Price of feed :eek:

holeymoley

holeymoley

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:eek: I know many of you buy own brand feeds and cereals etc but unfortunately my nearest feed store only stock brand names . Anyway I'm somewhat shocked at the price I have just paid for two bags if feed. I'm almost certain It wasn't anywhere as dear the last time. So, for a bag of unmollassed chaff and basic high fibre cubes I was £22.49 :eek3: Just had a look at efeed and considering getting a few people at yard together for an order, prices are much cheaper.

I fully expect inflation, but when I got my boy 9 years ago, a bag of happy chaff was about £7 and fibre cubes were about £5! Surely twenty Odd quid is ridiculous for basic chaff and cubes. Might be a sign of the times though with weather etc or perhaps my feed shop are just getting greedy! :(
 
I know exactly what you mean. My oldies cause my purse no end of strain and I really do think, having seen the prices shoot up at my local merchant (I buy branded and own label) that we're having the mickey taken. And I can quite see that it must be contributing to the current welfare problems, feed is probably everyone't highest bill across the year apart from actual livery costs themselves. So perhaps it is about time that the costs started to come down a bit, or at least not go up anymore. Sure the feed companies need to make money, but I really can't help feeling that they are making it at the expense of welfare.
 
Tell me about it . . . I just recently ran out of all four of Kal's primary feeds . . . and had to fork out over £100 to replenish . . . ouch! Add his joint supplement and the Speedibeet to that and we're talking approx £150 . . . and that lot will last him about six weeks (except the SB and linseed).

:(.

P
 
Feed is a ghastly price. I have made considerable savings by shopping online. also we make our own chaff with a modified garden shredder. This has saved us pounds. For example a slice of hay shredded makes enough chaff for two horses for a week. Quite a saving for a bit of effort. Grass nuts cheaper online than locally. Straights are the way to go I think.
 
£9 for fastfibre and about the same for rolled oats every couple of weeks and linseed at £25 for umm... 3/4 months ish?
 
Have you tried allen and page fast fibre? its a complete feed that is molasses free! I love it, all 3 of mine have it! one is 29, one is rising 4 and the other is a 12yr old mini Shetland! I do mix a bit of molasses free hi fi in it, to slow them down but a bag of the fast fibre is £12ish and last 2 weeks for 6 feeds a day (2 being very tiny)! so isn't too bad!!
 
These price hikes aren't confined to horse feeds, the price of grain has risen dramatically over the past few years for a number of reasons.

I can only see things getting more expensive with the dreadful weather we've been having. We had a good summer, but it started too early for the growing season, and both grass and grain crops did not have enough rain for a good start.

Horses need plenty of forage, and you should add other products - hard feeds and supplements – only to balance out shortages in the forage.

Many horses lose weight during winter because they're not fed enough forage. Plenty of moderate to good quality forage supplies good amounts of energy, and also helps keep horses warm because of the way it's fermented in the gut.
 
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kerrieberry2 said:
Have you tried allen and page fast fibre? its a complete feed that is molasses free! I love it, all 3 of mine have it! one is 29, one is rising 4 and the other is a 12yr old mini Shetland! I do mix a bit of molasses free hi fi in it, to slow them down but a bag of the fast fibre is £12ish and last 2 weeks for 6 feeds a day (2 being very tiny)! so isn't too bad!!
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Ha mine does 2 weeks on 2 feeds a day (- feeding RDA for his size and below workload ie for light/med work) so he could have more). I don't think it is a complete feed either, even feeding RDA mine is supplemented vits and mins.
 
Genuine question - do your horses really need all the cereals? ie are they in heavy work at this time of year/ in this weather.
Having almost got to the point of feeding rolled up £5 notes to pony last winter to keep weight on (tried conditioning cube, oats, linseed, etc) - this year I've gone for grass nuts (£6.95 a sack) 2 scoops a day and he looks a million dollars.
OK helped by grass growing all winter in this mild weather - but I could up his intake a lot before it started costing anywhere near the amounts above.

Could savings be made by swapping hay for haylage and using more fiber based feeds that don't have the expensive cereals (speedibeet, grass nuts etc. )
 
I have been using Chestnut Horse Feeds bulk feeding bins this winter - absolutely brilliant and easy - 4 of mine are fed the same - only teh 10hh pony has a mash feed. I buy Alpha Easy and they all look great on it. I just add soaked speedi beet and my linseed and turmeric and I am done. No humping heavy feed bags - all delivered in a wheelie weather and rodent proof bin which is lockable for those on yards. A bin is around £111 (includes delivery) for 170kg and that feeds my lot 2 feeds a day for a month. They all get almost adlib haylage too - I have 2 living out and 3 stabled overnight.
 
I don't feed mixes - I try and stick to straights (and a balancer) and you should see the size of the haynet he gets (stuffed full of good quality hay and haylage) . . . but he still costs me a flipping fortune to feed.

He gets (split between two feeds per day, plus ad lib forage):

ERS Pellets - one scoop
Alfa A Molasses Free - one scoop
Blue Chip Original - 3/4 scoop
Linseed - 1/3 scoop
Bailey's Number 1 (winter only) - half scoop (or Speedibeet)
pure MSM

He isn't fat, nor is he particularly lean (you can JUST feel his ribs), he works at least five days a week and there is still grass in his field.

I hope I feed him smart . . . but I'd love to learn how I can feed him cheaper without compromising condition :).

P
 
Have another look on line for local producers, I use, http://thorogoods.co.uk/ but browsing on the tinernet there are other companies. I saved about £2 -3 on each bag and I haven't had to go and get it. I have used Chestnut feeds as well but didn't like not having the inflexibility of one type of feed but I liked their service.
 
