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Mongoose11

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Ok, so - Fast Fibre has a straw base so can anybody give me an idea of 'equivalences' just to make my brain happy? This may not be possible at all...

So, imagine I give a stubbs scoop of Fast Fibre. How much 'forage' can I imagine that I am giving in that one scoop? Does anyone know?

I want to feed more of it this Winter but it helps me to think like that.

Cue the men in white coats.
 
Fast Fibre has a similar calorie content to average hay and is fibre-based so as a rough guide, 1kg Fast Fibre (weighed dry) would be equivalent to 1kg hay. So you would need to weigh your scoop to see how much Fast Fibre it holds.

Fast Fibre usually works out significantly more expensive than hay though, so not cost-efficient to use as a hay replacer for normal horses, but useful for the dentally-challenged oldies who can't chew hay!
 
Do you mean as an equivalent hay replacer? If so then it would be on a weight for weight basis, so if you weigh a scoop of ff, it should give you an idea. I seem to remember a scoop weighs 1.5 kg, which would be just under the weight of a small bale section of hay or thereabouts.
 
Jeez - is it really that simple? I am such a dumbo sometimes.... so 3kg of FF = 3kg of average forage? Because the FF is pure?

Well, she has supplements so I use it for that but in my head I thought it was less calorific than hay as it is straw based? I can't feed her straw as she is colic prone (was) and did Colic the first night I put her on a massive straw bed and ate it. I am considering a bucket of plain chopped straw to supplement her hay this winter.

Basically I want to feed her AS MUCH forage as possible when in over night without piling on the pounds - good doer :( :)
 
Fast fibre isn't high calorie, but with it being soft it can be eaten quickly. If I'm feeding it to make forage last longer then I usually mix it with chaff in a big bucket, it takes much more chewing and occupies them for longer. :)

A net of plain oat straw would be cheaper alongside your hay, although mine refuses to eat it, even if hungry. :rolleyes:
 
Billie1007 said:
Jeez - is it really that simple? I am such a dumbo sometimes.... so 3kg of FF = 3kg of average forage? Because the FF is pure?

Well, she has supplements so I use it for that but in my head I thought it was less calorific than hay as it is straw based? I can't feed her straw as she is colic prone (was) and did Colic the first night I put her on a massive straw bed and ate it. I am considering a bucket of plain chopped straw to supplement her hay this winter.

Basically I want to feed her AS MUCH forage as possible when in over night without piling on the pounds - good doer :( :)
Click to expand...

It is only simple in this case because a) Fast Fibre has a similar calorie count to average hay and b) its ingredients are mainly fibre-based.

Not sure it is the answer to your problem though, as being a soakable mash-type feed, it can be eaten relatively quickly as minimal chewing is required (which is exactly why it is good for veterans with poor teeth). You would be better off either soaking your hay before feeding (this removes some of the sugars and therefore reduces the calorie content) and/or feeding in a double net or tricklenet or similar to slow down consumption.
 
Yup, currently she has a tricklenet and a normal net. I just need to accept that I have a horse who I can not feed lots to without working her six days a week :(

I added another layer of idiocy by not considering just how quickly she wolfs the FF down.
 
Is she finishing her hay very quickly overnight then, even with the trickle net?

Have you tried soaking the hay to reduce the calorie content so you can feed a bit more?
 
TGM said:
Is she finishing her hay very quickly overnight then, even with the trickle net?

Have you tried soaking the hay to reduce the calorie content so you can feed a bit more?
Click to expand...

Having watched her with her net and her tricklenet I would say that what I give her must keep her eating for no more than four hours (that is being a bit generous but it sounds so awful) and I want her eating for 8!

She only goes out of her way to eat the top half of the trickle net as once that has gone she can't be bothered to try soooo hard to get the bottom half (the hungriest horse in the world so it shows how well they work). So she has a thick section in there each night. Then she has almost two thicker sections in a normal small holed net. It isn't soaked but it is hosed just to take a little dust off.

I think the answer is for me to work her more. At one time she was doing 6 days per week but at the moment just a hack or two a week (thanks to a friend) because she did break my foot 5 weeks ago but now I have put the weight I had lost back on and I have lost my riding mojo.

Sigh.
 
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If she still has some hay left in the tricklenet each morning then you don't need to worry, particularly as it sounds like she is already overweight! She doesn't have to eat constantly all night long, after all she may actually sleep at some point. The important thing is that she has forage available to her if she wants it.
 
I honestly don;t think she can get the bottom half of the tricklenet out - she has really thick lips and once the net isn't plumped out anymore she can't seem to work it. She does love a snooze but I can't believe that she wouldn't eat all night if she could.

She is currently a good weight/bordering on more than I like on her but I would like to feed her more so that she isn't in her stable with nothing for 5 hours you see. Thanks for all the advice so far though x
 
Have you tried double netting rather than using the tricklenet then? Or as I say, the other option is to soak the hay to reduce the calorie content so you can increase the amount fed. You do need to soak it properly though, a quick run over with the hose won't leech the sugars out!
 
I feed a pet scoop of FF plus a handful of Dengie non molassed chaff, this is used to add his hoof supplement [usually Equimins minerals], plus a bit of micronised linseed meal for skin and hoof.
In winter he gets two feeds per day plus a sprinkle of oats, more or less depending on work.
The best exercise is regular, so I agree with more work, less rest, and plenty of turnout.
 
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