Feed balancers - info needed

[alex2]

My horses are now on haylage when stabled and grass during the day; I want to make sure they get enough minerals and vitamins and have been told that feed balancers will do the job.
However having googled for all the feed balancers out there, there are loads of types and a variety of prices ranging fomr £18 up to £50 per 20Kg and it does sound very expensive.
Which type do you use and are they all fed at the same amount or are some more concentrated than others, i.e. are there any that work out cheaper than others in the long run? Any advice appreciated.

 

[ISHmad]

We feed Top Spec Anti Lam as all ours are good doers. Time and again they come out top in independent tests for the quality of their ingredients, vitamin and mineral content etc. Baileys Lo Cal and Blue Chip come out quite well rated too if that's any help.

 

[martlin]

I use Top Spec Lite for the fatties and Baileys Outshine for the skinnies
You only give small amounts, so the 20kg bag lasts a long time. The Outshine is about £12 more than the TopSpec, but when you compare the amounts, it works out at roughly the same price.

 

[kazhar]

I use baileys stud balancer for my gelding...specifically because i wanted the pre and probiotic that was in it after a bout of colic and baileys said its not just for stud horses. have used topspec and the D&H one in the past but will be sticking with the stud one now. some of them you can feed at half rations. I sometimes feed half rations in summer depending on the state of the grass, and full rations over winter. mine doesnt get any other compound mixes or cubes, just grass nuts and spedibeet so im not doubling up on vits and minerals.

 

[spotty_pony]

Baileys Lo-Cal is fantastic - all of my very different horses are fed it and all do very well on it. Also, it does work out cheaper in the long run as you get a special cash-back voucher with each bag.

 

[TGM]

If you only want vitamins and minerals, then you may not need a balancer and a simple vitamin and mineral supplement (such as Benevit or Equivite) will suffice.

Most balancers, on top of providing vit/mins, will also provide extra protein (useful if forage quality is poor and no additional hard feed is given) and probiotics, which are meant to help ensure healthy gut bacteria.

 

[alex2]

Thanks for the comments;
I have always fed hay and coarse mix + sugar beet; Now with the haylage I've cut the hard feed right out through the summer and they have been happy hacking and doing TREC; However my horses will start hunting soon and will need more oomph, thus why I'm looking at the balancers. Also I bought a "Global Herbs" supplement and then had to buy mint before they would eat it mixed with a cheap mix, as it had quite a strong smell.
I have bought Baileys Lo Cal and Dengie Hifi lite today, which the local feed shop suggested. So I will see how I get on; I have read you can add oats if more energy needed, so I guess I will just have to experiment!
As you say, the amounts to feed are very small so the price is comparable to the various coarse mixes around.

 

[star]

I use Top Spec Lite for the fatties and Baileys Outshine for the skinnies
You only give small amounts, so the 20kg bag lasts a long time. The Outshine is about £12 more than the TopSpec, but when you compare the amounts, it works out at roughly the same price.

Outshine is not a balancer! It's a high oil top up but most def not a balancer. Mine get TopSpec Comprehensive AND Outshine.

 

[JenHunt]

We use Baileys Stud balancer - our boys are good doers, but we feed striaghts when they're hunting so it's a better option for us than the Lo-Cal which they get int he summer.