Feeding

[S_N]

Well I thought I'd share this, as although not brand new research it is recent and makes a great deal of sense when you think about it.

How many of us feed some kind of chaff (Alfalfa based or straw/hay based) and/or Sugar Beet in with our horses compound feed ration? I know I do and I always have. Most of us feed these to stop the horse bolting his/her feed or for the succulent value of the SB or the calcium in the alfalfa...... However, feeding these foods at the same time as the horses concentrate ration hampers the horses ability to fully digest the concentrated feed.

The reason being, is that these fiberous foods are more easily digestable - after all that is what neds are designed to digest - and therefore fibre passes through the system a lot faster than barley/oats/peas etc... BUT, if the cereal ration is fed at the same time as these fiberous foods, the fiberous food takes the cereal through the gut way too fast for the horse to digest it. Studies have shown that if a horse is fed alfalfa, SB and cereal together, then only 20% of the cereal is digested in the stomach and fore gut, whereas, if the cereal is fed on it's own, 80% (yes EIGHTY) is digested in the stomach & fore gut.

At the lecture I was at last week, we were told by this leading vet, that feeding 1/2 a scoop of Alfalfa isn't really going to do much to re-balance the Ca/P ratio. The horse should have plenty of access to good quality grass/hay/haylage/alfalfa, if this is an issue - as with growing horses - there may be a need to supplement the diet with Limestone powder or such like.

Pardon the pun, but it's all food for thought and I thought I'd share.

 

[Maesfen]

Makes a lot of sense to me.
Luckily, my lot aren't very keen on chop of any description so I rarely feed it and if I ever do, it's only a handful which doesn't make a lot of difference.
I tried a bucketful left overnight as a top up one night, it was still there untouched in the morning, they didn't want to know it whereas the feed and hay, there wasn't a scrap left, so I haven't bothered again.
Have to say, I have always thought of it as 'fill belly' and it doesn't particularly slow a quick feeder down either. I would rather give a balanced feed and allow adlib hay/haylage than feed a chop. I'm sure that's not the right way according to the experts, although, touch wood, I have never had any digestive problems - so far - and I've been not feeding chop a very long time now!
What did they say about feeding sugar beet, is that still a good item in a feed or should it be fed separately too?

 

[Navalgem]

I rang top spec for advice on feeding my menagerie and they sent me a load of bumph, particularly with ref to my youngstock. I'm currently feeding my 2 year old colt and broodmare with foal at foot: alfa a, sugarbeet and top spec cool condition cubes with top spec comprehensive feed balancer (as per instructed for each horse and dividing between 2/3 feeds, as top spec cool cubes and balancer are no-grain formula it isn't affected by feeding at the same time as the chaff and sb.

At first I was a bit sceptical, esp with the price of the balancer but I honestly can't believe the difference in only 2 weeks, their coats are shiny and they're brighter but not stupid and they are putting on weight like no-tomorrow and it appears (for the minute at least) to be quite solid, not flab. Plus it's working out about the same price as all the mix's, barley, chaff n sb I was feeding previosly as I fed more to try and get the weight on but this new diet is working wonders, I truly am converted.