Speedi-beet question

[Puppy]

Thanks to the replies to my thread the other day I have started my boy on speedi-beet and he seems to approve I have also been reminded how strangely satisfying feeding sugar beet is

I was wondering though, those of you who feed it, how much do you tend to feed in one meal? And in total per day. It does seem to swell up A LOT!

 

[biggingerpony]

During winter when she needs the weight I feed to small scoops with each feed (morning and night)

 

[4x4]

A well known feed company helpline told me to limit the sugar beet to less than a scoop per feed as it would make the feed to bulky. Do thy just want to sell more of their product - I have always fed minimum of 1 scoop (soaked) per horse per feed, but I am not a nutritionist.

 

[Lotty]

I use a 1 x baby's beaker and some hot water She only gets a littleas she's such a good doer and I dont want any more weight on her. I was actually thinking about changing to fast fibre as this seems to be more for good doers.

 

[lcharles]

Mine has two level scoops (dry) in his meal is he not meant to have this much then?! x

He's fine on it and only has feed in the evening, he has this with a scoop of conditioning mix! x

It does seem to swell up ALOT though, i agree!! x

 

[Puppy]

During winter when she needs the weight I feed to small scoops with each feed (morning and night)

How much is that though? Dry or soaked?

ETS - you're all saying 'scoops' - I have no idea what size scoops you are all talking about Can anyone be more specific in weight?

ie. At the mo my boy is having 200gm, dry weight, per feed, twice a day.

 

[Puppy]

Mine has two level scoops (dry) in his meal is he not meant to have this much then?! x

He's fine on it and only has feed in the evening, he has this with a scoop of conditioning mix! x

It does seem to swell up ALOT though, i agree!! x

Blimey, surely you don't mean the stubbs sized scoops do you?

 

[nixxyz]

i feed my skinny wb a level dry scoup in every feed, which is about 500g dry weight ( its not a stubbs scoup) twice a day. seems to be working for her so al keep at it

 

[Jade&Syrah]

My thoroughbred has a big rectangle scoop of soaked speedibeet twice a day, and my arab has a handful of soaked speedibeet twice a day

 

[biggingerpony]

Sorry should have made it more clear! Two wet scoops, I make up a batch that lasts me a couple of days in a bucket!

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=ho...&tbnw=156&start=0&ndsp=71&ved=1t:429,r:24,s:0

The smaller scoop is the scoop I use, hope that makes it a bit more clear!

 

[criso]

My tb gets just under half a stubbs scoop dry split between 2 feeds but he also gets about a third of the same scoop of Copra so it's not his only feed.

 

[Puppy]

i feed my skinny wb a level dry scoup in every feed, which is about 500g dry weight ( its not a stubbs scoup) twice a day. seems to be working for her so al keep at it

Ah, ok, thanks Do you have much else in the feed?

I am trying to keep my boy's feeds as fibre based as possible (but for his balancer and a bit of linseed) so he is mostly on speedibeet and Alafa A now, but then I worry as they start looking so big

 

[Puppy]

Sorry should have made it more clear! Two wet scoops, I make up a batch that lasts me a couple of days in a bucket!

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=ho...&tbnw=156&start=0&ndsp=71&ved=1t:429,r:24,s:0

The smaller scoop is the scoop I use, hope that makes it a bit more clear!

Ah, yes, gottcha may I ask, what else and how much more, do you feed with it?

 

[biggingerpony]

I feed two big handfuls of chaff and a small scoop and a half of veteran mix, along with all her supplements!

 

[4x4]

Total meal should be no bigger than a rugby ball!

 

[measles]

It does swell more than you might expect and so I always leave it 2-3 hours and not 15-20 or whatever it says on the bag.

 

[wallykissmas]

I make up a stubbs scoops worth then add 5 times as much water. He then gets 3 mugs worth in each feed twice a day. It does say on the bag that you can reduce the water to 4 times as much- purabeet.

 

[Kaylum]

Total meal should be no bigger than a rugby ball!

