Sugarbeet question

[Montyforever]

When i had my old welsh a i used to feed sugarbeet. But it wasnt worth it in the end because he only had a tiny bit.

Last winter Honey needed lots of feed Alot more than you would expect a native x to need to keep weight!

So i was contemplating feeding spedi-beet again. So could i cut down on the amount of chaff she gets if i give her speedibeet?

Last winter she was having 3 scoops of cherry chaff, 1 scoop of nuts and oil, split into 2 feeds daily. And about 10lb of hay daily.

Sorry getting a bit panicy about winter costs now

 

[martlin]

Yes, you could partially replace chaff with sugarbeet.

 

[schneeko]

Yh you could cut down the chaff I think. And sugar-beet is a good way to get some energy and weight on a horse or pony so that sounds like a good idea

 

[ThePony]

I would consider reducing your chaff. Also, if you are after extra calories, why don't you change your cherry chaff (am assuming you mean mollichaff showshine as that is cherry flavoured?) to dengie alpha a? The mollichaff has 9.5mj/kg (and a scary 12% sugar!), while the alpha a has 12.5mj/kg. So if you are concered about maintaining her weight the alpha a might be worth a try as you can feed less without her loosing out on cals?

 

[thatsmygirl]

I would also consider changing the chaff, it's full off sugar and not the best quality at all. I would also swap to alfa a which is good quality and that might be all you need to change. Horse/pony nuts aren't ment to add condition either so I would take it as you see her. If you need to change them why not a condition nut? This is totally off top off my head cause I don't know pony/work load etc etc.

 

[Montyforever]

Yup was thinking of changing the chaff as theres no supplements to hide this year .. was getting rather expensive buying apple juice for her everyday just to get her calmer into her! But luckily she doesnt need it now, alpha a's a good idea

Will look into prices next time i go feed shopping!

 

[Brandy]

I would definitately cut the chaff down and replace with a condtioning cube or mix if you need to keep weight on. I wold also consider feeding a good balancer such as blue chip. Yes I know its expensive but if your pony is anythng like my horse, the amount of other feed you need to give when feeding blue chip, reduces.

Was the pony rugged? Sounds silly i know if she is a native tyoe but they will use an awful lot of energy keeping warm and by rugging you will find that the food you feed will be more put towards weight rather then warmth if that makes sense!

 

[Montyforever]

I would definitately cut the chaff down and replace with a condtioning cube or mix if you need to keep weight on. I wold also consider feeding a good balancer such as blue chip. Yes I know its expensive but if your pony is anythng like my horse, the amount of other feed you need to give when feeding blue chip, reduces.

Was the pony rugged? Sounds silly i know if she is a native tyoe but they will use an awful lot of energy keeping warm and by rugging you will find that the food you feed will be more put towards weight rather then warmth if that makes sense!

Yup, shes spoilt rotten, but before she came to me last summer she was underweight and was out 24/7 rugless as a broodmare

 

[Kub]

Montyforever - I have a question and don't want to highjack but you may be able to answer it...

Should you only feed speedi-beat to put weight on horses? I only ask as I feed my 3 year old cob this (only a small bit like you did) and he's a good weight now but still growing, but wondering if I should still be feeding it?

 

[martlin]

It's a good source of fibre, whether for a good doer or to put weight on, so yes, you can still feed it.

 

[JenHunt]

I feed speedi-beet adlib in the winter - they get a bucket full (yes, Full) beside their orderinary feed, and left in over night. The first night or two they pig out, but after that I usually find that they've eaten most of it but not licked the bucket clean, as well as eating 3 or 4 slices of good haylage over night. Keeps the weight on brilliantly!

if you do this, then there's no need to reduce the chaff (tho you can if you want to), so there's less risk of them bolting the hard feed. The more fibre the better tho, and it helps keep them warm, round and sane.

 

[TGM]

The mollichaff has 9.5mj/kg (and a scary 12% sugar!), while the alpha a has 12.5mj/kg. So if you are concered about maintaining her weight the alpha a might be worth a try as you can feed less without her loosing out on cals?

Just to clarify, as there are several products in the Alfa A range, it is Alfa A OIL which is the highest in calories at 12.5 MJDE/kg. Alfa A Original has 10 MJDE/kg whilst Alfa A Lite has 9 MJDE/kg.