Fibre blocks

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Ceifer

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Hi

I'm thinking of getting my boy a fibre block to munch on at night. He's a real piglet and despite having a large net heavy net with small holes, I think he must finish his hay pretty quickly :(.

I've not done much research on which ones to get but wondered if anybody has any recommendations? I've seen some of them come with tiny nets to put them in, do these cause any problems ? I'm wondering if my boy will chew through the net :sigh:

Another livery on our yard just puts one in her horses manger but I wondered if that is a choke risk? Having watched her tear into it there seem pretty big chunks that come off.

Failing that I was going to try and put it in his net with his hay and see how that works.

Advice welcomed :)
 
Are you sure you are feeding enough hay? Horses require 1.5 to 2.5 % of their body weight DRY MATTER !!!!!!!!!!!! (Hay is 12% water and haylage about 35%)of feed ,of which up to 40% can come from the hard feed.
 
We do use fibre blocks sometimes in the morning in winter, always fed loose in their feed buckets. They do not last long at all, so doubt they would do much to slow down a greedy feeder. We don't use nets except when travelling. Perhaps a better way to ensure that your horse has enough fibre, would be to feed a trug of plain oat straw chaff, we did that with sisters very overweight (when we got her) mare, it worked well.
 
He's on 12kg of hay at night and my livery yard owner won't give him anymore unless I pay. Hard feed he's on two large scoops of fast fibre, one chaff, one unmolassed sb.
He's a 16hh WB. Don't know how much he weighs to be honest :/

In from 18.00 to 08.00 out all day but we've not got much grass.

Yard owner has said no to straw due to the mess :(
 
!2kg is not unreasonable for him .And your YO is not being stingy. BUT hay is a lot cheaper than fibre blocks so I would pay for a little more hay in preference .
 
Ceifer said:
Hi

I'm thinking of getting my boy a fibre block to munch on at night. He's a real piglet and despite having a large net heavy net with small holes, I think he must finish his hay pretty quickly :(.

I've not done much research on which ones to get but wondered if anybody has any recommendations? I've seen some of them come with tiny nets to put them in, do these cause any problems ? I'm wondering if my boy will chew through the net :sigh:

Another livery on our yard just puts one in her horses manger but I wondered if that is a choke risk? Having watched her tear into it there seem pretty big chunks that come off.

Failing that I was going to try and put it in his net with his hay and see how that works.

Advice welcomed :)
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Mine have 2 sections a night and they have a meadow brick at 5pm, they have them in the small nets but they still wooff them down
 
Ceifer said:
He's on 12kg of hay at night and my livery yard owner won't give him anymore unless I pay. Hard feed he's on two large scoops of fast fibre, one chaff, one unmolassed sb.
He's a 16hh WB. Don't know how much he weighs to be honest :/

In from 18.00 to 08.00 out all day but we've not got much grass.
Yard owner has said no to straw due to the mess :(
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Then you will have to pay for more hay!
What you are feeding is not be enough forage for him, the straw is another form of chaff, it is not bedding, we feed the chaff in a large trug tub, I cannot see how anyone can complain about that.
 
I feed blocks, the ones I have are Equiblox high fibre ones which do contain straw too, they aren't as flash as the posh ones but easy on the pocket at less than £1 each

I feed them on the floor, no net, they last about 30-45 mins with a hungry pony but frequently I find a bit left in the morning which makes me think sometimes they just pick at them.

I have a pony very prone to choke but he hasn't choked ever with one of these

They also make a decent soggy hay replacer if soaked in a bucket of water and tend to occupy a horse more hours this way
 
Livery yard rules. I don't make them unfortunately

I'm struggling to convince her to give him more. Even if I pay. He's come out of winter looking well. But due to a change of circumstances the grazing has changed and is poor.
 
He is probably about 600kg ,so needs between 9 and 15 kg dry matter per day .With 1 feed as described per day he is getting about 12 kg dry matter assuming he finds absolutely nothing in the field (which is unlikely) So basically he is mid range of the correct fibre intake
 
WelshD said:
I feed blocks, the ones I have are Equiblox high fibre ones which do contain straw too, they aren't as flash as the posh ones but easy on the pocket at less than £1 each

I feed them on the floor, no net, they last about 30-45 mins with a hungry pony but frequently I find a bit left in the morning which makes me think sometimes they just pick at them.

