Does anyone feed fast fibre?

[rose bud]

Hi,
just after a bit of advice please...
I have a cob mare that lives out and at the moment is not working and a fairly fat little shetland on loan as a companion.
At the moment she is having a section of hay in a net morning and night and the shetland is just having grass (her owner told me not to feed her hay unless very bad weather)
my hay is getting low and i was thinking of replacing one of the hay nets with a feed of fast fibre, does anyone do this?
If so, how do the energy levels compare (i don't want her to have too much energy when ridden) and do you have to introduce it gradually?
Just wondering if anyone uses it as a hay replacer?
Thankyou for any advice.

 

[ThePony]

Expensive to use it to replace hay, and won't take as long to eat - so I would get some more hay in tbh. You can use it as a partial hay replacer, but I must admit I can't see why you would unless in a veteren horse the chewing becomes an issue. Ours both have fast fibre and love it, but they have it as a base for their minerals in addition to hay. If hay is hard to come by, then if they are both good doers then why not feed a mix of hay and oat straw?

 

[canteron]

Yes, I give the horses a big bowl in the morning, mainly to get their drugs & minerals etc down them, but as we still have grass they just get a small amount of hay in the afternoon.

Suggest you ring the Allen & Page adviceline for help though, they are very good and will give the best advice on how to feed it!

 

[monkeybum13]

I feed it to mix in supplements and it is fantastic stuff.

But I would just stick to hay, it would me more expensive than feeding hay and won't last as long.

 

[RubysGold]

I feed it to my two.
up till xmas they were just having a small feed of it for my older horses supplement to go in.
I was running low on hay over xmas (bad organising) so I started giving them a feed bucket full on a night so they can have a little less hay. Once new year comes they will be back on more hay, less fast fibre as its an expensive way to do it.

My older horse has a scoop (before soaking) of it in a morning to fill her tummy before going in her fairly bare field to keep her happy

 

[rose bud]

Thanks for the replies so far.
Sorry, i forgot to say... I have been given a bag of it so was thinking of using it as a partial hay replacer until i bought more hay. Also, i would like to feed her something to put a vit and min supplement in to make sure she is getting everything but do not want any excess energy!

 

[RubysGold]

Don't think there's anything in that Will cause excess energy, high fibre low sugar. Both my two are as calm as always on it

 

[TGM]

Fast Fibre is low starch, low sugar so won't heat your horses up any more than regular hay. Similar calorie count to average hay too.

As others have said, expensive to use a permanent hay replacer long term, but if you have a free bag then worth using to stretch your hay a little before you can buy some more.

 

[9tails]

I use it as breakfast, to fill her up before she is turned out. If you want to give it to be filling, you can soak it overnight and it will swell up massively. One scoop gives an almost half trug bowl of breakfast when enough water is added.

 

[shadowboy]

I use it to put minerals in. It has a. Low digestable energy of I think 7/8 so is about the same as average hay. I pay 11 pounds a bag which last me 6 weeks. Would be expensive instead of hay but a good stop gap.

 

[little_critter]

A&P told me that it's a complete feed so if you are feeding the amout they recommend for your size horse then you shouldn't need to add vits & minerals to it.

 

[skydancer]

Sorry to hijack the post ut how much fast fibre do you give to fill your horse up (for breakfast). Mine is 16.2 and although she has ad lib hay i want to fill her up before she is turned out in the morn

 

[Oberon]

A&P told me that it's a complete feed so if you are feeding the amout they recommend for your size horse then you shouldn't need to add vits & minerals to it.

I wouldn't believe what the companies tell you

 

[Oberon]

I feed it to my elderly boy with dodgy teeth as a partial hay replacer.

Anyone who has been unfortunate enough to plough through my numerous 'tin hat' posts about commercial feeds will be in no doubt about how I feel about them

but I have to say I do love Fast Fibre.

It doesn't interfere with the absorption of minerals, doesn't have a bag of sugar in each serving and doesn't make horses hot or unhappy.

It's basically a sloppy hay net in a bucket that you can add what you like into.

I add minerals, fenugreek, turmeric, micronised linseed and herbs and they love it.

 

[rose bud]

I wouldn't believe what the companies tell you

they told me that it was a complete feed aswell, but not sure how it can be?!

