Anyone ever buy raw ingredients that are in horse feed?

[VoyPor]

If so where do you get them from?

We are looking to cut our feed bill down by maybe trying to source the stuff from where it is made/dispatched from as we now have a lot of horses to feed and if we can cut back on costs where we can then thatd be great.

Any help would be great.

Thanks.

 

[Orangehorse]

These are known as "straights" and are dealt with by feed merchants who supply the mills. Remember that every batch of raw material taken in is analysed so the feed that is put into sacks is always of a consistant feed value. They have machines to do this, calculating the cost/nutrient and it is automatically adjusted for every batch.Oats, barley, etc. will naturally vary in nutrients depending upon where they are grown and what sort of growing season it has been.
Also you would be buying in relatively small quantities, so would be paying more. The mills take in feed by the lorry load, tons at a time.

Why not buy a company "own make" feed like Countrywide. Or simply buy oats and barley and mix with chaff, which you could also do yourself (if you got a chaff cutter) and put a vitamin/mineral supplement.

 

[Lanky Loll]

We feed straights as in oats, barley etc but just get them from West Midland Farmers.

 

[Fairynuff]

Oats, barley, maize, bran and limestone can be bought from feed merchants/mills.Unless you understand feeding and nutrition it is very easy to feed an unbalanced diet. Pre prepared horsefeeds remove this risk if they are fed as advised.Mixing your own doesnt nec mean that you will save money.

 

[MissMincePie&Brandy]

When i was very young, my parents use to cook up our horses feed every day. The smell of boiled barley or linseed on the aga reminds me of my childhood....

Getting back to the subject, to cut feed bills. Near us some of the big feed stores sell their own brand feeds and course mixes which are quite a lot cheaper than the well known national brands.

 

[joy]

Cook my own linseed and boil my own barley.

 

[Shay]

We have fed straights - but it can be a false economy. You have to really understand what each bit does and why you feed it. Otherwise you end up with an unbalenced diet. The supplements can also be more expensive to buy and add afterward as well.

If you want to reduce feed costs can I suggest you look at what ever supplements you are using - most people (Me included!) use far more than really needed. Balenced horse Feeds do economy equivalents to the main brands which are perfectly good and quite a bit cheaper. Someone on our yard uses the "Simple systems" feed thing which is supposed to be really cheap and effective - but I don't know much about it. Soemone on here will!