Fibre blocks - how safe?

[myhorsefred]

Hi all, I've just had a look at some of the new fibre blocks you can buy.

Was wondering, when they get down to the last bit of the block left, has anyone found their horse attempts to eat the remaining little bits in one go, as opposed to licking, nibbling etc. I'm worried that the last hard bits might make my greedy lot choke. Has anyone had choke with these?

thanks.

 

[Miss L Toe]

I think they are brand new, I was also worried about choke, Id rather buy hay I think it will be cheaper anyway.

 

[myhorsefred]

Yes, I think hay might be cheaper as well.

I was just thinking I might buy a few bags if people have had good experiences with the blocks in case we have snow, ice etc and hay delievery can't get to me.

Might be a useful emergency standby. Dunno.

 

[Brightbay]

I've bought them as an emergency stand-by, easily stored and takes up very little space.

If you are concerned about choke, all you have to do is bung them in a bucket with some water... they break up very quickly (as I discovered when I left one out in the rain for 10 minutes!).

 

[myhorsefred]

Hi, thanks, yes thats a good idea. I could easily soak them. Thansk.

 

[Enfys]

Not.

I wouldn't dream of feeding them dry. Asking for trouble to be honest.

Soak one and see how much it swells up.

I feed alfa/timothy grass cubes, 2" square, soaked they triple in volume, dry they are stalky and cut to just the right size to catch in throats.

I know of loads of people who have fed them dry for years without a problem, Zeus had one little cube that wasn't properly soaked and was dreadfully ill with choke and associated problems.

 

[Brightbay]

It didn't swell much at all, to be honest - it just meant that it broke down in to individual fibres.

They're not compressed as much as pelleted feeds, just short hay chop packed into a brick. You can quite clearly see the individual fibres, and I have two in the passenger footwell of my car that are shedding so much that I need to feed the darn things before I have a little nest there...

 

[flyingfeet]

Does anyone know how long the expiry is on them?

I thought they would be good for the lorry, as I've occasionally got low on forage when staying away for multiple days (and underestimating the greedy ponies) and these would be an easy to pack emergency offering.

 

[smokey]

Never had a problem with them to be honest. I use them as an emergency if no hay available, and also on ponies if they are running low on hay before turn out. Keeps them occupied and they can't gorge on them. Also sometimes soak in a bucket and give like a feed. They don't break up that quickly in the wet, so overnight soak if feeding wet.

 

[myhorsefred]

Thanks everyone for your comments.