^^^^ This. Your wasting your money feeding anything bigger as horses are grazing animals. They arent made for big feeds. 3 small feeds are much better than big feeds.

 

[Puppy]

It does swell more than you might expect and so I always leave it 2-3 hours and not 15-20 or whatever it says on the bag.

Yes, I'd noticed this! Mine is soaked for a minimum of 2-3 hours too, and it certainly looks different compared to only ten minutes of soaking.

 

[Puppy]

^^^^ This. Your wasting your money feeding anything bigger as horses are grazing animals. They arent made for big feeds. 3 small feeds are much better than big feeds.

Erm, yes, I'm aware of that, hence why I'm asking the question.

I am only feeding 200gms at a time, and it swells up so much I can't see much room for adding other feed - ie his balancer and linseed.

Just trying to work out a good balance as there's no way that I can do feeding x3 a day.

 

[ihatework]

I'm probably going to say what you/others already know but bear with me ....

The digestion of fibre (so speedibeet, alfa, hay etc) in horses is done differently to the digestion of straights/starch based feed.

We've all been taught at somepoint about limiting the volume of a horses hard feed, right? Well by this, it is more geared to straight/mix/cube type feeds. If feeding those really you would want to keep the quantity to 1 stubbs scoop per feed (so approx 1.5kg give or take). Increasing the number of feeds to meet the total daily intake as required.

If looking to add a short fibre to these compound feeds (ie SB/chaff etc) then you will increase the bulk fed. Not a massive problem but you do risk the horse not utilising the compound feed in the best possible way. If feeding this type of combo then I'd stick to an absolute maximum of 1 stubbs compound, 1 stubbs soaked SB, 1 stubbs chaff per feed but even this does provide quite a quantity and would be better avoided.

Now if you are going down the pure fibre route and intending to feed SB & Chaff only (with perhaps a balancer/oil etc added in) then quantity becomes less of an issue in relation to feed utilisation. The horse will just pick their way through it eventually. What it does do however is become more of a logistical issue (think time spent waiting in the morning to feed/ride etc).

I think if you can get it to fit with your routine then alongside adlib long fibre, give the bulk of what you wish to feed short fibre wise in the evening at bed time (horse can then pick its way through over night) and give smaller feeds brekkie/lunch and incorporate any balancer/compound ration you wish to use in those.

Just my thoughts

 

[patchandloopy]

I would make up half a (water) bucket for my horse, which would only be about 2 scoops (roughly 1kg) of dry speedi beet, then he would get only one scoop split into 2 feeds. I would make the SB up a day in advance and make it last for morning and night - possible another morning too, then it will always have a bit longer to expand.

My TB would have 2 meals a day of good quality feeds, I am astonished that I am the only one on my yard who feeds 2 meals. The size of the feeds other horses get is incredible and I am suprised they havent had colic before now! To get an idea, what my horse would consume in 3 days is about what they get in one meal. I dont have many gripes at my yard but that is one of them!!

 

[TGM]

Basically was going to summarise what IHW said so eloquently! If you are feeding cereal-based feeds you have to be careful about the overall size of the feed, otherwise the cereal starch can be pushed into the hindgut before it is properly digested.

However, this is not a concern if the feed is all fibre and no cereal - similar to the way we don't worry about giving too big a haynet.

 

[biggingerpony]

I would ideally like to split Rosies feed into 3 meals in the day, but as I'm at uni and she is a 10minute drive away, its just not feasible! Would you say that I am feeding too much? tbh I do not know to much about feed, but adjust over the seasons as she is a very poor doer. I am just feeding what my friend advised really!

 

[Puppy]

I'm probably going to say what you/others already know but bear with me ....

The digestion of fibre (so speedibeet, alfa, hay etc) in horses is done differently to the digestion of straights/starch based feed.

We've all been taught at somepoint about limiting the volume of a horses hard feed, right? Well by this, it is more geared to straight/mix/cube type feeds. If feeding those really you would want to keep the quantity to 1 stubbs scoop per feed (so approx 1.5kg give or take). Increasing the number of feeds to meet the total daily intake as required.

