Feed confusion-Just grass, advice please!

[karenjj]

Hi, just posted about this is Stable Yard but not sure many people look there! I'm really confused about feed at the moment and reading the various websites makes it worse so was hoping for some straightforward advice!

Is Just Grass not a chaff that can be used with supplement to make a complete feed?

Does it matter if you use a supplement or a balancer, I don't really understand the differences or is it best just to use a feed which contains it all?

 

[Mildred]

http://www.dodsonandhorrell.com/products/horse-ranges/forage/just-grass.html

I dont know if the link will help.

I feed mine as a partial forage replacer - dampened very well as it can cause choke.

 

[diet2ride]

Are you looking for a hay alternative? Or just as a hard feed...

My horse gets 2scoops of dengie hifi this is to keep haulage costs down, he gets it dry, with 3rd scoop of mix. He was on a balancer, but as not working he was getting a little bit too much for the girls on the yard to handle.

 

[Jerald]

Hi, just posted about this is Stable Yard but not sure many people look there! I'm really confused about feed at the moment and reading the various websites makes it worse so was hoping for some straightforward advice!

Is Just Grass not a chaff that can be used with supplement to make a complete feed?

Does it matter if you use a supplement or a balancer, I don't really understand the differences or is it best just to use a feed which contains it all?

There are several horse supplements available in the market, but very few of them are good, I think just grass will not be a complete food for it. Protein intake is really very important, as it contains amino acids which are very important the tissues of the body. Milk is also a very good supplement for horse.

 

[TGM]

Is Just Grass not a chaff that can be used with supplement to make a complete feed?

Yes, you can feed Just Grass with a supplement/balancer alongside grass/hay, and not have to feed anything else.

Does it matter if you use a supplement or a balancer, I don't really understand the differences or is it best just to use a feed which contains it all?

Most vit/mins supplements just provide vitamins and minerals. Most balancers provide vit/mins, plus protein and probiotics/prebiotics. Whether you feed a balancer or vit/min supplement depends on what your horse needs and what the rest of his diet is like. If the horse is not on good grazing, gets poorish hay and has no other protein sources in the diet, then the protein content of the balancer may be helpful. The theory behind probiotics/prebiotics is that they help maintain healthy gut bacteria so the horse can make the best of the food it gets, so can be useful for poor doers and for horses whose gut bacteria may have been compromised in some way, ie by illness, antibiotic treatment, high cereal diet, stress etc.

Most compound feeds (mixes/nuts) are supplemented with vit/mins but have to be fed near the manufacturer's recommended rate to get the full dose of vit/mins, which can provide too many calories for good doers. The advantage of feeding a fibre feed (such as Just Grass) alongside a balancer or vit/min supplement, is that you can easily increase or reduce the calories of the diet (by increasing or decreasing the fibre feed) whilst knowing that the level of vit/mins remains the same.