw, lichtgenuess, aspero, muesli and the weisencobs. It differs day by day for T, but B gets half a scoop of muesli or aspero for breakfast and a full scoop (dry weight) of the weisencobs for dinner - but he isn't watching his weight or has any metabolic problems.

My "special needs" pony gets a handful of muesli or aspero for breakfast and then either half-and-half straw and lichtgenuss (a full feed trug) with her supplements, or in this really cold weather, a full scoop of weisencobs plus linseed soaked with hot water, and has her daily hay adjusted. though tbh at the moment she is losing weight with almost ad lib hay, and it is really cold, so I'm not weighing or soaking at the moment (soaking hay in -10C weather is a major problem!)

However if you have access to St Hippolyt feed, this might be another option: https://st-hippolyt.de/England/images/Downloads/england/Palatin_Glyx-Wiese_Müsli_UK.pdf

 

[ester]

I think every horse that is truly loved needs a bag of Musli. It's a very palatable feed but how are you going to mix your supplements in? I assume the supplements are powder?

Mine all are,mix in plenty well slightly damp

 

[Janovich]

Yes 9tails... all of my supplements are in powder form so the the plan is when i choose which Agrobs feed i'm going to go for, I'll add the Mag Ox and Winter Balancer,... dampen it down a bit,...give it a good stir and then sprinkle his rationed Linseed on the top!

It's definitely going to be between the Musli and the Aspero!

 

[9tails]

Yes 9tails... all of my supplements are in powder form so the the plan is when i choose which Agrobs feed i'm going to go for, I'll add the Mag Ox and Winter Balancer,... dampen it down a bit,...give it a good stir and then sprinkle his rationed Linseed on the top!

It's definitely going to be between the Musli and the Aspero!

Aspero is just dried grass, admittedly much sweeter smelling than Readigrass but it's not that interesting.

 

[Delhi Belly]

Agrobs feeds are excellent - especially the muesli but I've stopped using it after awful supply and delivery issues.

 

[PoppyAnderson]

It's excellent stuff.

Pink mash is fab aswell and doesn't have to made into a slop. Just use a bit less water and make it into a firmer consistency.

One final recommendation is coolstance copra. It smells divine and mine goes nuts for it. If you message them, they'll send you a sample to try.

 

[Brightbay]

Would you believe that I have three horses who enjoy the Aspero chop on its own so much that I can use it as a clicker training reward?

Our regular feed for a 17hh and a 13.2 is a one litre jug of dried cobs soaked (they swell up and fill a bucket when soaked). Big guy gets two thirds, pony gets one third. Top up with a good handful of Aspero. Both get minerals and salt added. It makes a decent sized bucket with plenty of eating and both love it.

I have found it difficult to get hold of but I think I've found a reliable stockist now.

I would avoid the Pink Mash - I know of one horse who developed quite major behavioural issues on it, and the main ingredient is soya hulls which I wouldn't feed... it's a marketing miracle though, because if you ask people what's in it, they tell you "beetroot" or "linseed" or "Protexin" because these are written in big letters on the bag, whereas it's basically soya hulls with a bit of linseed, beetroot and Protexin added.

 

[Leo Walker]

I would avoid the Pink Mash - I know of one horse who developed quite major behavioural issues on it, and the main ingredient is soya hulls which I wouldn't feed... it's a marketing miracle though, because if you ask people what's in it, they tell you "beetroot" or "linseed" or "Protexin" because these are written in big letters on the bag, whereas it's basically soya hulls with a bit of linseed, beetroot and Protexin added.

I've had 2 on it with no issues behaviour wise. The new one came very poor looking and tucked up and he looks pretty good now 2 weeks down the line, although relaxing and settling in will have played a part as well. I feed it soaked but not sloppy, it mixes in with his balancer and makes a pretty dry feed.

The thing that makes me feed it is the incredibly low sugar and starch, much lower than the Agrobs or anything similar and the fact a small amount makes up quite a lot once its soaked. It depends whats important to you though

I do feed Agrobs cobs when I'm clicker training usually, but I'm trying these out at the minute

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/horses/feed/hay_fibre/cobs/496143

Very similar but less green and grassy looking

 

[smellsofhorse]

Agrobs feeds are excellent - especially the muesli but I've stopped using it after awful supply and delivery issues.

same issue here.

Plus they did get fed up with the cobs.

Im now feeding pink mash, ready mash green and the D&H grass nuts.

It really isnt difficult to soak, it takes a couple of minutes.
Or leave some soaked in a bucket ready for the next feed each time you feed so there is always some ready.

It is much easier to hide and mix in supplements too.

 

[Janovich]

Well,...over the weekend he's had the Leichtgenuss... didn't seem too keen on that. He's then tried the Aspero,...seemed ok and ate most of it.

Tonight is the trying of the Musli.... so we'll see what he thinks of that and take it from there.

The feed company sent me samples of pretty much everything i think, which was very nice of them in one respect, but i'm really not interested in the soaking of anything. Have got a sample of their treats which i'm sure he'll think are very tasty though..!

Thanks for all the feedback on this feed...it's been invaluable and very interesting to read.