Grain Suppliers and your experiences

[Hayday]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and will soon be new to living in the UK (Horses coming over from Canada in July/August time). Anyways, I will be in the North East and have looked into some feed suppliers that Millbry Hill and Farmway carry but that is as far as I have gotten. Dengie, Bailey's and Spiller were ones I have looked into but there is soooo many options.

My one horse is hard to keep weight on and though he will have more access to pasture when he comes over I would still like to keep on other grain as well. Currently he receives 6 litres a day of a Fat/Fibre Mix (protein 13% Fat 7 % and Fibre 20% as well as Beetpulp and Alfalfa cubes which are soaked and fed as needed. So my question is... Can anyone recommend a good quality feed that might be equivalent to what he is getting now and their experiences with it.

I have looked into protein, fat, fibre content of the brands I posted above however, I am looking for some personal experiences as to the quality of the product.

Lastly, I also feed this horse flax seed which I ground for a bit of added fat. Are there any suppliers in the North/East that carry whole or ground flax (linseed) in bulk (20kg plus bags)

Any advice you have regarding your feed or the ones mentioned above would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Stacy_W]

Spillers are really good, have used them for 20 years. Their conditioning fibre would be similar to what you described above. We have a range of sugarbeet products too. The choice here can be overwhelming!

 

[Miss L Toe]

A lot of people buy micronised linseed meal from Charnwood Milling, it is delivered in 20/25 kg bags,
http://www.charnwood-milling.co.uk/horse_specs/micronized whole linseed.htm
Linseed is the same as flax and you can feed 100 to 200gms without any problem, which is one or two coffee mugs. It does not need any preparation.
Have a look at the beet based feeds available
http://www.britishhorsefeeds.com/company-products/products/
You can get alfalfa pellets, which I believe you have to soak, or use Fibre beet which is a balanced feed, soaked.
Using micronised linseed meal and Fibre Beet, and conditioning nuts , you may need to add a vitamin and mineral supplement if competing, Spillers and all other feed companies have free advice lines.

 

[amage]

The first thing you will find here is a big difference in the forages. All of the brands you have mentioned are good. What I would suggest is ship a good supply of your current feed and then book an appointment for one of the companies nutritionists to come advise and transition your horse as easily as possible