Feeding an oap

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Colline

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So the old boy can no longer manage his haylage. I've found that he will eat high fibre cubes (unsoaked) but isn't keen on chaff alone. I've been researching the "haynet in a bucket" and wondered if I can feed 1.5% of his body weight in cubes alone? He won't eat mollichaff, Alfa a or sugar beet! I'm at a loss as to what else to try! He has 1.5kg of a&p calm and condition mixed with dipper of hi fi lite split between two feeds. Help please guys!
 
Speak to the feed manufacturer's, it could be worth trying shot chopped feeds like dengie do (unmolassed), or trying fast fibre.
 
Some of the high fibre feeds can certainly be used as a complete hay replacer, Fast Fibre can be soaked and given in this way so the horse can pick at it just as it would a net of hay, grass nuts would be another option.
 
You'd have to have lots of little feeds throughout the day if all he gets is nuts. It's less than ideal. I think if all he gets is a few scoops of nuts twice a day he would get ulcers.

Will he eat the nuts mixed in with anything? Eg sugarbeet? I think Calm and Condition is a feed that's meant to be soaked anyway. Fast Fibre you can soak, bran makes an easy to eat mash with water added. Some people are against bran due to a high phosphorus content but if you're feeding it alongside lots of sugarbeet or alfalfa for calcium its fine. I've fed it by the bucketload with no ill effects. Have you tried grass chaffs eg Readigrass? Have you tried both molassed and unmolassed sugarbeet? There are alfalfa nuts (Simple Systems make some) or a mix of alfalfa/sugarbeet that can be soaked, if its the chewing he's objecting to rather than the alfalfa. Pure Feeds Easy is nuts and a little chaff, high fibre and makes a mash if soaked for about 3hrs. Mollichaff Veteran is an alfalfa/grass/straw chaff that's low molasses and soft, so easy to chew. One veteran owner I knew had to keep swapping the brand/type of chaff and high fibre cube to keep the pony eating, as it tended to lose interest in a particular feed after a few weeks.
 
Thanks. I'm going to ring the manufacturer tomorrow. Also have the problem that I can't necessarily get much in the way of different feeds as I'm not on the mainland!
 
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