How to feed oats?

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jess894

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Been recommended to feed oats over winter for a little extra condition but have never fed them before! Should I be feeding whole, rolled or bruised? And do they all need to be soaked? They’ll be fed alongside fibre beet, soaked grassnuts, micronised linseed and his vit & min supplement

Thanks! 😊
 
what type of horse do you have, what condition is he/she currently in, what is your current management regime? Is the horse out 24/7 or stabled, rugged etc

lots of factors to consider before adding anything extra to feed and how much are you're feeding currently of what you listed?
 
"Normal" oats have to be crushed to within an inch of their life if they are to be digested - I have tried rolled and soaked and they pass straight through. An expensive way to feed the birds! Naked oats are the best - bred to have very little if any outer shell so they aren't protected from the digestive system. I don't know about micronised oats, they might be okay.
Some horses react to them like rocket fuel, others don't ( I was told if they did, they were intolerant to them) and the same goes for barley. Some do, mine just used to pile on condition with micronised barley
 
I have always fed oats whole and unsoaked. If your horse struggles to chew (eg if very young or old), rolled or bruised are better as the husk is pre-broken allowing easier access to the nutrients.
 
Another vote for naked oats. Not as hard as oats, more fat and protein so need to use less which makes up for the slightly higher price. Can be tricky to source and beware being fobbed off with peeled oats or groats. Naked oats are a special variety of oats and are mostly used in bird seed mixes. I put mine in water with the Fibrebeet for the same amount of time and use them to boost the diet of my retired horse who lives out all the year round.
 
3 y/o cob x tb, lives out 24/7 and drops weight quickly in winter. Grass is still ok and we’ll be putting hay out once it’s needed. Unrugged at the moment but will be rugging from next week
 
if you fed oats along with the oat balancer from bluegrass you could cut out your oil supplement and your vitamin and mineral supp too. The feed balancer has biotin, oil and minerals etc in it
 
The balancer bit of the oat balancer, STAMM30, isnt too bad, surprisingly no iron and the copper/zinc ratio is ok, even if the amounts are far too low. The ingredient list isnt great though.
Ingredients

> Soya Bean Meal
> Linseed Flakes
> Wheatfeed
> Molasses
> KER Vitamin & Mineral Premix
> Bioplex Minerals
> E-Max Ester (Natural Vitamin E)
> Organic Magnesium Source
> Specific Equine Yeast
> Full Fat Soya
> Soya Oil

I cannot find an exact list of what else in the balancer but seems to be mainly beet pulp. I'm always wary of soya oil as well as it can send some horses demented. You'd be much better off financially and from a nutrition point of view, just feeding a decent mineral balancer even at half rations and linseed.
 
I feed oats whole - and just a bog standard vit/mineral supplement (oat balancer? don't think that exists in NZ!). The amount depends on the horse, and circumstances. I have fed them soaked for endurance riding and old horses and it's easy to do - just cover with water and leave overnight oh, and cover the bucket or the mice will drown. Yes, some whole oats will pass through the digestive system but I find feeding them whole a lot easier than having to buy crushed, as they don't keep very well.
 
jess894 said:
3 y/o cob x tb, lives out 24/7 and drops weight quickly in winter. Grass is still ok and we’ll be putting hay out once it’s needed. Unrugged at the moment but will be rugging from next week
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my personal preference would be to just make sure that there is plenty of adlib quality forage, i would perhaps increase the qty's of what he's currently getting rather than adding anything else, or look at an all round feed that incorporates your vits/mins/linseed etc.
 
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