That's an awful lot of different feeds, PolarSkye. I'm not an equine nutritionist and I don't feel qualified to advise what to feed him without knowing the horse, I know what I feed the horses on my yard and all of them are looking good, but on average, at this time of year, they have 9 hours on moderate grass, about 3/4 to a full bale of top quality hay and between 5 and 10 kg of haylage a day.
 
martlin said:
That's an awful lot of different feeds, PolarSkye. I'm not an equine nutritionist and I don't feel qualified to advise what to feed him without knowing the horse, I know what I feed the horses on my yard and all of them are looking good, but on average, at this time of year, they have 9 hours on moderate grass, about 3/4 to a full bale of top quality hay and between 5 and 10 kg of haylage a day.
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PM'ing you :)

P
 
PolarSkye said:
He gets (split between two feeds per day, plus ad lib forage):

ERS Pellets - one scoop
Alfa A Molasses Free - one scoop
Blue Chip Original - 3/4 scoop
Linseed - 1/3 scoop
Bailey's Number 1 (winter only) - half scoop (or Speedibeet)
pure MSM

He isn't fat, nor is he particularly lean (you can JUST feel his ribs), he works at least five days a week and there is still grass in his field.
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That's quite a mixture and they will all be designed to do different things. I'd start with deciding what you actually want to achieve and go from there. You will be doubling up (at least) on lots of things with all of those feeds.

To answer the OP, I only feed micronised linseed and Dengie Healthy Tummy, but the latter seems to go up every time I buy a new bag!
 
HoleyMoley that is pricey, even down here in Surrey where everything is ££££ a massive 20kg bale of hay chop is £6.45 and own brand high fibre also £6.45. One of the brands, think it is Baileys do an 'own brand' called Hi-light - white bag with blue writing - they are much cheaper than the main high fibre cubes.
 
chestnut cob said:
To answer the OP, I only feed micronised linseed and Dengie Healthy Tummy, but the latter seems to go up every time I buy a new bag!
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How much do you pay? I pay £10.15, but am considering going back to using the hi fi molasses free instead.



Linseed I pay £19.99, High fibre cubes £6.10, mollichaff calmer £8.70, all which I think are quite reasonable. With their balancer though I am considering switching this month from topspec lite, to H&P direct - has anyone any thoughts on how the two compare?
 
Puppy said:
How much do you pay? I pay £10.15, but am considering going back to using the hi fi molasses free instead.
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When it is on offer (which is every so often), it's about £9-£10 a bag, but ATM it isn't on offer and it's £13 something. and there is only ONE place in the entire county which sells it, it would seem, so I am stuck paying their prices. I don't much like HiFi, I prefer Healthy Tummy. I like the fact it has Protexin in, and it just seems a better quality feed to me than HiFi. It is more of a feed than just a chaff, IYSWIM.


Linseed I pay £19.99, High fibre cubes £6.10, mollichaff calmer £8.70, all which I think are quite reasonable. With their balancer though I am considering switching this month from topspec lite, to H&P direct - has anyone any thoughts on how the two compare?
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Not sure what I pay for linseed, just whatever Charnwood Milling charge. I don't feed balancers, don't really see the need. Horse has great feed, a lovely coat and bright eye, no skin probs, more than enough (!!!) energy for his work, is putting on plenty of muscle and is sound so I don't bother with supplements.
 
straights = sugar beet/oats/barley ie individual ingredients you mix at home rather than a compound made by a feed company.
 
Do you just run it through the shredder - I think this is a great idea, I need unmolassed chaff and it's very rarely in stock at my local merchant. Hadn't thought of this! Will deffo be giving it a go.
 
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Feed is a ghastly price. I have made considerable savings by shopping online. also we make our own chaff with a modified garden shredder. This has saved us pounds. For example a slice of hay shredded makes enough chaff for two horses for a week. Quite a saving for a bit of effort. Grass nuts cheaper online than locally. Straights are the way to go I think.
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Do you just drop it in the top? I need unmolassed chaff and my local merchant very rarely stocks it, if it's as easy as dropping a slice in the garden shredder I'll deffo give it a go at the weekend when I can get in the garage to get the shredder out.

Sorry everyone messed up my post a bit there - anyone know how to delete a post?
 
RebelRebel said:
HoleyMoley that is pricey, even down here in Surrey where everything is ££££ a massive 20kg bale of hay chop is £6.45 and own brand high fibre also £6.45. One of the brands, think it is Baileys do an 'own brand' called Hi-light - white bag with blue writing - they are much cheaper than the main high fibre cubes.
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Where...just where?????
 
The feed companies want you to buy more bags, fibre is just chopped hay or straw, often a high fibre feed is just treated straw pelleted and bung in molasses in to make it taste nice. Why not just give them extra hay and a nice bit of untreated straw to nibble on? If extra calories are needed, sugar beet, if even more needed, linseed.
I have twelve but I only have 3 types of bagged feed, this means there is less waste and I can buy in bulk knowing that it will all be used.
 
martlin said:
Many people just don't feed enough forage, then they end up buying more and more bucket feed and spending fortune. There is no need to feed expensively, providing that we feed them smart :)
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I agree with this I have cut one of my horses feeds this year and upped the hay and he has kept the weight on and looks fine, still got loads of energy too, I would rather see horses with a constant haynet than loads of hard feed.
 
Mine lives out and is a rising 4 year old doing no work. He has 2 very large haynets daily...plus grass as it's still growing. Then he has 1 scoop Top Chop Lite, 550g Top Spec Balancer, 1/2 cup micronised linseed and required amount of Nettex Gut Balancer. He is looking super on it and his hooves are in great condition etc :)
 
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