Grass Nuts/ Chaff Recommendations

[Squeak]

My ex-racer looks brilliant in the spring and summer living out 24/7 on plenty of grass but come winter and I’m piling feed into him and he’s still not looking as good as in the summer.

I’ve heard grass nuts and chaff being recommended and that makes sense to me as good quality grass is basically what he’s lacking in the winter. (He does have ad-lib hay in winter btw but chooses to still eat grass instead).

My problem is that he’s a bit of an ulcery horse to feed and needs low starch and low sugar. I tried introducing him very slowly to D&H grass nuts in the autumn and he was ok for a couple of weeks and then got colic. The only thing that I can think of to have caused it was that we had a flush of grass whilst he was on the grass nuts. Since coming off them, he’s not had colic *touches all wood frantically*.

So my question is; is it worth trying other brands/ type of grass nuts/ chaff and if so which?

 

[ycbm]

I had exactly that problem 2 winters back. I discovered that anything with soya in made my TB even thinner. I settled on Dengie grass nuts because they are so high calorie, but that does come at the expense of being a bit high in sugar.

I think people recommend Emerald Green nuts. I would also make sure he has a good whack of vitamin E, I have a TB type appaloosa who is thin in winter unless given extra vitamin E.

Can he eat alfalfa nuts? That might be an option, good for ulcers.
.

 

[windand rain]

Emerald green grass nuts and chaff for ponies if he will tolerate it they also do alfalfa nuts and chaff both grown very near me in lincolnshire all chemical free.
I would also suggest equidgel as an alternative as it is very high in water retention and designed to prevent and treat colic
eta a horse wearing a rug is at risk of being vitamin deficient in D and E so a good supplement should help

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I use emerald green grass nuts and their just grass chaff for my oldie and tb. I add keyflow pink mash in the evenings with a little oil. They both look fantastic. I try and keep all my feed ulcer friendly just incase.

 

[Britestar]

Emerald Green.
I've used both them and Dengie, but find the dengie take hours to soak vs 15 mins for the EG.

 

[Follysmum]

I use graze on mostly as easier to get hold of. Soaks up quite quickly

 

[Squeak]

I had exactly that problem 2 winters back. I discovered that anything with soya in made my TB even thinner. I settled on Dengie grass nuts because they are so high calorie, but that does come at the expense of being a bit high in sugar.

I think people recommend Emerald Green nuts. I would also make sure he has a good whack of vitamin E, I have a TB type appaloosa who is thin in winter unless given extra vitamin E.

Can he eat alfalfa nuts? That might be an option, good for ulcers.
.

Emerald green grass nuts and chaff for ponies if he will tolerate it they also do alfalfa nuts and chaff both grown very near me in lincolnshire all chemical free.
I would also suggest equidgel as an alternative as it is very high in water retention and designed to prevent and treat colic
eta a horse wearing a rug is at risk of being vitamin deficient in D and E so a good supplement should help

That's interesting re the vitamin D & E, he doesn't get much time in the sun over winter without a rug due to shivering weight off at the drop of a hat and being a hippo.

His balancer has 790mg Vitamin E & 310mcg Vitamin D3. How much more would you suggest giving and any make/ brand you'd recommend?

He can eat alfalfa so I could try upping the amount of it he's having. At the moment he only has about 850g of Alfalfa a day (3 stubbs scoops).

ETA - I'd never heard of the equidgel, looks a great product but it has slightly blown my mind a bit! Going to go and do some more reading up on it.

 

[Squeak]

Emerald Green seems the clear favourite. I'll try the vitamin E & D first because part of me is still a bit worried about the colic but if that doesn't seem to be doing the trick I'll get some Emerald Green to try.

 

[windand rain]

Equidgel will prevent the colic and will feed him appropriately as a complete feed if fed with forage it is great for those subject to colic and ulcers. It is quick and easy to feed as most just drink it you do need to follow the feeding instructions as it does use a lot of water but that is why it is so good for preventing colic and ulcers If they don't just drink it then you can add alfalfa or grass chaff to give it a bit of a chewy texture. Contact them the owner will give you all the science if you are interested

 

[Slightlyconfused]

One of mine has Dengie Grass nuts, they need to he soaked when fed in high quantity.
He also has the Dengie meadow grass chaff.

Mine cannot half alfafa

 

[ycbm]

Vitamin E is measured in thousands of IU. There are 10mg in 15 iu, so 750mg is a bit over 1000iu. I would try feeding him 4000iu, which is what mine gets and 2000iu is pretty standard.

Natural is best, and the cheapest source for that is usually ForagePlus. You can feed synthetic but you need twice as much. Don't feed synthetic with selenium in it, you can overdose selenium easily and it's very poisonous.
.

 

[ycbm]

I also fed my thin TB 500ml of oil a day. Spillers advice, last time I read i,t is that any oil will do but rapeseed, corn oil and sunflower which are sold in supermarkets should be fed with 1000iu of vitamin E per 100ml of oil.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

My ex-racer looks brilliant in the spring and summer living out 24/7 on plenty of grass but come winter and I’m piling feed into him and he’s still not looking as good as in the summer.

I’ve heard grass nuts and chaff being recommended and that makes sense to me as good quality grass is basically what he’s lacking in the winter. (He does have ad-lib hay in winter btw but chooses to still eat grass instead).

My problem is that he’s a bit of an ulcery horse to feed and needs low starch and low sugar. I tried introducing him very slowly to D&H grass nuts in the autumn and he was ok for a couple of weeks and then got colic. The only thing that I can think of to have caused it was that we had a flush of grass whilst he was on the grass nuts. Since coming off them, he’s not had colic *touches all wood frantically*.

So my question is; is it worth trying other brands/ type of grass nuts/ chaff and if so which?

The grass nuts I am using is Baileys grass pellets, can be fed dry or soaked - the chaff I love is D&H Fibergy

Also I feed Simple Systems timothy Haycare https://www.simplesystemhorsefeeds.co.uk/products/viewhorsefeed.asp?id=47&name=HayCare 6mm





.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

My boy loves his readigrass and a bag last ages. I feed Dengie grass nuts. I soak them over night in winter. I mix them with alfalfa nuts and sugar beet and soak two scoops in a big trug and this does me 5/6 days of a scoop in two feeds a day.

 

[ycbm]

Have I misunderstood RC? Are you feeding stuff that you soaked 5 or 6 days before?
.

 

[windand rain]

I soak daily for 5 ponies about 1kgs per day use a cherry pot from making christmas cakes to measure one per feed they have a pot of linseed and beet in winter depending on what we can get

 

[millikins]

My connie only really likes grass and by the end of Feb/Mar he usually looks poor because whatever he's fed what he wants is Dr Green. What does seem to suit him and he agrees to eat is Agrobs Weisencobs, this is our second winter on them and he looks good so far.