Grass nuts - soaking?

[Hormonal Filly]

Do grass nuts have to be soaked?

Just bought my mare a sack of Emerald Meadow Magic pellets, been soaking them. Although 1 small cup soaks into so much more.. looks like I’m feeding her tons! But.. she doesn’t like them.

She’ll just pick at them. ? wondering if she’ll eat them not soaked, or is it not worth it?

 

[ycbm]

The only horse I've ever had choke did it on a handful of grass nuts, I will never feed them dry again.
.

 

[TheMule]

They do sometimes take a bit to get used to them but I haven’t found one that doesn’t end up loving them.
Absolutely do not feed unsoaked, big choke risk

 

[Auslander]

My rule of thumb is that anything that expands dramatically in volume when soaked, needs soaking. If I start feeding something new, I chuck a bit in a bucket and add twice the volume of water to see what happens

 

[Esmae]

Yes you absolutely need to soak them. To switch her on to them a handful of oats goes a long way to arouse interest.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

My rule of thumb is that anything that expands dramatically in volume when soaked, needs soaking. If I start feeding something new, I chuck a bit in a bucket and add twice the volume of water to see what happens

Yes, I do this too.

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Thanks all. Thought that might be the case, one of our liveries feeds them dry and was trying to convince me to.

Yes you absolutely need to soak them. To switch her on to them a handful of oats goes a long way to arouse interest.

She goes mad for oats.. will add some from what I’ve got left.

 

[Hormonal Filly]

They do sometimes take a bit to get used to them but I haven’t found one that doesn’t end up loving them.
Absolutely do not feed unsoaked, big choke risk

These have less sugar, so a bit worried it might be because they don’t taste as good as the standard grass nuts. Fingers crossed.

 

[cauda equina]

One of mine is happy to eat grass nut soup, the other hates slop and has to have minimal water so it ends up fairly dry and crumbly
It might be worth experimenting to see if your mare has a preference for wetter/drier feeds

 

[criso]

Mine doesn't like sloppy feeds. I have to have some chaff mixed in to add a bit of chew.

 

[PSD]

Mine loves his as soup! After seeing how much they swell I’d never feed them dry again

 

[SadKen]

I’ve never fed mine soaked since in the summer once I gave her a handful that way and it turned to green mulch and she wouldn’t touch it. I do only give her a handful per feed mixed with top chop zero and they’re thoroughly wetted but not soaked so they don’t lose shape but do become soft and swollen. Dengie grass pellets. They are only tiny, I don’t know if that’s the same thing we are talking about.

 

[TheBayThoroughbred]

Try them warm? I know it sounds silly but in the winter one of my boys will refuse to touch feed unless it resembles warm porridge! Also, like others say, try drier feeds as well.

As for the grass pellets themselves, are you feeding them to keep weight on, nutritional reasons, etc...? The only reason I ask is that the same boy was originally being fed 2 scoops of grass pellets a day to keep his weight on by the old owner, I switched him to just high quality forage and a bit of fast fibre and he looks even better, so you might not even need to feed them!

 

[Dazzer]

Hi all, I didn't want to start another thread on grass pellets so hoping for answers on this one.
I'm feeding one Top Spec scoop of emerald green grass pellets with my boy's supplements in it. I add 3 scoops of water but do it the day before as they take ages to soak. In the last week I've taken the feed home as it has been -12 at night and it was freezing it. Today I put warm water in it because it was frozen to the inside of my car
So, how long do you soak it for, and does using warm water make the process quicker? Thankfully I got the feed out of my car

 

[Fieldlife]

I’d say about 2 hours to soak with cold water and 20 minutes with boiling water.

Taking a flask of boiling water to the yard should work.

Or put them in a Tupperware pot and soak at home over night.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Do grass nuts have to be soaked?

Just bought my mare a sack of Emerald Meadow Magic pellets, been soaking them. Although 1 small cup soaks into so much more.. looks like I’m feeding her tons! But.. she doesn’t like them.

