Soaked oats - important question

[K9Wendy]

Tried it once over the summer, easy to do and horse loved it but one problem. Dung was full of oats!! So therefore I assume oats were going straight through and couldn't possibly have any nutritional value (if not digested). She wasn't on a huge amount of them, as she was on good grass at the time.

So my dilema, I read so much about how good a diet it is, and having been through the routine know it is not difficult. But I am concerned about the oats in dung. I am going to buy feed tomorrow, currently she is on Bailey's conditioning mix, sugar beet & readigrass, however was thinking of giving oats a go again. My questions are..

Oats in dung, has it happened to your horse?
Would soaked oats diets work using crushed oats instead of whole?

Sorry for long post, thanks..

 

[Fiona]

S**t wendy - you've got my horse. This happens to ben too. I did ask Forrest a couple of weeks ago, but didn't get an answer. Maybe you should PM her (or PF). If you get an answer will you let me know.
Ben is on 1/2 mix and 1/2 soaked oats at the moment, but would like to be on all oats if I knew that the oats in droppings wasn't a problem. It is only a few though.

Fiona

 

[LEC]

I soak for 24 hours and have had my horse on it for 2 weeks certainly have not had this problem, I have been checking quite carefully as when i test the oats out of the bucket some are still hardish so was wondering if 24 hours was enough.

 

[S_N]

I have been feeding this diet for a good 2 months now and I have never seen any oats in either B or Hector's dung. I soaked for 24hrs and when I soak I stir the oats into the water a bit, as I found that otherwise some sit on top of the water and don't soak. I can only go by my own experiences, but I won't be changing from this diet ever - they are both looking better than they ever have, they are calm, it's cheap and most importantly they LOVE it!!

 

[K9Wendy]

Fiona, it did concern me a bit so I stopped feeding them when bag was done. I used Redmills whole oats, I imagine similar to what others are using. I know Ben is much older than Bee and being an older horse my main thought would be worn teeth, ie not crushing them enough before swollowing, but Bee is only 5 has her teeth done every 6 months and has no problems as far as I know. Only thing I can say is she tends to bolt her food, does Ben do that?

I worried that there would be oats growing on the muck heap!

I soaked them for 24hrs and this was during summer when feedroom isn't as cold, and like SN I stirred them as they did float a bit!

I'd really love to hear from others who have seen oats in dung, and should I be concerned?

 

[S_N]

I can def. understand your concern. I was keeping an eagle eye on their droppings for ages! I was REALLY genuinely suprised not to see ANY oats at all - afterall, it is usual to see them when feeding regular oats, hence why many gardeners prefer caw muck to oat feed horse muck, as they get oats round their roses!

Soaking anything other than whole oats would defeat the object entirely, as with an open oat, a lot of the goodness will have been lost into the water that is drained off. Also I presume that with a damaged husk, it may not turn into such a viable live enzyme when soaked.

I don't buy any particular make of oats, just locally grown, unbranded ones.

I really don't know what to suggest. Have you the fact sheet? You must have - try contacting Ellen Collinson, she's lovely and VERY helpful. I contacted her about the diet as I was concerned about feeding it to Hector, as he is a foal and the Ca/P balance.

 

[PapaFrita]

Hi Wendy.
I've not seen any oats at all in PF's poo at all and I used to all the time when she had dry oats. Soaking is supposed to open the husks, so presumably, even if the husks get through neddy, the insidey bits (sorry for the technical jargon!

) should be digested? Also, I only soak for 12 hours or so, as it's so hot at the mo and last year they started to smell a bit like home brew (the boys tend to forget them in the sun!) if I left them any longer.
I agree with SN that you should contact Ellen Collinson.

 

[K9Wendy]

Would it be possible that I am not soaking the oats long enough? As Lec mentions some of the oats were still very hard, and I don't think had changed shape much (weren't plumper if you know what I mean). Certainly most oats were not open as you mention PF.. It wasn't just husks going through but whole oats as they were fed! I was amazing, first time I really have been able to identify Bee's poo's when on poo picking duty LOL..

I will contact Ellen, see what she says and get back to you.

Thanks, W

 

[Ginn]

Have been having the exact same problem with Tilly. Soak my oats for around 12 hours so Im thinking that maybe this isn't long enough? Also, how long do you leave yours drain for as my seive broke and so Im just draining them and then adding them to the feed as I haven't replaced my seive yet!

