Feeding a hay replacer?

S

Shilasdair

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Hi all
I want to feed my horse a hay replacer instead of hay - so eventually she will be eating nothing but chaff.
Do you have any good ideas how to feed so much chaff in the stable, and in the field (so it doesn't blow away before she eats it)?
Thanks in advance.
S :D
 
There are other hay replacers such as Dodson and Horrell Fast Fibre which is soaked so it becomes like a porridge if you use warm water they go mad for it!!!!!:)
 
It does, to an extent :D, I either tie the tub to a post by its handle, or put it inside a tyre, just to make sure he doesn't throw the tub around wasting food - otherwise I might as well feed him banknotes :rolleyes: :)
 
martlin said:
It does, to an extent :D, I either tie the tub to a post by its handle, or put it inside a tyre, just to make sure he doesn't throw the tub around wasting food - otherwise I might as well feed him banknotes :rolleyes: :)
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Hmmm
I don't want to provide her with anything she could use as an offensive weapon - she is a fiend.
How much does it cost you per week?
S :D
 
Too much, that's for sure... TBH I don't know, as I have several horses and buy in bulk. My guesstimate is that he goes through about 1.5 bag of DH Just Grass and a bag of Speedibeet a week; but he does get limited forage as well, and hard feed.
 
iv had to find hay replacers to feed my old pony who has trouble with her teeth.(although she still has some hay)I feed her soaked grass nuts as a mash,which can be used as a full replacer and she loves them!i also tried dodson and horell chopped grass.like hay only chopped really small.she didnt like this as much but its still good.also,you can soak the grassy stuff to stop it flying away!only iv heard be carful of leaving it too long as it goes stagnant,same as hay.
 
horsey mad matt said:
that is a hell of a lot of beet. i bought a bag last winter in january, used it till march, then stopped. then this winter am still using the same bag about half left still. he gets a mug of dry spedi-beet wcich once soeaked makes up to about a round stubbs scoop full.
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He's a big horse. It's about 3 kg a day, slightly less I suppose as he shares a bit with one other.
 
martlin said:
Too much, that's for sure... TBH I don't know, as I have several horses and buy in bulk. My guesstimate is that he goes through about 1.5 bag of DH Just Grass and a bag of Speedibeet a week; but he does get limited forage as well, and hard feed.
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martlin said:
He's a big horse. It's about 3 kg a day, slightly less I suppose as he shares a bit with one other.
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oh ok and i supposed it is instead of hay so need a lot for it to be benificial
 
Can i ask why to feeding hay replacer? Is it because of lack of hay? Or due to teeth problems?? Not that im saying it in a judging way or anything? Im just being nosey, im not on a liveryard so i dont have anybody doing different things around me or anybody to ask these questions! Lol!
 
ClippityClop said:
Can i ask why to feeding hay replacer? Is it because of lack of hay? Or due to teeth problems?? Not that im saying it in a judging way or anything? Im just being nosey, im not on a liveryard so i dont have anybody doing different things around me or anybody to ask these questions! Lol!
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In my case the horse is fairly large and not a brilliant doer, and he is not that keen on hay/haylage - just won't eat enough to keep condition on.
 
martlin said:
In my case the horse is fairly large and not a brilliant doer, and he is not that keen on hay/haylage - just won't eat enough to keep condition on.
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Ahhh! And you just get this from local feed shops? How much is it a bag?? And you dont feed any hay/haylage? Or do you feed as part of a diet with grass and hay??
 
ClippityClop said:
Ahhh! And you just get this from local feed shops? How much is it a bag?? And you dont feed any hay/haylage? Or do you feed as part of a diet with grass and hay??
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I feed DH Just Grass at about £8 per bag, 3ish kg a day; Speedibeet or Kwikbeet at about £7 per bag, also 2.5-3kg a day and a net of haylage/hay/oat straw mixed in equal proportions. All together he gets IRO 12-14kg of forage.
He doesn't graze as such as fresh grass causes him LOTS of problems, but will pick at foggage.
Interestingly, even if turned out on lush grass, he won't graze avidly, as if he knew he will not feel very well afterwards:o
His teeth are fine :)
He also gets hard feed of Baileys Lo-cal, Outshine and oats.
I buy all the bagged stuff in my local feed merchants and hay/haylage/straw is either my own or bought from different farmers.
 
Thanks for your thoughts.
For my horse, I want to remove grass in all forms from her diet, so will only be feeding alfalfa/straw chaff like HiFi Lite. I suppose I could look at alfalfa haylage for her too, but I haven't found my others all that keen on straight alfalfa. Or I suppose I could feed her oat straw as it comes, but it's probably safer as a chaff.
She is able to eat cereals and beet, so I'll be able to add nutritients if she needs them.
S :D
 
Shilasdair said:
Thanks for your thoughts.
For my horse, I want to remove grass in all forms from her diet, so will only be feeding alfalfa/straw chaff like HiFi Lite. I suppose I could look at alfalfa haylage for her too, but I haven't found my others all that keen on straight alfalfa. Or I suppose I could feed her oat straw as it comes, but it's probably safer as a chaff.
She is able to eat cereals and beet, so I'll be able to add nutritients if she needs them.
S :D
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Just use the hi-fi lite on a weight for weight basis instead of hay, you can add some speedibeet to dampen if you wish, I'd just feed it in a big trug with a couple of large, smooth stones to slow down the eating rate - I do a similar thing with mine at the mo as hay running low!!
 
Shilasdair said:
Thanks for your thoughts.
For my horse, I want to remove grass in all forms from her diet, so will only be feeding alfalfa/straw chaff like HiFi Lite. I suppose I could look at alfalfa haylage for her too, but I haven't found my others all that keen on straight alfalfa. Or I suppose I could feed her oat straw as it comes, but it's probably safer as a chaff.
She is able to eat cereals and beet, so I'll be able to add nutritients if she needs them.
S :D
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I would have thought that oat/barley straw left long would be ok as part of her forage ration. We feed it to ours alongside hay/lage as a weight control measure, with no ill effects.
 
horsey mad matt said:
that is a hell of a lot of beet. i bought a bag last winter in january, used it till march, then stopped. then this winter am still using the same bag about half left still. he gets a mug of dry spedi-beet wcich once soeaked makes up to about a round stubbs scoop full.
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bloomin' 'eck.... we also go through a bag a week, but between 2 big horses, one of whom is hunting off fibre alone.
 
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