Those who feed straw

G

Gift Horse

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Hi
I wonder if anyone can help.
I am struggling to get hold of oat straw, can anyone recommend a UK supplier?
I can get chaff but ideally I want baled straw so that I can mix it with hay in nets and feed ad-lib.

My other option is to leave a trug of straw chaff out, but I imagine they will knock it over and waste it.

How do other people feed it?

Many thanks.
 
Try barley straw. My pony was very obese when I got him and I fed him barley straw as it meant he could have more to eat as it was low calorie. He had a bit of hay too as well as some readi grass and had everything weighed, he was in a bare starvation paddock during the day with his weighed net of straw/hay and his ration of readigrass. He was stabled at night and had a chaff based feed twiced daily. He was also exercised and given chaff prior to being ridden. He never coliced and when gastroscoped in december ( for elimination purposes due to issues following a fall ) he had no ulcers and had had no signs of having had them.
 
Thanks for replying, It sounds like it's hard to get.
It's for my sister's mare she does too well on ad-lib hay, I suggested mixing with straw but my sister is worried about colic. I thought I read somewhere that oat straw is easier for horses to digest.
I have in the past tried (unsuccessfully) to feed barley straw to my gelding he refused to touch it. I thought the oat straw might tempt him. He is a good weight on hay but they share a field 6am-6pm so ideally they need to have the same fodder during the day.
 
I feed barley straw - at the moment as a 50/50 hay mix, but I did feed just straw over the summer. My fatties look wonderful on it, and the little laminitic who was starting to have teeth issues because he wasn't spending enough time eating is doing really well.
 
It's reassuring that other peoples horses do well with a barley straw mix, OH has just told me that one of his customers grows some oats so he's going to ask him for me. Failing that I will get some barley. Unfortunately it's too windy here at the moment to feed chaff in a trug outside, the wind is whipping anything loose away from the yard area, which is our most sheltered spot. I will try this when (if!) the weather settles. Thank you all.
 
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