Tell me about feeding oats

I think there are a few of us feed them they are usable for most types of horse from foals upwards and are easily digested. they used to be pretty much the main grain feed for working horses until mixes and cubes came along.
 
I fed tiger oats - fabulous, now feeding rolled and I much prefer tiger oats. Didn't make my mare silly and also didnt make her foot sore (barefoot)
 
You should have signed up for the free online Equine Nutrition course at Edinburgh University! This week, week 3, was all about Oats, among other things.

Oats provide reasonable energy (about 40% starch) and reasonable fibre if the hull is present (ie if they're not naked oats).

Starch needs to be digested in the small intestine. You don't want starch going through to the large intesting (as will happen if you feed large quantities of starchy food) as in the large intestine it disrupts the microbial balance, leading to increased acidosity which causes the fibre-digesting microbes to die off, leading to toxins in gut, so as well as lack of digestion of starch and fibre, you ultimately/extremely end-up with laminitis and other dodgy conditions you don't want to see in a horse.

Oats have more small intestine digestibility than maize but less than sorghum.

Processing oats improves their digestibility in the small intestine - rolled oats are best for maximal small intestinal digestibility.

1g per kg of live weight is currently recommended starch intake per meal.

So 500g horse = 0.5kg starch per meal which equates to 1.2kg of oats as oats contain 40% starch which on 1.2kg = 0.48kg.
 
I feed soaked whole oats to several of mine, including my son's 14.2 pony. They look and feel really well and lively, but not silly at all. Don't forget you have to balance oats (I feed SB as well). I only feed straights, I don't feed compounds at all.
 
Rowreach said:
I feed soaked whole oats to several of mine, including my son's 14.2 pony. They look and feel really well and lively, but not silly at all. Don't forget you have to balance oats (I feed SB as well). I only feed straights, I don't feed compounds at all.
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This. If hard feed is needed for my Highland ponies, it is whole oats (not soaked) and soaked sugar beet only, no compounds.

(I went along to my local feed store years ago to beg some floor sweeping for feeding to ducks but I was told they had none, they said it all went into the compounds!:().
 
My horses back legs fill on micronised barley which I was attempting to use for weight gain. How do you think he'd tolerant oats? Do you think I'd have the same problem? Are oats good for weight gain?
 
Suechoccy said:
You should have signed up for the free online Equine Nutrition course at Edinburgh University! This week, week 3, was all about Oats, among other things.

Oats provide reasonable energy (about 40% starch) and reasonable fibre if the hull is present (ie if they're not naked oats).

Starch needs to be digested in the small intestine. You don't want starch going through to the large intesting (as will happen if you feed large quantities of starchy food) as in the large intestine it disrupts the microbial balance, leading to increased acidosity which causes the fibre-digesting microbes to die off, leading to toxins in gut, so as well as lack of digestion of starch and fibre, you ultimately/extremely end-up with laminitis and other dodgy conditions you don't want to see in a horse.

Oats have more small intestine digestibility than maize but less than sorghum.

Processing oats improves their digestibility in the small intestine - rolled oats are best for maximal small intestinal digestibility.

1g per kg of live weight is currently recommended starch intake per meal.

So 500g horse = 0.5kg starch per meal which equates to 1.2kg of oats as oats contain 40% starch which on 1.2kg = 0.48kg.
Click to expand...

I am signed up to the course :) I havent been on it this week at all as been preparing for an interview bul i'll catch up this weekend. Thanks everyone x
 
Oats have been the best feed for getting weight on my TB and I tried everything else. Just make sure you have a good vit and min that balances your feeds and I find brewers yeast beneficial.
 
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