 

[S_N]

Just had a thought - do you (did you) find that you had more oats after soaking? I soak 1 and a 1/4 stubbs scoops and this gives me 2 1/2 scoops when soaked....

 

[vicm2509]

I have had Baron on it for quite a few months now and have found that if the oats are not soaked for long enough you will see them in his poo.

I have added sugarbeet to his soaked oats and alfa now the winter is here so I soak them both for 24 hours and there are none in his poo at all. However in the summer he was on one feed a day and sometimes I would soak it in the morning and give it to him at night which is when I noticed them in his poo.

May I also add that I have found the soaked oats diet brilliant, I was spending a fortune on conditioning mixes etc before I tried this and if you keep at it for a few months you really will see how good it is.

 

[K9Wendy]

Yes seemed to be bigger volume of oats after soaking but not double, if you know what I mean, certainly not the way sugarbeet swells up anyway.

I am trying to think back, I used two old cornucresine hoof supplement buckets with lids. The fist night I started the diet I put dry oats into one bucket, added water, the next night I drained this, put lid on and left it to feed the following night.

So each night there would be two buckets there, one that had been soaked and left, one still with water in it, so one was drained and left for next night and new one made up and the one that had been standing was feed that night.

That sounds complicated but it was easy to do. So at any feed the oats had definately been soaked for 24hrs, then stood 24hrs then feed, if that makes sense.

 

[Tia]

I feed soaked oats to all of my horses and no oats in any of their dung. I soak for 24 hours in a massive tub - I also put in fibre pellets, coarse mix and sunflower seeds - all are soaked together. I stir them all around and 24 hours later I have a giant tub of feed with no water to drain off. All the oats get big and fat and juicy and they are soft. The pellets soak up the excess water but when I feed them they are all still wet, not dry.

Not sure whether this is part of what you are supposed to do (not drain I mean) but it works for my guys.

 

[sleepingdragon10]

Do you feed Cloud this way Tia?(she's an ex-laminitic isn't she?)

Bethxx

 

[fizz-tally]

can someone pm me info on this diet & what the benefits are please

 

[Tia]

Yes. Cloud is fed the same as everyone else here. I do use a little bit of coarse mix aswell but it is only a 10% protein and very low sugar one. She's great on this diet - looking lovely - in fact she is totally blooming. Her baby is due around the 7th April and she has had no hiccups at all.

I used the same diet last winter for them all and they all looked terrific.

 

[S_N]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes seemed to be bigger volume of oats after soaking but not double, if you know what I mean, certainly not the way sugarbeet swells up anyway.

I am trying to think back, I used two old cornucresine hoof supplement buckets with lids. The fist night I started the diet I put dry oats into one bucket, added water, the next night I drained this, put lid on and left it to feed the following night.

So each night there would be two buckets there, one that had been soaked and left, one still with water in it, so one was drained and left for next night and new one made up and the one that had been standing was feed that night.

That sounds complicated but it was easy to do. So at any feed the oats had definately been soaked for 24hrs, then stood 24hrs then feed, if that makes sense.

[/ QUOTE ]

IMO I think that this is where your problem lies - the oats are dry by the time you feed them - well drier than if fed on the same day as drained!

I soak mine in an old supplement bucket with a lid. I drain them into a scoop with hole drilled through the bottom, over a smaller old supplement bucket (this is gonna change, am going to us one bucket inside another, with smaller inner bucket with holes in the bottom, and then drain over another bucket) I add them to the feed about 10 to 15mins after draining - sometime more, sometimes less. I know that others who feed this diet also do so in a similar fashion.

 

[severnmiles]

[ QUOTE ]
I have been feeding this diet for a good 2 months now and I have never seen any oats in either B or Hector's dung. I soaked for 24hrs and when I soak I stir the oats into the water a bit, as I found that otherwise some sit on top of the water and don't soak. I can only go by my own experiences, but I won't be changing from this diet ever - they are both looking better than they ever have, they are calm, it's cheap and most importantly they LOVE it!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Also H will grow steadily and like a weed on it if he's anything like Rhi! I won't be changing either.

 

[S_N]

[ QUOTE ]
Also H will grow steadily and like a weed on it if he's anything like Rhi! I won't be changing either.

[/ QUOTE ]

If steadily then he will DEFINITELY be about 23hh at maturity

He is just a solid mass of muscle - NOTHING wobbles on him AT ALL!!!

What exactly do you feed to your babies/mums to be etc..... Canna remember if you've got anything in-foal for next year or not

Sorry.