Grass nuts - dry or soak?

only_me

only_me

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Just bought some dengie grass nuts for horse and alpacas. Should I be soaking them? They will be getting very small amounts as it’s more for alpacas who will get a handful each but billy will Hoover if they haven’t finished by time he does.

The bag advice is very conflicting - safe to feed dry and wet but due to risk of choke they
Should be soaked?!

What do you do?
 
It will be mixed with a couple of handfuls of cool mix type anyway for the horse.

Just a bit confused as to why the bag would say safe to feed dry and then recommend soaking!
 
I feed them dry out of a treat ball where they can only get a couple at a time and chew that before getting any more.
As a bucket I would always soak as they are very very dry and a whole mouthful would need careful chewing to avoid choke.
I don't mix mine with chaff fwiw, I find they pick up the soaked nuts pretty slowly :)
 
milliepops said:
I feed them dry out of a treat ball where they can only get a couple at a time and chew that before getting any more.
As a bucket I would always soak as they are very very dry and a whole mouthful would need careful chewing to avoid choke.
I don't mix mine with chaff fwiw, I find they pick up the soaked nuts pretty slowly :)
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We had one who did have choke when the chaff was missed out of her bucket of soaked grassnuts.
 
Dry in snack ball but soaked in feeds.

However I dont get the big to-do about not feeding grass nuts dry because they expand. ALL nuts expand when soaked/dampened. "We" happily feed conditioning cubes, high fibre cubes and pony nuts dry in a feed yet if dampen or soak them they too break down and expand. I'm not sure what makes people think grass nuts are different
 
For me the only difference is the ones I use are very dry and more tightly compressed than other nuts I might feed. So I do find that take a bit more chewing. So a bit less forgiving.
When I can restrict the speed they can access them (feeding by hand or treat ball) then I'm confident that they take enough time to chomp them up with enough saliva. But they would likely yomp away at a bucket of dry nuts. Jmho :)
 
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TPO said:
Dry in snack ball but soaked in feeds.

However I dont get the big to-do about not feeding grass nuts dry because they expand. ALL nuts expand when soaked/dampened. "We" happily feed conditioning cubes, high fibre cubes and pony nuts dry in a feed yet if dampen or soak them they too break down and expand. I'm not sure what makes people think grass nuts are different
Click to expand...


I use pony nuts in the summer instead of grass nuts and soak them too. 1 cup of soaked nuts does 4 feeds for my two yet if you look at the quantity dry you would think I starve them 😁
 
I once soaked some to see whether they swell - they don't, so safe to feed dry. But like any pellets they have the risk of causing choke, so feed a decent grass chop (such as Grazon) to stop them bolting. Chewing activates saliva which is good for the digestion so dry really is better as long as they don't bolt them.
 
Only ever feed grass nuts soaked if at all now, unless a very small amount mixed with other feed. Maybe depends on the horse, half a scoop swells considerably and it’s a very messy job sorting out choke.
 
TPO said:
Dry in snack ball but soaked in feeds.

However I dont get the big to-do about not feeding grass nuts dry because they expand. ALL nuts expand when soaked/dampened. "We" happily feed conditioning cubes, high fibre cubes and pony nuts dry in a feed yet if dampen or soak them they too break down and expand. I'm not sure what makes people think grass nuts are different
Click to expand...


I wouldn't, and never have, feed nuts/cubes dry. Over the years we have fed all kinds of hard feeds (until we learned better) but always at least dampened them, even for our first horse, over 40 years ago. It was considered to be normal good management in those days.
 
So do people soak any type of cube? I’ve always just fed cubes dry, never had any issues. Although horse doesn’t gobble/eat quickly at least so reduces chance of choke.
I’m currently going to soak a cup of nuts as it’s just for a bit of mash to hide his bute in 🙈 silly horse slipped on the hill while chasing donkeys lol

By soaked also do you just put cold water on and leave for 20mins?
 
only_me said:
By soaked also do you just put cold water on and leave for 20mins?
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I find they fluff up well enough in 20 mins. If you are in a rush you can use hot water. I just cover them otherwise they can get a bit soupy though a sprinkle of micronised linseed can rescue that!! :eek:

My balancer pellets end up getting a bit soaked if I throw them in before the nuts are properly done. I don't routinely feed any other pellets other than treats for loading/stretches etc and they have those dry obviously! If they weren't tightly pressed then I would feed normal nuts "dry" as in not soaked - though I always dampen feeds, was drummed in during PC years :)
 
i always soak any kind of pellets/nuts (not that mine get anything so exciting as both are rotund, a bit of chaff with a sprinkle of oats if they are VERY lucky!)
 
I feed them dry as a treat (as in he'll get a handful for doing something good). If he's having them as a feed I add water (probably one scoop of water per quarter scoop of nuts). Mainly to get a bit of extra hydration into him after work.
 
Soak grass nuts and anything that says needs soaking! Ordinary nuts l don’t soak although usually damp the feed.
 
I always soak grass nuts but as a treat for late night checks l have always given dry pony nuts.
In the old days lots of people only ever fed bran, oats and dry pony nuts.
 
Follysmum said:
I always soak grass nuts but as a treat for late night checks l have always given dry pony nuts.
In the old days lots of people only ever fed bran, oats and dry pony nuts.
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I think your olden days are a bit after mine! I was always taught to at least dampen feeds and I can't imagine any-one feeding dry bran, it would be blown all over everywhere!
 
Quote
I think your olden days are a bit after mine! I was always taught to at least dampen feeds and I can't imagine any-one feeding dry bran, it would be blown all over everywhere!



Ha ha yes forgot to say dampen the bran, I am talking over 50yrs so marbles not as sharp 😂
 
Last edited:
only_me said:
Just bought some dengie grass nuts for horse and alpacas. Should I be soaking them? They will be getting very small amounts as it’s more for alpacas who will get a handful each but billy will Hoover if they haven’t finished by time he does.

The bag advice is very conflicting - safe to feed dry and wet but due to risk of choke they
Should be soaked?!

What do you do?
Click to expand...
I guess they are OK to feed small amounts dry as they are often added to mixes and chaffs but large amounts should be soaked. They are very dry and very hard and definitely do swell although not as much as sugar beet.
I will sometimes throw a couple handfuls on the ground for my ponies as a treat but always soak for a feed.
 
Follysmum said:
Quote
I think your olden days are a bit after mine! I was always taught to at least dampen feeds and I can't imagine any-one feeding dry bran, it would be blown all over everywhere!



Ha ha yes forgot to say dampen the bran, I am talking over 50yrs so marbles not as sharp 😂
Click to expand...





It sounds as if your olden days are about the same time as mine, after all:eek:
 
Mine had choke with grassnuts and it was a horrible experience. They were dampened and partially soaked but obviously not enough. I think they seem to find grassnuts so tasty that they just wolf them down if possible (Ironically mine was having them to encourage him to finish his feed with medication in but he liked them so much he forgot to chew at all :( ) I always feed them soaked and with chaff now unless they are in a treatball so they are just having a few at a time.
 
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