oats and chaff diet

[Sags_Deer]

do many of you feed this diet.

 

[michb52]

Yep! Ive been feeding it now all summer and its brilliant! Very cost effective and has the horses in fab condition without being bonkers!! I feed soaked oats, barley, speedi beet, alfalfa and a supplement.

 

[SSM]

I feed soaked oats, alpha A, speedibeet, oil, carrots and garlic - she looks amazing on it but am thinking of changing to competion mix in the new year as I am desparate for some movement out of her!!!!!!!!

 

[emelia]

yes we feed all ours oats and chaff and garlic all year with sugarbeet in winter. They all do really well on it!!

 

[michb52]

Try some barley. That will give her a bit of "get up and go"!!!

 

[Chex]

I fed it last year, didn't realise it was a proper diet though, just fed it because its cheaper than a mix and he doen't really need it lol

 

[airedale]

OMG - how things come around after a period of time

I grew up feeding 'straights' and it is very cost effective if you know what you are doing.

If all you are feeding is straights then you ought to feed a broad spectrum vit/mineral supplement as that is the one thing that these mixes have that straights don't.

be aware also that if horse is off work for any period of time you should pull the oats and get onto just a fibre diet - oats are even worse for causing problems with laid up horses than mixes for a few days off........

I've put my soya allergic horse back onto straights now and his breathing is fine again but I do feed Selenevite E to make sure his vits/minerals are OK.

 

[Parkranger]

WE used to feed straights years ago but seems to be a no no in most yards.

I think I'd die it I gave Ty oats.........

 

[airedale]

no - funnily enough I don't think you would

most people happily feed 'competition mix' or it's equivalent and that is aroun 14% protein

oats aren't that high in protein plus most people feed by 'scoop' rather than weight - and mixes are heavier than oats.

You can easily replace 1 for 1 a scoop of competition mix with a scoop of oats and end up with the same horse

I've worked in racing and when I did my 'hack' compentition horse was fed about 10 lbs of bruised oats a day plus molassed chaff and bran and was worked for about 1.25 hours a day and kept in a yard with NO turnout at all at ANY time - stabled 24x7

he was perfectly safe to ride and was 7/8th TB to boot plus 1/8th Cleveland (and they are a bit dodgy at times temp. wise)

I would though recommend that bruised, not crushed, oats are fed as the crushed oats are a bit 'crap' compared with bruised.

 

[Judie]

I feed oats, sugar beet and a balancer, loads of haylage, happy as larry my chap is, looks pretty damn good on it to if I may say so myself!!

Can't be doing with mixes, chaff and all that jazz....

 

[Parkranger]

I had a very bad experience on oats (well my horse was on oats not me!) and I'm very very wary of them!

 

[Judie]

Agree it wouldn't be for every horse but it has always worked for mine past and present.

 

[S_N]

I seriously doubt it if you fed soaked oats! Barley is more heating than oats anyway - as it has a more readily available digestable energy than any form of oats. Oats heating horses up, is, IMHO, a bit of an old wives tale. Barley however, can be lethal!!

 

[S_N]

Try adding either a bit of micronised barley, though if you are concerned about weight gain try Tiger oats.

 

[Parkranger]

[ QUOTE ]
Oats heating horses up, is, IMHO, a bit of an old wives tale.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok - we'll have to agree to disagree on this!

 

[S_N]

Barley has more readily available MJ of digestable energy than oats. UNLESS the oat is soaked, horses cannot digest the husk of an oat, hence why oats are rolled or bruised inorder to be fed dry, so that the goodness in the oat can be digested.

I'm not going to argue with you, as I know that in comparisson to Barley (which FTR few people have a problem feeding), oats are just simply not as heating.

 

[Parkranger]

Don't think we actually ever fed barley - this is going back 15 years though remember! You know, I don't even know what type of oats we fed (I was 11 at the time do didn't pay much interest!)

I suppose it could have been spring grass but I think the reputation of oats proceeds it.......whether it be true or not!

 

[SSM]

"he was perfectly safe to ride and was 7/8th TB to boot plus 1/8th Cleveland (and they are a bit dodgy at times temp. wise)"

Hope you are not pointing to the CB being dodgy to ride

- They just don't go anywhere if they have their own way

 

[KatB]

SN, what the difference with tiger oats and normal oats? And had anyone ever had a problem with their horses being allergic to oats, mine got hive type thing when feed him oats and Alfa A he is now fed Alfa A with no probs.... Can horses be Oat intolerant!??

 

[Judie]

[ QUOTE ]
Unlike conventional hard feeds which can contain high starch cereals, Tiger Oats offers a palatable, low starch, high oil, high energy (14Mj) yet non-heating alternative for performance animals required to give maximum effort.

Based on the best Scandinavian black and gold oats (from which the product draws its name), Tiger Oats includes a 2.5mm mineral balancer pellet to optimise the availability of nutrients, together with a coating of Oatinol™- a unique product containing high levels of natural antioxidants and polar lipids to help maintain and protect a healthy gut membrane

[/ QUOTE ]

Taken from the website.

I use them as I find them less dusty than other oats.

 

[KatB]

Hmm, thanks for that!!

Do you find them conditioning?!

 

[Parkranger]

Someone explain how high energy isn't heating? If I eat a mars bar I get energy.....and get rather annoying and hyper!

I don't get it!

 

[Judie]

Scrooge - hard to say really as my chap is a good doer but looks in great shape, he has sugar beet and a balancer.

Victress - again hard to say as nothing would make my chap hyper!