hay replacer question

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bertin12

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hi :)
im just doing some research on different feeds, and the ones like hi fi good doer etc say you can use their feed as a part or complete hay replacer. im going to sound really dim, but how would you do this? as i dont like the idea of my horse going for many hours of the night without any hay so make sure he has enough, but surely you would just give them a bucket of whatever feed to last them the night, or would you?
 
A horse needs a certain amount of fibre per day ,ideally trickle fed, to maintain gut function. A rough approximation is 2/2.5 kg per 100 kg body weight of dry fibre. If this fibre is from hay then a 500 kg horse needs a bit over 10 kg of hay per day.If the horse gets some grazing then this can be reduced as he is getting some of the 10kg of dry fibre from the grass.If the horse needs more energy we add a concentrate to the diet eg Oats. The fibre content of the oats now reduces the amount of hay that needs to be fed. So !kg of oats might replace 1kg of hay. There is absolutely no point in simply adding it ontop of the original 10 kg of hay. This would not be good for the horse .

"Feeds "such as High Fi good doer are not like conventional hard feeds. They are in fact lower in energy than hay. So if you give the horse 5kg of this and 5kg of hay ,he gets less energy than from 10 kg of hay and this might help with weight control.The important thing is that they are fed in substitution for hay and in sufficient quantities.Pretty much a weight for weight swop with hay.
These low energy feeds are not a cheap option. It is a very expensive way of buying Barley straw. I would also think that it must be unbelievably tedious and boring for the animal to live on this stuff. I would rather buy some clean ,bright,spring Barley straw and substitute a large part of the hay ration with it. A vitamin and Mineral ballancer is necessary .The good doer cubes at least are already ballanced.

With regard to how quickly the horse will eat 10 kg of these cubes ,basicly it will take as long as it would to eat 10 kg of hay.
 
I feed one of mine hay replacers - she gets mainly HiFi Lite, which I put into a large tub trug, and dampen with water. She also gets a leaf of Horsehage Alfalfa, which is longer stalk and seems more fibrous.
I have to say far from being bored by it, she likes it, and looks good (perhaps a little too good round the waistline). I also feed her Mollichaff Hi Fibre ALfalfa, which has mint, soya oil added, some Kwikbeet, some probiotics and a vit/min supplement.
I don't allow this horse to eat grass/hay really, but she seems very happy on her diet - and my other two (who eat normal haylage) do like the alfalfa a lot too if they can get their teeth on it. :D
S :D
 
Shilasdair said:
I feed one of mine hay replacers - she gets mainly HiFi Lite, which I put into a large tub trug, and dampen with water. She also gets a leaf of Horsehage Alfalfa, which is longer stalk and seems more fibrous.
I have to say far from being bored by it, she likes it, and looks good (perhaps a little too good round the waistline). I also feed her Mollichaff Hi Fibre ALfalfa, which has mint, soya oil added, some Kwikbeet, some probiotics and a vit/min supplement.
I don't allow this horse to eat grass/hay really, but she seems very happy on her diet - and my other two (who eat normal haylage) do like the alfalfa a lot too if they can get their teeth on it. :D
S :D
Click to expand...

Well that sounds a lot more appetising than 10 kg of straw cubes:D
 
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