Making the change from 2 feeds/day to 1

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DonskiWA

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My 2 lads are currently fed twice daily. I am wanting to make the move to one feed per day, mostly for our convenience really. I don't plan on changing their diet at all. Their single feed will weigh 2.4kg incl. chaff, so I'm not thinking that is too much in one feed. They have adlib hay and are out 24/7 on our own place.

How do I go about changing their routine do you think? Gradually or cold turkey? Is morning or evening feeds a better way to go? Any other pros or cons to consider?
 
2.4kg is slightly too much for one feed, ideally 2kg at most in one feed

As they are out 24/7 with adlib hay i would reduce the chaff as they will be getting plenty of fibre so no need to bulk out their feed with it. Only do this though if they're not prone to bolting their dinner :-)
 
Do you think it's a lot? Bear in mind here in Western Australia we have NO paddock grazing as its the end of summer.

Eventer:
2 scoops wheaten chaff
2 scoops lucerne chaff
1 scoop Hygain showtorque (not sure if you have it, but it's a good quality premix)
1/4 scoop balancer
Joint supp

Oldie (18)
2 scoops wheaten chaff
2 scoops lucerne chaff
1 scoop hygain trucare ( quality premix for oldies)
1/2 scoop balancer
1 cup canola oil

The eventer's total feed weighs 2 and the oldie's 2.4 but 1 kg of that is chaff.
 
To be far 2.4 kg is NOT loads thats not even two scoops of Baileys top line condition mix.

My horse gets all his feed in one meal as I dont have time for two at the moment.
He gets three scoops of mix totalling about 3.75kg and hes fine.
 
Well I guess some people are lucky.

I could not feed a 500kg more than 2kg as the stomach can only hold around 15 litres before it empties. Any undigested food will follow along to the small intestine and large intestine where it is harder to be broken down. Excess starch in the hindgut is well known to cause lami.

Considering they horse is not a ruminant and designed to eat small amounts a day around about 8 kilos for an average horse, giving more than 2kgs in one sitting is just asking for trouble.

Unless it's mainly forage based like chaff or beet, grain should definitely NOT be fed in such large amounts as it's harder to digest.

But, each to their own.
 
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