Anyone use grass pellets?

[Archina]

Basically, after my mums horse having an impaction which then turned into colic and a referal to the Bush vet i decided to get some grass pellets. Think it happened because we had a lot of snow and they just didnt move from the haylage bale and where eating the snow instead of walking over to the water.

Was told of the grass pellets by a friend, she said soak them and put a cpl buckets out for them to graze on. My only worry is they will see it as feed and just scoff it down.

Anyone have any advice or experience in this sort of situation?

Cheers in advance!

 

[Archina]

anyone?

 

[Cuffey]

I would not feed free access even soaked--if they like them they will just eat like bucket feed

There is a suggested max amount per day of 1.5kg for a horse not in work which I would split into 2 feeds

Graze-On suggest
''In order to prevent too rapid a consumption we recommend that grass pellets should be fed with at least an equal volume of a bulky feed. Alternatively they may be soaked before feeding to form a mash''

I mix with speedibeet and soak together then add chop--Hi Fi or similar

 

[Archina]

Thankyou!! I did think they would just gobble it down...lol

So basically, feed it in their am & pm feeds which i can do with the ones that are living in.

The ones living out are a bit more tricky as they dont get feeds. I was thinking of scattering it on the ground amongst their hay? At least then they arnt just scoffing down a bucket full. What do you think?

 

[Cluck]

Basically, after my mums horse having an impaction which then turned into colic and a referal to the Bush vet i decided to get some grass pellets. Think it happened because we had a lot of snow and they just didnt move from the haylage bale and where eating the snow instead of walking over to the water.

Was told of the grass pellets by a friend, she said soak them and put a cpl buckets out for them to graze on. My only worry is they will see it as feed and just scoff it down.

Anyone have any advice or experience in this sort of situation?

Cheers in advance!

You'd be better off putting haylage in haynets scattered about the field to make the horses move.

Did the vet say what the likely cause of impaction was? If dehydration then make sure that their water is clean and not freezing cold.

 

[Archina]

He had gaps in his teeth where food was getting stuck and which was preventing him chewing the haylage properly, vet said it was probably a combination of that and the explanation i gave in my previous post. I have 9 living out which makes it impossible to be filling up haynets for them. My horses normally start getting haylage at the start of December depending on how my grass is looking and how well the horses are dealing with the harsh Scottish winter. Its also impossible to prevent their water from being very cold. They have a very accessible natural burn where they go to drink from. Ive never had a problem before and we have had the same system for 8yrs.

They all get there teeth done on a regular basis and the vet actually did them in the summer so am a bit hacked off that he didnt tell me about the gaps and the possible problems that could occur. Anyway, while he was at the Bush they made the holes bigger by drilling so that food wouldnt get stuck in the future. I always want to the best for my horses hence why i am now wanting to introduce the grass pellets.

 

[Cluck]

He had gaps in his teeth where food was getting stuck and which was preventing him chewing the haylage properly, vet said it was probably a combination of that and the explanation i gave in my previous post. I have 9 living out which makes it impossible to be filling up haynets for them. My horses normally start getting haylage at the start of December depending on how my grass is looking and how well the horses are dealing with the harsh Scottish winter. Its also impossible to prevent their water from being very cold. They have a very accessible natural burn where they go to drink from. Ive never had a problem before and we have had the same system for 8yrs.

They all get there teeth done on a regular basis and the vet actually did them in the summer so am a bit hacked off that he didnt tell me about the gaps and the possible problems that could occur. Anyway, while he was at the Bush they made the holes bigger by drilling so that food wouldnt get stuck in the future. I always want to the best for my horses hence why i am now wanting to introduce the grass pellets.

Ah I understand better now. Yep haynets for 9 would be awful hard work. Can you find grass cubes rather than pellets in the UK? The cubes count as long-stem forage whereas the pellets don't (the hay is more chopped up). You would still have to soak them and I guess that they would freeze if the temps are low enough.

 

[Archina]

Ah I understand better now. Yep haynets for 9 would be awful hard work. Can you find grass cubes rather than pellets in the UK? The cubes count as long-stem forage whereas the pellets don't (the hay is more chopped up). You would still have to soak them and I guess that they would freeze if the temps are low enough.

Ive never heard of the grass cubes Will now go google my wee butt off to see if we have them in the UK.

 

[Capriole]

i used them last winter, and wouldnt really like to feed them unsoaked, looking at how much they swell.
I also think, if mine are anything to go by, leaving buckets around for them to graze at wouldnt work, mine would wolf it down

 

[Cluck]

They would be called hay cubes, maybe timothy/alfalfa cubes ... probably. Sorry I can't really do a search from here easily, otherwise I'd post a link.

 

[Archina]

i used them last winter, and wouldnt really like to feed them unsoaked, looking at how much they swell.
I also think, if mine are anything to go by, leaving buckets around for them to graze at wouldnt work, mine would wolf it down

Noticed that! Soaked a bucket this evening and was quite shocked as to how much they swell, they need a larger ratio of water than sugarbeet! Cant imagine feeding them unsoaked as they are also brick hard. How did you feed it?

They would be called hay cubes, maybe timothy/alfalfa cubes ... probably. Sorry I can't really do a search from here easily, otherwise I'd post a link.

Awww, no worries! Just had a quick search and couldnt find any suppliers Ive already bought a couple of bags so i think i may introduce it to the ones living in by putting it in their feeds and scatter a scoop to each horse over their haylage to the ones living out.

 

[Capriole]

I more or less just used it instead of beet. They did love it, no complaints

I have heard of people feeding them as they are, but that would make me very nervous

 

[Capriole]

what about those hi fibre nuggets to scatter about for the living out ones? I dont think they need soaking do they? (havent actually used them so not 100%)

 

[Archina]

I had a look at the high fiber nugget thingys but they seemed very dry :/ Was one of the reasons why i was liking the grass pellets because of the moisture content when soaked and that its basically just grass. The ones living in only get about half a scoop of Hi Fi (molasses free) and half a scoop of sugar beet. The ones that need it get a bit more and the ones that dont get a bit less. I also have 6 living in (i think i may have a problem!! lol). Will stick it out with the 2 bags of grass pellets i have and see how it goes.

Thankyou for helping me! xx