Old man with no teeth - help

A

annbal

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 August 2004
Messages
64
Visit site
Our old boy is pushing 30 and has hardly any back teeth remaining so is now finding eating hay difficult.
Can anyone recommend a hay substitute to try? and the makers?
I have googled and alfalfa and beet pulp seems to come up alot but not sure on who makes this apart from dengie.
thanks
 
I used Spillers High Fibre Pony Cubes for my old girl - soaked down into a mash. It was a while ago, but I'm sure I remember they could be used as a partial hay replacer.

More recently, I've used Allen and Page Fast Fibre - same sort of thing, it's a pellet which you soak into a mash. My horse loved it for the best part of a year, then turned round and refused it one day. Again, it can be used as a partial hay replacer.

If he can still manage short chop, I like Hi Fi Senior and Northern Crop Driers Graze On (like Readigrass but a bit cheaper!). Not sure if the Graze On can be used to replace hay - I think they say it can be fed as 15% of their fibre ration or something? But it could be fed alongside one of the others, just to give a bit of variety.

Hope this helps
 
My old TB has been struggling to eat hay this Autumn so I rang a feed helpline to get some advice. I was recommended to feed Hi-Fi Senior and Alfa-Beet to replace his hay as this is much shorter and softer so should be easier for him to manage. So far I have been really pleased with the results he has a big tub trug of this feed in his stable overnight instead of a hay net and has been eating it well.

I also asked about the Fast Fibre I was told that it can be used as a partial hay replacer but doesnt provide as many calories as the Alfa-Beet. I suppose this would be good for a horse that has dental probs but is a good doer.
 
Brill thanks for all the tips - i'll be out shopping at the weekend to try the alfa beet see how he goes on that. He's started to lose condition which is not good as we about to head into winter. lets hope the feed works
 
When using alfalfa based products as hay replacers, ensure that you don't not feed more than the amount recommended by the manufacturers, as fed in large quantities they can unbalance the diet due to their protein and mineral content.

Some of the hay replacers that are recommended as safe as total hay replacers (ie you can replace the entire hay ration with them) are Spiller's High Fibre Cubes, Spiller's Happy Hoof, Dengie Hi Fi Lite. Also useful are dried grass products such as Graze On and soaked grass nuts, which have the benefit of being higher in calories than things like High Fibre Cubes. The calorie content of feeds can be found on the bag and on the manufacturer's website expressed in MJDE/kg - the higher the number, the more calorific the product so this is something to bear in mind when choosing between different feeds.

Dengie and Spillers are both particularly helpful when devising hay replacement rations so worth giving them a ring, as they can advise you on the quantities you need as well as types of product.
 
Northern Crop Driers also do a Graze-On Gold Blend, which is recommended as a hay replacement, and a little less calorific that the regular graze-on. I've just got my old lady a couple of bags at £4.50 (12.5kg), where as the Hi-Fi Lite I was using is £10+ (20kg) so it's a bit cheaper and it's lovely and soft, not spiky like the Hi-Fi sometimes is.
 
My friends old boy was 34 and had hardly any teeth. He was going downhill v rapidly. She rung the people at Simple systems and they had lots of different things and honestly he was a changed horse esp when you think that they were going to have him pts because of it. There def worth a phone call.

ps I dont work for them, promise!! My horse only eats there instant linseed to keep the weight on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top