Talk to me about starch in feed

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sonjafoers

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I have spent a long time now trying to find a low sugar/starch feed that suits one of my horses and I seem to be going round & round in circles. After the latest episode of going off her feed and me being awake in the night worrying about what I can try next ( yes I'm sad ) it struck me that if I ignored starch levels I could find something she'd eat. I think I'm looking for low starch for hoof nutrition but there must be more to it than that although I've actually no idea why I decided to worry about starch levels in the 1st place.

So..... if a horse doesn't get fizzed up on a feed with 20% ish starch is it actually doing any harm? If so what?

Feel free to word it in numpty terms for me :o
 
Have you had any issues with lami or IR? Or behavior problems with excess starch Or any problems with barefoot?

If not, then feeding what suits your horse should be fine? As an aside have you tried adding unmolassed sugar beet? That often encourages fussy eaters.

Also, mine love spillers high fibre cubes, have you tried those?

What ave you tried that your horse doesn't like?
 
I have a similar problem with one of mine - recently gone barefoot and I'm struggling to find something she will eat. I'm currently feeding a new one by Rowan Barbary called Solutions Mash. But tonight she decided to stop eating that too! The only other thing I can think of and that I know she will definitely eat, is Spillers High Fibre cubes....but I'm also starting to wonder the same as you - if the horse isn't affected by a higher starch diet, then does it really matter?
 
Hi ApacheWarlord, I can give you a massive list of what we have tried but I'd probably get repetitive strain in the process!

She doesn't like short chop type meals, so the balancer/alfa/chaff route doesn't work. I've tried adding speedibeet to this but she still won't eat it. Although contrary to what I've just said we had a short spell of doing well on Winergy Equilibrium Condition last year so I'm just trying her on it again but now she's picking the pellets out & leaving the chaffy bits.

She gets very bored of things after a few weeks & doesn't hold her weight in winter, she's also reasonably underdeveloped and having to chop & change feed regularly to keep her interest doesn't help this.

I don't think Spillers High Fibre Cubes would be calorific enough to maintain her weight in winter as she will only eat about half a stubbs scoop of cubes in any one sitting, she is very easily overfaced by a big meal and will just leave it.

She used to do well on Baileys Endurance Mix and loved it but I took her off it when I realised it had about 22% starch in it. At the time this % worried me but thinking about it now I don't know why it worried me - maybe I'm just jumping on the low sugar/starch bandwagon without really understanding why.

She's never had lami & my farrier is pleased with her horn quality at present but she had week feet & underrun heels in the past & I can't remember if this coincided with the Baileys Mix.

She is generally a fizzy girl but was no worse on the Endurance Mix.
 
HollyHocks I've just tried a sample of SolutionMash - cue lots of snorting, blowing, lip curling & general horror at what I'd put in her bowl.

That's a no to that then :rolleyes:
 
Hi, ive had to become a bit of a pro on starch, our elderly mare was tying up and went off her feed. She was being fed Allen & Page weight gain, and I found out it was about 49% starch!!!
I called them and they recommended Fast Fibre which is about 7% starch.
But we decided to go with Winergy senior as it was even lower in starch. After only two days she's been walking alot better and seems a lot more happier, she could barley move before.

I also have a very scatty arab x gelding and I have to really watch what he has, he's been on Winergy condition and has dengi light, and that's kept him sane enough for the past couple of years.

I didn't realise starch could cause so many problems.

Id try Winergy feeds as they are very good and they seem to like them.
 
I feed L mix which is 3.75 % starch and also feed fast fibre. L mix which is cereal/molasses free and all mine love it, great for good doers
 
Have you tried CoolCondition Cubes?

I have yet to use them but they sound good...
Combined sugar and starch is under 10%
They are made to a vegetarian formulation (some feeds aren't)
They have a DE level of 12.5 so should provide adequate energy for most types.
 
I've not tried it thatsmygirl but team barney I have used the TopSpec cool condition cubes on a regular basis - we can normally eat these for a good 6 weeks before going off them & they work well during that time!

Thanks for the suggestions guys but I'm interested in what problems starch causes if a horse isn't fizzed up by a certain feed. I'd like to know what problems it may cause even if there are no visible signs of it causing a problem.

I'm just trying to work out whether I was right to be worried by a 22% starch mix even though she seemed to be doing well on it.
 
Pure Condition is 7% starch and comes as either pellets or chop. My geegees have done really well on it over winter.

It's best to buy it in bulk though when they have a promotion on. They deliver it to your door.
 
sonjafoers said:
HollyHocks I've just tried a sample of SolutionMash - cue lots of snorting, blowing, lip curling & general horror at what I'd put in her bowl.

That's a no to that then :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I wouldn't mind, but I got her through half a bag and because it takes my local feed shop soooo long to get anything in stock that isn't on their regular list I already ordered another bag of it! I'll have to try and palm yet another bag of feed off onto one of the other liveries!
 
i needed lower starch as my mare was being spooky and quite silly. I went into it big style and was awake at night worrying about it too. I put her on winergy senior which is about 3% but tbh, it was working out really expensive and that was after giving her less than they advised. I would have kept it going as i saw a difference very quickly but i .was speaking to the top spec rep at a show and said i was looking for a joint sup as she was getting a bit stiff. anyway long story short, decided to try her on cool condition cubes and the senior balancer, she also gets speedi beet and her veg and wolfs it down. spot on, have been using it for about 3 years now and she is looking great and behaves great.
 
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