Feed balancers V vitamin and mineral supplement

[BlackRider]

Wondered what people's views where on this?

Why pay a lot more for blue chip for example (which doesn't tell you their ingredients) rather than a general purpose vit & min supplement?

Curious - as i've been buying blue chip, but now wondering if I've just fallen for the hype, there are cheaper alternatives out there, and I've also been driving myself demented comparing the vit & min analysis of various products, so interested to hear other people's thoughts.

I opted for blue chip original as I was hoping for weight gain, which was obviously incorrect...

 

[TGM]

The main difference between vit/min supplements and most balancers is the inclusion of protein and probiotic yeasts in balancers. The idea of the probiotic yeast is that it help to maintain ideal conditions in the gut for the digestion of fibre, so this is why it can help with weight gain, but obviously the benefit will be most significant in a horse whose digestion has been comprimised by stress, antibiotics, low fibre diet etc. Because balancers are fed in small quantities they won't add loads of calories to the diet, so poor doers may still need other calorie-rich feeds alongside them, in addition to forage.

Whether you need the protein content of a balancer depends on the protein content of the rest of the diet. For example, poor hay or long soaked hay may be low in protein levels so an extra source of protein may be necessary. However good summer grazing or decent quality haylage are unlikely to need topping up with protein.