Fast fibre alternatives?

blackcob

blackcob

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I'm looking for an alternative feed for laminitic ASBO cob. She went off unmolassed beet, tolerated Fast Fibre for a few months and has now gone right off it again. Adding sugar free apple squash to the soaking water made a difference for a little while, as did adding sugar free polos, but I've now run out of ideas.

She needs regular small feeds, fibre based, low calorie, low sugar etc. in which to have her medication. Are there any non-mushy pelleted feeds suitable for laminitics? Fibre nuts or somesuch?
 
I would feed mine an unmolassed high fibre chaff - our local feed merchants does their own and its oil coated:) - it is oat straw and alfalfa - and speedibeet :) I always have a a bin of bog standard high fibre pony nuts which woud also do the same thing. I would make a trug up of the 3 in combo and leave her to get on with it :)

I should point out that mine is a greedy git and has never gone off food in her life:rolleyes: except for when she was in for 6 months with laminitis - she knew when there was bute etc in her food and wouldn't eat it:o Changed the feed slightly and stopped putting the bute in it and we were back to troughing:D
 
Speedibeet.

Alfalfa pellets.

Fibre plus nuggets.

I also don't like fast fibre for laminitics although it is recommended all to often on here....
 
My mare does seem to love FF at the time of year (She had concussive lami so is fed as you would a horse with laminitis all the time, and only gets a feed to get her supplements into her - 1 cup of FF), however in winter really went off it, so I tried her on Spillers L-Mix (which is even lower starch/sugar than FF) only it has to be fed with a chaff and/or FF and it is still a 'mash' however i found she absolutely gulped down a mix of FF and L-Mix... may be worth thinking about?
 
Sorry, forgot to specify that she also can't have alfalfa - she is allergic to it and comes out in a lumpy itchy flaky rash. :o

I think it's the mash aspect she doesn't like, after eight months of a mushy diet I don't really blame her though. Beet of any kind is now rejected. Can't for the life of me find an unmolassed chaff, just oil coated straw chop would be fine but everything seems to have either alfalfa or molasses added! Ideally it would be something pelleted as she seems to regard anything like that as more treatlike.
 
She's off the bute now Slinky but has to stay on the metformin until she's back in work and it tastes blardy horrible (I end up breathing it in while trying to crush it up :eek:). Also magnesium etc. can't taste too nice. The feed is literally a vehicle for the medication she has to have, she wouldn't have a feed otherwise, just the miniscule amounts of hi-fibre haylage she is permitted. And a pelleted hoof supplement which is unfortunately alfalfa based but fed in such small quantities she hasn't broken out in hives yet. :p
 
I have over the years learnt from my teachers to add ACV in small amounts to feed. You introduce it slowly with apples. Best added to soak with the nuts. The smell masks any meds. Before doing this the horses would smell the meds and leave it but the ACV seems to neutralise the smell of meds. The very slightly sharp taste actually makes feeds more palatable for some reason and adds a "sweetness" without sugar.
 
blackcob said:
Sorry, forgot to specify that she also can't have alfalfa - she is allergic to it and comes out in a lumpy itchy flaky rash. :o

I think it's the mash aspect she doesn't like, after eight months of a mushy diet I don't really blame her though. Beet of any kind is now rejected. Can't for the life of me find an unmolassed chaff, just oil coated straw chop would be fine but everything seems to have either alfalfa or molasses added! Ideally it would be something pelleted as she seems to regard anything like that as more treatlike.
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Ahhh, well that makes things a bit more difficult, how about something like TopSpec Anti-Lam balancer?
 
blackcob said:
Sorry, forgot to specify that she also can't have alfalfa - she is allergic to it and comes out in a lumpy itchy flaky rash. :o
Click to expand...

I feed my laminitis-prone pony Dodson & Horrell's Safe & Sound as it is alfalfa free. My girl can't tolerate alfafla at all - even Hi-Fi light makes her footy.

I give her meds in a really ripe banana - it seems to be able to mask most strong flavours.
 
What about Pure Feeds Pure Easy? My mare went off Fast Fibre, but is loving the Pure Easy - I don't think it's quite as low in sugar and starch, but has no alfa in.
 
Badmintons Easy rider is alfafa free and just straw and hay chop with some added vits and mins and oil. I feed it with kwik beet and micronised linseed and ForagePlus mineral balancer. Both mine arent keen on wet mushy feeds (inc too much sugarbeet) but I found a very small handful of Simple System grassnuts to give it a bit of texture helped encourage them.
 
I add Dengie non molassed lo alfa hi fi chaff, it has some herbs for flavour and helps the Fast Fibre go down, also mix and match with a few shavings of carrots occasionally [I am soft] and also some flakes of non molassed sugar beet pulp.
 
I can't help much on alternatives for Fast Fibre that have the same consistency but have had some of the same problems finding a feed that works for my cob.

He has rubbish feet, and being a cob, I treat him more or less as laminitic as a precaution. He is also intolerant to alfalfa - when I phoned around and researched it, apparently it is more common in heavier breeds than you'd think due to the high nitrogen levels exacerbating skin conditions...

I feed D&H Safe & Sound which is alfalfa free according to D&H. This can be used as a complete feed (inc biotin), and has the bonus of only needing a relatively small amount compared to similar fibre feeds. I have also used micronised linseed for a bit of extra shine, and dried grass e.g. Graze-on, as they have nothing added, and some brands use lower sugar grasses so better for laminitics. I was also advised that the TopSpec balancers were appropriate and alfalfa-free.

If she reacts to alfalfa, it might be worth watching out for soya too, as it is from a legume, so will also have high nitrogen levels. e.g. the Dengie molasses free hi-fi has a lot of soya oil in and %wise has quite a lot of alfalfa...

Good Luck :)
 
blackcob said:
Can't for the life of me find an unmolassed chaff, just oil coated straw chop would be fine but everything seems to have either alfalfa or molasses added! Ideally it would be something pelleted as she seems to regard anything like that as more treatlike.
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The makers of Bliss do an unmolassed chaff - it's just finely chopped hay and nothing else.
Can you try grass nuts? Should be fine in small quantities. Or even a handful of bran with some grated apple if you just need to get meds in. Another popular one is soaked high fibre nuggets.
 
Jericho said:
Badmintons Easy rider is alfafa free and just straw and hay chop with some added vits and mins and oil. I feed it with kwik beet and micronised linseed and ForagePlus mineral balancer. Both mine arent keen on wet mushy feeds (inc too much sugarbeet) but I found a very small handful of Simple System grassnuts to give it a bit of texture helped encourage them.
Click to expand...

Easy Rider is now discontinued after Baileys aquired badminton horse feeds.
 
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