Barley

[foxhunter2000]

I was thinking about adding barley to my geldings feed. Firstly was wondering which is better flaked or barley rings? and do you need to supplement it with anything?
I would probably add it to a cool mix or something as i dont suppose it would be enough on its own with alfa a?
How do you feed it? thoughts wanted.

 

[TGM]

I feed micronised (flaked) barley alongside AlfaBeet - the combination of alfafa and beet balances the barley well. If you are worried about vit/mins then you could add a balancer or vit/min supplement as well, although I have not found this necessary.

I think it is better to feed it this way, than alongside a mix or cube. Mixes and cubes are formulated to be balanced when fed on their own alongside forage, so adding straight cereals to them messes that up!

 

[Diggerdog]

Barley rings often have added ingredients which removes the need for extra minerals or balancers. They would be my first choice if you are only feeding one horse.

 

[kittykatcat]

I agree with TGM and would either; feed straight barley on its own with a chaff and a balancer, or feed barley rings, which as someone else said tend to have the vits and mins in them as well. However, i personally would not feed barley at all as it is very high in starch and is not really what the horse is designed to eat!! FIBRE FIBRE FIBRE!!!

 

[MerryMaker]

Barley = 51% starch = very heating!

 

[flyingfeet]

Out of interest, why would you want to feed barley?

 

[TGM]

Barley is a relatively cheap form of calories and most horses seem to love it too, so useful for poor doers. It is not suitable for all horses, particularly laminitics or those that fizz up easily, however it can be a useful feed for some horses when used with care.

I agree that first resort should be a fibre-based diet, but fibre tends to fill horses up and sometimes it is difficult to get the required amount of calories into a horse using fibre alone, so careful use of cereals such as barley can be advantageous.

 

[kittykatcat]

True, although oil is more calorie dense than barley and does not have the risk associated with it as barley does. However, it is less palatable than barley, unless you feed something which has oil incorporated in it, rather than just glugging it on top!

 

[TGM]

I feed oil AND barley to my old girl - fibre and oil were not enough for her, she needed the barley as well and does well on it. My other two are on fibre only diet - horses for courses!

 

[TGM]

[ QUOTE ]
Barley = 51% starch = very heating!

[/ QUOTE ] Both micronised (flaked) barley and barley rings are heat-treated to help make the starch more digestible, so are better than ordinary whole barley, although still not suitable for some horses.