If looking to add a short fibre to these compound feeds (ie SB/chaff etc) then you will increase the bulk fed. Not a massive problem but you do risk the horse not utilising the compound feed in the best possible way. If feeding this type of combo then I'd stick to an absolute maximum of 1 stubbs compound, 1 stubbs soaked SB, 1 stubbs chaff per feed but even this does provide quite a quantity and would be better avoided.

Now if you are going down the pure fibre route and intending to feed SB & Chaff only (with perhaps a balancer/oil etc added in) then quantity becomes less of an issue in relation to feed utilisation. The horse will just pick their way through it eventually. What it does do however is become more of a logistical issue (think time spent waiting in the morning to feed/ride etc).

I think if you can get it to fit with your routine then alongside adlib long fibre, give the bulk of what you wish to feed short fibre wise in the evening at bed time (horse can then pick its way through over night) and give smaller feeds brekkie/lunch and incorporate any balancer/compound ration you wish to use in those.

Just my thoughts

Thank you IHW That's a really helpful reply and has really helped clarify what I've been worrying over.

He isn't on compound feeds as such, and that's exactly what I'm trying to avoid. He is however on a balancer and some micronised linseed (which has been magical at putting some weight on him).

At the moment I tend to give him is first feed of his balancer (500gm) and linseed (450gm) with some alfa a molasses free and a bit of speedi-beet. Then in his later feed I give him more alfa a and speedi-beet with a few carrots thrown in. I guess I shall continue to do this but maybe shift some more of the earlier feed's alfa and speedi-beet to the evening. Incidentally, how much do you think is a reasonable amount for a fibre only bucket feed?

He has ab lib haylage in his hay hutch at all times too, and he gets through a fair amount.

He is only 4 1/2 and is new to me (since the beginning Oct). He's not a bad doer but dropped a little condition from the change of environment and also I think as he is having a growth spurt/filling out. I've got him up to weight now, but he's been having a lazy time whilst I've been busy with uni, and now it's the hols I want to put him to work. I just want to make sure that he doesn't start to drop weight when I do so.

 

[Puppy]

Basically was going to summarise what IHW said so eloquently! If you are feeding cereal-based feeds you have to be careful about the overall size of the feed, otherwise the cereal starch can be pushed into the hindgut before it is properly digested.

However, this is not a concern if the feed is all fibre and no cereal - similar to the way we don't worry about giving too big a haynet.

I was hoping you'd reply

I don't think that he is struggling to digest his balancer & linseed, but shall reduce the chaff and beet pulp in that first feed just to be sure. His droppings all look like he's doing fine and not pushing stuff through undigested.

Re. the evening feed of fibre, am I allowed to add a few carrots to it?

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

 

[ihatework]

Sounds like you are doing just fine Puppy.
In terms of quantity of alfa/SB really depends on how much he'll eat, his weight and the size of your wallet. It wouldn't be unreasonable to give 3-5 scoops per night although that does give a fair amount of protein.

Given he is on adlib haylage though, feeding lots of branded stuff like the alfa molassess free really does get quite spendy and I'd question if really necessary! Personally I'd substitute part with one of the high oil suppliments if he starts to drop off with work (badminton triple top up or similar)

 

[Toast]

i feed about half a stubbs scoop of soaked speedibeet per feed

 

[Hippona]

I make a bucket full up in advance and use it over several days for 3 horses.

I feed it this time of year when they are having mainly dry-matter ( hay in stable and paddock) ...probably about half a scoop twice a day(soaked amount). I don't feed 'hard feed'.... just chaff along side this.....you can actually feed large amounts of fibre, much more than if feeding mixes etc. Mine eat theirs overnight alongside their haynets.

 

[M_G]

The big fella gets a Stubbs scoop of soaked sugar beet, scoop of soaked grass nuts, mixed with scoop & 1/2 alfalfa & a deprecate bowl with ss cob nuts soaked 1/2 a scoop These are left in his stable overnight and he picks between it and hay. By morning feed is all gone & a small ammount of hay remains :0) breakfast is hay in the field