Best way of making plain/boring feed tasty...

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wench

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Also in feeding section, but hoping someone else in here may have a bright idea!

Just bought a bag of chopped oat straw for horses feed, just to put supplements in.

She won't eat it. I tried putting some mint in it tonight, still wasn't interested, although she ate the mint quite happily out of my hand!

I make up my feeds, and then the yard put in for me, so mixing anything like sugarbeet or apple juice in it are out.

She's not really supposed to have molasses, but that's possibly next thing on the list to see if I can try and wean her off it just onto the straw. She can't have anything with soya either.

I've asked for a couple of other samples of fibre feeds, to try mixing in and seeing if she would eat that.

Any other suggestions?
 
Just leave a mug of ready soaked sugar beet in his feed for tipping in first thing in the morning. It's a two second job.
 
She can't have ff as it's got soya in it other wise it would have been ideal.

I'm only at the yard four or five evenings a week so can't leave out some sugarbeet for them.
 
Maybe try Hifi Molasses free instead of oat straw? Low sugar/low starch/no molasses and made appealing by the fenugreek and mint in it. You would need to check if its soya or rape oilin it though...
 
There's no soya in it. I've asked dengie to send me a sample before I buy any more feed.

The rather strange thing is she seems to like fibreblocks, if they weren't so expensive for being a "real" feed she'd be on them!
 
Dont blame her to be honest - I wouldnt want to eat straw either :)

I would swap it for something tasty like old fashioned chopped grass/hay chaff: Thunderbrook and HaySoft do nice ones (although you'd have to check the Haysoft one isn't coated in Soya, I know the Thunderbrook one isnt).

My local feed shop also do a non-mollassed hay chaff made by one of the big Grass Chaff companies but I cant remember which - worth asking your feed merchant though.

Or you could feed Grass - i've fed Readi Grass to my EMS/Cushings boy before with no problems. A big handful in each feed should be ok as long as they arent getting bucketfuls :)
 
I have tried dampening feed that didn't work. Will try getting some fenugreek seeds as well. Asda will think i am odd!
 
^^ have found this works too. You really don't need much. Also ask your feed supplier about dry herb mixes, they have other things besides the mint that you can try, it makes the feeds taste more like the meadow herb type horse treats if she likes those.
 
Also in feeding, but update in here too. Tried cider vinegar today, it didn't work.

Tomorrow I will try some peppermint tea, fenugreek and minty horse treats. After that I shall Bang my head against a brick wall.

I don't want to use grass nuts, as these require a reasonable length of time soaking before feeding, the yard will be giving her the feeds, so I'd prefer to avoid using that, just in case it's not soaked for long enough. They are also a little high in calories for my liking too currently.

A low energy pony cube would possibly do the trick as well, if anyone knows of any that are molasses and soya free, I'd like to know. All the ones I looked at today in the pet shop have both in!
 
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