 

[Oberon]

As far as Allan and Page will be concerned, Fast Fibre with their standard vit and min premix will be all the horse needs for maint and light work.

As a sole source, I'm sure it would be fine.

I'd personally plump for a decent mineral supplement alongside it - more to balance the hay/grass the horse eats rather than the FF as that will be where the imbalance is.

 

[little_critter]

they told me that it was a complete feed aswell, but not sure how it can be?!

I was going to compare the list of ingredients to the Bluechip / Topspec balancer but Bluechip & Topspec don't have the nutritional analysis on their websites.
Fast Fibre:
Nutritional Analysis
Oil: 3.0%
Protein: 7.5%
Fibre: 29.5%
Estimated DE: 8.0 MJ/kg
Starch: 5.0%
Calcium: 1.0%
Total Sugar: 2.9%
Omega 3: 0.5%
Vitamin A: 10k iu/kg
Vitamin D: 1.5k iu/kg
Vitamin E: 120 iu/kg

Seems reasonable but makes no mention of minerals so I may be investing in a general supplement to go in it then.

 

[rose bud]

As far as Allan and Page will be concerned, Fast Fibre with their standard vit and min premix will be all the horse needs for maint and light work.

As a sole source, I'm sure it would be fine.

I'd personally plump for a decent mineral supplement alongside it - more to balance the hay/grass the horse eats rather than the FF as that will be where the imbalance is.

Is there one that you would reccomend please?

 

[domane]

I've been feeding it to my three but I've yet to ascertain exactly what the consistency should be. Too much water and it's like slop and not enough and it reminds me of plaster And don't even get me started on mixing stuff with it if it's too thick.... it's clods like fury. I've been advised to mix it the night before as it will continue to swell and go "crumbly" but I've not managed this either!!

I used to feed C&C to my previous TB which never seemed to be a problem but I just can't get to grips.... quite literally... with FF. Can anyone enlighten me please?

 

[Oberon]

I've been feeding it to my three but I've yet to ascertain exactly what the consistency should be. Too much water and it's like slop and not enough and it reminds me of plaster And don't even get me started on mixing stuff with it if it's too thick.... it's clods like fury. I've been advised to mix it the night before as it will continue to swell and go "crumbly" but I've not managed this either!!

I used to feed C&C to my previous TB which never seemed to be a problem but I just can't get to grips.... quite literally... with FF. Can anyone enlighten me please?

Add enough so it's soaked but not sloppy and then add more water to a consistency your horse likes.
It only takes minutes to soak, so you can play with it.
Doesn't really matter what it looks like as long as the horse eats it.

 

[Oberon]

Is there one that you would reccomend please?

The two I like are Pro Hoof
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PRO-HOOF-...r_Equipment&hash=item415ecd69e0#ht_1466wt_952

and Equimin's Meta Balance (you have to order it from them via phone as it's 'off the menu').

Without a forage analysis and bespoke mineral balancing - those are the best you can get for your money.

 

[little_critter]

I've been feeding it to my three but I've yet to ascertain exactly what the consistency should be. Too much water and it's like slop and not enough and it reminds me of plaster And don't even get me started on mixing stuff with it if it's too thick.... it's clods like fury. I've been advised to mix it the night before as it will continue to swell and go "crumbly" but I've not managed this either!!

I used to feed C&C to my previous TB which never seemed to be a problem but I just can't get to grips.... quite literally... with FF. Can anyone enlighten me please?

Thier rule on thumb of twice as much water to Fast Fibre seems to work pretty well, I only leave it to soak for a few mins while I sort out her haynet.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I feed it to my two: one (boy) is a traddie cob; the other (mare) Welsh D and they both seem to be OK on it and not fizzy or anything.

I mix a double handful (sorry can't be more precise!!!) with some water and a bit of Dengie Hi Fi Lite Mollasses Free.

I feed it when they come in for the night; mainly to bulk them up before they have their haynets; this is about 4pm'ish or whenever I bring them in - then later (10pm) they have another small feed of the same.

Then I fill up their haynets for the night.

Next morning they have a light feed of Spillers Horse & Pony cubes and go onto turnout.