She’ll just pick at them. ? wondering if she’ll eat them not soaked, or is it not worth it?

I use dengie grass pellets and Now Graze on Grass Pellets as the others are not available at the moment. I was told you can give them some dry as long as they are within their natural meal
" Quote form Graze on"

n order to prevent too rapid a consumption it is recommend that grass pellets should be fed with at least an equal volume of a bulky feed. Alternatively they may be soaked before feeding to form a mash

 

[Equi]

It’s all about experimenting! I’ve finally got my lad eating again after many trials. He has the grass nuts fluffy with the smallest pinch of chaff just to add texture. Made any other way he’ll just toss it ?

 

[TheMule]

Hi all, I didn't want to start another thread on grass pellets so hoping for answers on this one.
I'm feeding one Top Spec scoop of emerald green grass pellets with my boy's supplements in it. I add 3 scoops of water but do it the day before as they take ages to soak. In the last week I've taken the feed home as it has been -12 at night and it was freezing it. Today I put warm water in it because it was frozen to the inside of my car
So, how long do you soak it for, and does using warm water make the process quicker? Thankfully I got the feed out of my car

It soaks very quickly in hot water, 10 mins maybe, and I really like them having a warm feed in this freezing weather.

 

[Tarragon]

Do the grass nuts lose any quality if warm water is used?

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Please PLEASE soak grass nuts; I've seen two horses (on two separate occasions) choke on grass nuts fed unsoaked.

The second occasion needed the vet.

 

[Sanversera]

I soak them overnight, wouldnt risk feeding dry at all. in fact i even soak pony nuts they swell massively. it also gets fluids into the horse during this cold weather.

 

[Goldenstar]

Do the grass nuts lose any quality if warm water is used?

they look and smell the same .

 

[Bobthecob15]

old thread but just wondered...

If you make up a bucket of soaked grass nuts, how long can you keep them before feeding? If I made a batch for, say 2 days worth, would they keep ok? Or should they be soaked and fed within the day??

I just remember big vats of sugar beet as a kid and wondered if grass nuts were the same?

 

[Tiddlypom]

12 hours soaking time max to be on the safe side, though that is year round, so you could probably safely double it at this time of year.

I wouldn’t ever soak grass nuts for 48 hours.

I feed twice daily using grass nuts or meadow cobs which I had put into soak after doing the previous feed.

 

[Nasicus]

old thread but just wondered...

If you make up a bucket of soaked grass nuts, how long can you keep them before feeding? If I made a batch for, say 2 days worth, would they keep ok? Or should they be soaked and fed within the day??

I just remember big vats of sugar beet as a kid and wondered if grass nuts were the same?

I forgot about a bucket of soaking grass nuts during the summer, soaked in the morning for the evening, forgot until the next morning so 24hrs and hooooo boy did they absolutely reek and get promptly buried in the muck heap.
They'd have been fine if it were cold out, but I agree with TiddlyPom, it's not worth risking for the price of a scoop of grass nuts.

FWIW, I usually take a flask of hot water up with me or use a yard kettle now if I need to soak something. Saves me forgetting.

 

[Jenko109]

Have not fed them in years, however I always used to make up a batch and use them over a few days.

Always did the same thing with sugar beet too.

 

[cauda equina]

I soak mine twice a day
I bring the next day's nuts into the house in the evening, one bucket each for breakfast and tea and take them back out to the shed ready soaked

 

[Bobthecob15]

Ok thank you!!

 

[HJJ]

I use the Dengie ones. I either soak in cold water for at least 2 hours, or overnight (no longer), or with hot water for at least 15 mins. I do it really soupy like a thin porridge and use it to dampen the feeds. It's surprising how much water they soak up!

 

[Bobthecob15]

I use the Dengie ones. I either soak in cold water for at least 2 hours, or overnight (no longer), or with hot water for at least 15 mins. I do it really soupy like a thin porridge and use it to dampen the feeds. It's surprising how much water they soak up!

Thanks we have hot water at the yard so will just soak just ahead of when I need them, they are quick soaking x