An alternative to Allen & Page Fast Fibre

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mccarron6769

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I used to feed Good Door Alfalfa to my boy then changed to Mollichop Calmer. In winter he's in much lighter work so I've switched him back to Good Dooer. He does suffer from loose droppings and irritation of his gut when the grass is wet but he has been very loose and a lot of water is coming out which is clearly irritating him.

Having read the article in last week's H&H I wondered if switching him from Alfalfa and a cereal based mix would help so I've gone to Allen and Page Fast Fibre as mentioned in the case study, and switched from the mix to the nuts of D&H pasture mix.

He's happily eating it and I'm waiting to see if it helps his problem but it doesn't seem right to be feeding him what seems to be a heavy pile of slop in the fast fibre, and I hate having to mess around with soaking feed.

Has anyone got a good alternative that doesn't have to be soaked ?
 
I thought Fast Fibre was Alfalfa based?
what is it if its not?
What about Ride and Relax, thats alfalfa, barley and mollasses free from what I remember. But thats a mix.

I switched from Good Doer because I found out it was 8% sugar, I now feed SS Lucie Cobs, but that is pure Alfalfa and you have to soak it!
 
Fast Fibe is a 60 second soak, so shouldn't take too long to get ready, and is also a complete feed, so you can cut out the D&H so long as you feed the correct quantites. It is Alfalfa free too. It may be worth adding Naf Pink powder to help gut function.
 
I would stick with pasture nuts and fast fibre, which is good for the digestive system. FF only takes a minute to soak too. Why dont you feel its right to feed it?
Have you considered worms?
 
Simple Systems - Just Grass and Green Gold - chaff or the lighter versions are Ruff Stuff and Lucie Stalks - mine do very well on this with a little speedibeet or just water to damp down.

I would also try giving him some equmins pro-bio - excellent stuff for sorting out gut problems, worked a treat on horses I have had in the past with these sort of problems.
 
Thanks guys,

I feel guilty when I'm away having to get friends to soak it. It is really quick and I'm probably just being a human being and thinking cause it looks awful and soggy that its not nice for him, a bit like getting a mix instead of nuts because it looks nicer
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Re the worms, yes but he is wormed regularly along with all the other horses. He came to me with a bout of pin worms and a couple of months ago I suspected he had them again so treated him for them.

He is usually ok in the winter once the summer grass has gone but since going back onto Alfalfa I've really noticed the loose droppings and irritated tail swishing when he has a movement.

How long should it take for me to know whether the fast fibre is helping?

I give him the D&H just to provide a bit more energy and interest for his food, along with carrots. Can't take apples, as much as he loves them the acid seems to whip through him as if its a curry !!

I feel really sorry for him because its very obvious that it upsets him.

I tried Equine Gold to try and help his gut. Is the Naff pink powder better ??
 
I use Fast Fibre as a base, but mix Alfa and a handful of cool mix in with it (you could use a non-Alfalfa chaff such as Badminton Easy Rider). On it's own I can see why you think FF is a raw deal, though it is fairly palatable to most horses.

It soaks so quick I can't see why there's a problem. By the time I've got the dustbin lids off the other ingredients, it's soaked so it never holds me up when making a feed.

As others have said, pink powder could be beneficial. I feed it to my horse and she looks really good on it and hasn't had a gas colic episode since she's been on it.
 
I will persevere then ! He does seem to like it, he has a chomp on his carrot then seems to bite into his feed.

Hopefully the benefits to his gut will start to show soon and his droppings will firm up.

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I found Fast Fibre was brilliant to get condition back on to an elderly TB type this autumn. I mix it (probably unnecessarily) with Alfa A, Speedibeet and Hi Fi cubes. No chance of constipation then
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Ah good to hear Turbo it worked.
I use FF have done since September after worrying my over weight neddie wasnt getting enough vit/min to aid recovery after muscle damage.
Both neddies are on this and i also feed Ride/Relax along side.
I find when I add the water, by the time ive gone back to my feed bin and put in the R&R the 30-60 sec's are up.

Both boys love it and look amazing on it so I shall keep them on it and do without chaff and sugar beet this year, thus saving money
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Fast fibre is not alfalfala based. I know because my horse is on it who is intolerant of alfalfa.

My horse also has a horse version of IBS and he has fast fibre and ride and relax and is doing very well on this.
 
I have been feeding Fast Fibre for a few months now and find it is a very economical feed . One of our horses did not like it though andwould leave it unless it was mixed with some other type of feed. The other horse likes it and he has it with Power and Performance which has to be soaked for 5 mins. It ends up looking like a big bowl of brown porridge! It takes him forever to eat it!
He used to have little lumps on his skin and these have disappeared since we have used the fast fibre and p and p.
 
find a feed that your horse is suited to and stick to it!!! all mine (25+) all start with a base of alpha a and sugar beet, at base level, then dependant on needs they have nuts, mix, copra, barley and oats, oil. all fit and well and no squirty bums!!! hay and haylage and grass ad lib!
 
If your horse likes it then stick with the Fast Fibre
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I would feed it on it's own as it's a complete feed, maybe adding NAF Pink Powder or something similar if necessary.
 
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