I have a pony very prone to choke but he hasn't choked ever with one of these

They also make a decent soggy hay replacer if soaked in a bucket of water and tend to occupy a horse more hours this way
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I use these as well .
My horses only eat them when desperate .
I think feeding chopped plain straw would be best I feed that as well it does not make much mess.
 
I used to feed these dry, on the floor; no problems with horse choking but he kept picking them up with his teeth then dropping massive chunks (if not the whole thing)out of the window so they weren't hugely successful!
 
I also use simple systems lucie brix, my pony loves them but he can eat one in about ten mins. I find them useful though as a treat or the period between him no longer really needing hay but still needing something.

I've never worried about choke with him but would definitely recommend watching how your horse manages them first. I just feed mine on the floor.
 
If you don't feel his hay is lasting him long enough what about double netting or if yard owner won't give him extra even if you pay then source some hay:haylage from else where. Surely it's up to you what your horse eats and the amount.

Regarding no straw I suspect that's as bedding: most chaff has some straw in it.
 
I'm always shocked at yards that put limits on hay/haylage. All of mine are fed adlib and would never in a million years consider a yard that wouldn't allow me to feed MY horses however much i want :(

Those blocks never last more than 10mins around mine...
 
I got one of those mini haynets. Apparently the trick is to fit the whole haynet in your mouth and crush the block so the fibre falls out. Then it can be quickly hoovered off the floor.
 
Ceifer said:
Livery yard rules. I don't make them unfortunately

I'm struggling to convince her to give him more. Even if I pay. He's come out of winter looking well. But due to a change of circumstances the grazing has changed and is poor.
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I'm sorry but I'd be very annoyed I couldn't choose how much I wanted my own horse to be fed! You're going to pay for it so what business is it to her?! Can't YOU fill an extra haynet and just leave it outside your horses stable so she can add it along with the one she puts up? I personally think those blocks would be a bit of a waste of money which would be better spent on simply increasing the hay.
 
I use the tiny hay brick nets to put a swede in, my girl loves it, keeps her busy, and keeps her moving round her stable at night. I used to use it for hay bricks but swedes are a lot cheaper lol!
 
Crackerz said:
I'm always shocked at yards that put limits on hay/haylage. All of mine are fed adlib and would never in a million years consider a yard that wouldn't allow me to feed MY horses however much i want :(

Those blocks never last more than 10mins around mine...
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Maybe if you ran a yard you would realize that only getting £14 roughly per day part livery does not allow ad lib hay when you add the feed, hay,rent of the box, labour, lighting, water, electricity, grazing, maintenance,repairs,facilities, security,improvements and the list goes on and on etc.

How ever - my livery owners buy an extra bale when they want it and either use it while grooming or add extra at night up to them I wont stop them buying extra.
 
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Most yards use haylage these days, however, his condition is good so he is getting enough to eat,, weightape weekly to check on loss/gains and use a small hole net and try the straw chaff, damp, but he is quite a big horse [maybe 550kg and usually an extra small hole net would be cheapest
 
HGA-12 said:
Maybe if you ran a yard you would realize that only getting £14 roughly per day part livery does not allow ad lib hay when you add the feed, hay,rent of the box, labour, lighting, water, electricity, grazing, maintenance,repairs,facilities, security,improvements and the list goes on and on etc.

How ever - my livery owners buy an extra bale when they want it and either use it while grooming or add extra at night up to them I wont stop them buying extra.
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Can you not buy in big bales? I get 8ft bales for £35 - and all my liveries are on ad lib hay. My lot (13.2hh-17.1hh) can do two sections of small bale hay in about an hour - I'd be really uncomfortable with only giving that much overnight to stabled horses, who don't have the option of foraging.

Completely understand budget limitations, but small bales are a very expensive way to feed hay. A decent supplier can still provide good quality hay in large bales.
 
Mike007 said:
Imagine then what my Irish draught can do to one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Mine consider them below their notice unless truly hungry mind I only use the ones that are a mix of hay and straw so not very tasty .
We put one in Fatties starvation strip when he eats it I know he's getting too hungry and I need to but in some forage .
 
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