Carrots

Rachelashleigh

Rachelashleigh

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 August 2008
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185
www.fullcyclesalvage.co.uk
Hello,
I was just wondering if you can feed to many carrots? I give my 3 a full net a day half in the morning and half at night scattered around the field. The only side effect i can see is my grey pony is now chestnut lol Only joking.
 
I think thats way too much! Theres a lot of sugar in them, and they would ferment, so you could end up giving it colic... I'd give four or five max am and pm if I was you! If you're lacking on grass, give hay or haylage instead.
 
That does seem a lot of carrots. They are fairly high in sugar so not something I give very often. In fact my lot get the odd piece occasionally.
I'd save your money myself and give them hay instead if they need feeding in the field. :)
 
Carrots (and apples) are on the banned list for my two, there's far too much sugar in them. They quite like the odd parsnip though. A full net a day sounds like too much to me.
 
the old yard i learned to ride at used to give a bucket of carrots every morning! but i think thats before people really knew how much sugar was in them. Next door kept throwing carrots over to my WB it sent him crackers he only gets 4/5 small ones in his breakfast and hes 17.2 and thats not every day.
 
maggiesmum said:
Carrots (and apples) are on the banned list for my two, there's far too much sugar in them. They quite like the odd parsnip though. A full net a day sounds like too much to me.
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All sugar banned for mine too... sends my TB gaga (funnily enough it was feeding carrots that made me realise!) so I'm afraid the two babies are also on a sugar-free diet too.
 
Goodness - this is very interesting! At work, we give 19 donkeys a sack every evening. A sack for my horse could probably last 2 wks if carrots don't go off
 
we used to literally shovel them into the stable when i was younger. would hitch the trailer up and buy them by the tonne from poskitts :)

now they just get about half a bag a day split for morning and evening when i remember to buy them(!)

never had any bother, just a bulk feed really
 
I used to push them in the holes of my 2yo' haynet when he was a littleun but no more than about 5 small ones, only to keep him busy when he was stabled!

Fattypony was banned from carrots when she was on a diet, theyre far too full of sugar!

Winnie gets a handful of decent sized ones in her feeds but shes a skinny tb and needs the calories :P they dont seem to fizz her up.

baby foalie gets one to gum on when i remember, but he prefers pears :P

I try to feed them in moderation but i think what your feeding does sound a little excessive!
x
 
Interesting...I was under the impression that carrots, while 'sugary' were also more than 80% water, with much of the remaining bulk being fibre. Mine gets 2/3 misshapen ones in each feed, so probably 4 or so average carrots a day. This article reckons that 15kg (!!) of carrots would supply the same amount of sugar as a couple of hours out at grass:

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horsecare/1370/40220.html

Tbf, I would rather give my horse a good old fashioned succulent than one of those nasty sugary Likit things that seem to be so popular at the moment!
 
fadedv said:
Tbf, I would rather give my horse a good old fashioned succulent than one of those nasty sugary Likit things that seem to be so popular at the moment!
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So true imo, many of those licks are packed full of mollasses.

I wonder why we feel we have to give something 'extra'? Just posing a question btw. Hay and haylage are imo probably the best sources of fibre for horses as they eat it slowly and constantly as they are designed to eat.
 
I think, in moderation, carrots are a good part of the diet in winter. I was always taught the old feed rules, one of which was feed something succulent every day. Especially for those horses that live in 24/7. I wouldn't ban them totally. (however the vet banned them for out laminitic pony last winter due to the sugar content.) I wouldn't go mad either!

I've stopped buying those nets of carrots. They're always such funny shaped little things - often perfect for cholking! Either that or they go off really quickly, and you end up throwing loads away! I now buy value ones from the supermarket, which last longer, and don't cost much more.
 
xloopylozzax said:
we used to literally shovel them into the stable when i was younger. would hitch the trailer up and buy them by the tonne from poskitts :)

now they just get about half a bag a day split for morning and evening when i remember to buy them(!)

never had any bother, just a bulk feed really
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i used to get mine from poskitts!!! im still trying to find a local grower i can take the trailer to!!!

Also feed mine carrots everyday mixed in with their feed. one pony is purely on carrots and chaff every meal.

Used to feed by bucket loads to the youngsters!
 
i tend to feed a sack a day to one of my main herds.
they consist of a 28yo 16.2, a 28yo 16.1, a 24 yo 14.2, a 16yo 14.1, a 7yo 13hh infoal mare, a 2 yo 13.2 and a 6 month old foal.
i then tend to use 3 sacks a week for the others which consists of:
15hh stallion, 15.3 infoal mare, 14.2 rescue case and my shetland.

i never use more than 10 a week - which i dont think is too bad for 11 horses.

my late mare had a carrot ban as they sent her a little loopy (or so i was told by previous owner) but other than that, they others are fine with them and really really enjoy and look forward to them!
 
We've fed them by the tractor load to the school horses & ponies with absolutly no problem - people now are going so overboard about the sugar in feeds. Take a horse back to the real basics of feeds, forget the processed stuff, give sufficient space to self exercise with a friend or two or give them at least an hours steady trotting daily and you are rarely likely to have problems
 
Hi Evelyn, we fed them in large quantities to school ponies some years ago - for less than a week. Almost without exception they started showing serious behaviour problems. A few got the squits as well.
 
Rachelashleigh said:
Hello,
I was just wondering if you can feed to many carrots? I give my 3 a full net a day half in the morning and half at night scattered around the field. The only side effect i can see is my grey pony is now chestnut lol Only joking.
Click to expand...

A little phrase I've always remembered - "theres more sugar in medium sized carrot than a whole scoop of speedibeet". Or so they say.

To be honest I give my 17.1hh horse about six, seven or even eight medium -large sized carrots a day split between two feeds, and I've been doing that every day for about the last six years. Can't see a problem with it, but if I had a laminitic I would cut down.
 
mine gets a couple in each feed... and an apple in each feed
and sometimes a pear/banana/parsnip
oh and more when she begs and looks pretty
:o

tbh if the horses are ok on them it doesn't matter if they get fed that much - if they send horses loopy then dno't feed them... simple :)
 
fatpiggy said:
Hi Evelyn, we fed them in large quantities to school ponies some years ago - for less than a week. Almost without exception they started showing serious behaviour problems. A few got the squits as well.
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:eek: if you added any type of feed in taht quantity to a horse's diet over that short a space of time you'd notice those problems - i'm suprised you didnt' get colic cases tbh!
 
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