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 Xmas 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.

 

[SantaVera]

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 .