Anyone have a 'life hack' for this issue?

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KikiDee

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30 year old horse has 2 x feeds a day of soaked Fibre Beet, Grass Nuts & D&H Cushcare. Eats well and looks great on this.

My problem is he is a pain eating his feed. He insists on lifting his head between every mouthful and dropping half his feed on the floor, he does 'hoover' some of it up afterwards but I am wasting so much feed!

I've tried big buckets, small buckets, soaking the feed to various consistencies but no joy! His teeth are actually ok for his age other than having diastemas which means he can't have chaff, but he does well on fibre based feeds rather than concentrates and they all need soaking into a mash which seems to exacerbate the problem :rolleyes:

Is there a more pelleted type of fibre feed I could try? a different bucket/feeding solution? He lives out with access to hard standing/stables with doors open as he's not keen on being stabled, and I bring him in and feed him on the hard-standing.
 
A big crate, like these? I use them as temporary troughs or hay feeders and they are absolutely indestructible, you could put the bucket inside or just feed straight from it.

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KikiDee said:
I'm not sure I could fit all his feed in and if I did the poor bugger wouldn't be able to lift his head off the floor 😄 he gets 1/2 scoop of each feed soaked and it pretty much fills a bucket to the brim and is quite heavy :rolleyes:
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In that case I would split the feed into more meals, which is easy for me to say, when ours are at home, not so easy to do when at livery
 
KikiDee said:
My problem is he is a pain eating his feed. He insists on lifting his head between every mouthful and dropping half his feed on the floor, he does 'hoover' some of it up afterwards but I am wasting so much feed!
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Yep, lovely mare in avatar has always done this, I've had her for 17 years and it's not improving with age. The only two ways I have prevented mass waste are 1) feed her when she's lying down. She can't get her nose out of the bucket so easily. 2) put bucket on top of hay, then she can tidy up in her own time. Luckily she's both laid back and the boss, so it works in our situation.
 
SpeedyPony said:
My old boy does this (has always done it, not age related). I've found putting his feed bucket on top of a haylage pile allows him to hoover up the crumbs as he eats the haylage.
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He lives out with a companion and I bring them in twice a day to separate and feed them so unfortunately he has a limited window to finish his feeds as once he wanders off and leaves the scraps his field mate soon hoovers them up 😬
 
Burnttoast said:
Sounds like quite a large volume for one meal. Could you split it up?
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It’s not a huge amount dry weight but as everything is soaked there’s a lot of volume from water, but I’ve always been told I don’t need to worry about water volume when considering size of feeds?

I can look at more concentrated calories instead with linseed and copra but I’ve always liked him to get most of his calories from a fibre based feed if I can.
 
cauda equina said:
Can he eat hay? If so could he have less bucket feed and more hay or haylage?
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They have ad-lib hay out in the field, though not eating much at the moment as preferring the grass. But he drops weight over winter so gets an extra feed as well.

He’s never been a great hay eater tbh which is why I try to get as much fibre into him through his feeds as I can. Not age related as I’ve owned him his whole life and he’s always been the same and one to pick at/sift through his hay rather than gobble it down 🙄
 
Pearlsasinger said:
In that case I would split the feed into more meals, which is easy for me to say, when ours are at home, not so easy to do when at livery
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He doesn’t get a huge amount of feed dry weight, but as everything is soaked it’s a lot of volume from water. He only gets a small feed over summer but does the same and still drops and wastes half of it.

He’s kept on my own private yard so no help available and I work full time so I’m limited to giving him 2 feeds a day unfortunately.
 
TheMule said:
Have you tried a manger bucket hung on one of the open doors so his head is in a more neutral position when he eats?
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Could be worth a shot thank you! He’s just so flipping nosy and I swear he has ADHD, he shoves a big mouthful of feed in his mouth then decides to gaze across the field while it all falls out 🙄😁
 
KikiDee said:
He doesn’t get a huge amount of feed dry weight, but as everything is soaked it’s a lot of volume from water. He only gets a small feed over summer but does the same and still drops and wastes half of it.

He’s kept on my own private yard so no help available and I work full time so I’m limited to giving him 2 feeds a day unfortunately.
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The water adds to the volume of the feed, which sounds to be more than his stomach can cope with in the time allowed to eat it. Can you split it over more buckets and make some kind of arrangement where he can reach it but the companion can't, over the course of a day?
 
Pearlsasinger said:
The water adds to the volume of the feed, which sounds to be more than his stomach can cope with in the time allowed to eat it. Can you split it over more buckets and make some kind of arrangement where he can reach it but the companion can't, over the course of a day?
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I’m not sure how he would eat it any slower? He takes about 20 minutes to eat it which is fine and eats enthusiastically, it’s the fact he likes to look up and gaze around him while chewing every mouthful that means he drops it all over the floor and then he’ll do his best to hoover up the bits but obviously a lot of it still goes to waste.

I don’t want to separate him from his companion, they’re extremely bonded and happy together and I dislike individual turnout unless absolutely necessary or yard rules dictate it.
 
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