Why do so many feed Fast Fibre

Phew!! Thank you touchstone! After doing lots of research I found fast fibre as it seemed so low in calories etc, so would be disappointed to find out it wasn't! Thanks :)
 
tallyho! said:
Nope. It is starch 5%... then a couple of lines down 2.9% SUGAR. Not sugarS. They have divvy'd it up for us. Check website.
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well, no starch is not sugar. it is a completely different molecule, and behaves very differently to sugar, it is stored sugar yes but it doesnt affect insulin levels/osmosis etc. that is like saying oxygen is water because water contains oxygen...
 
Because A&P have a very good marketing dept.

If you want a high fibre feed, what on earth is wrong with grassnuts? Soaked and mixed with dried grass, they do exactly the same job as FF, without any additives and for considerably less money.
 
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Beatrice5 said:
Blimey I have been feeding it as was advised it was suitable for a fatty but now worried he is slightly cresty and footy on stony ground :( Could this be the fast fibre.....?

All he gets is handful ready grass to mop up excess liquid from small green scoop of fast fibre so it's not such a slop.

Apart from that he's on hay / straw mix smalled gauged nets and can pick at our very trashed paddock.

Thought I had it sussed and now worried again :(
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Cresty and footy, have you thought he may be Insulin Resistant?
 
Because I need something to mix in madam's supplements and because I feed so little I was wasting huge amounts of chaff because it was getting mouldy before I could finish the bag, FF being in pellet form keeps a lot better :)

(I don't feed it for fibre, that's what hay and grass is for ;) )
 
Oberon said:
I feed it as it fits in well with my forage analysis and it's sloppy for my old boy to eat safely.

Plus it soaks quickly (5 mins).

It there were more easily available unmolassed hay/straw chaffs, I would be happier.

As it is - if you can't feed molassed or alfalfa - you're choices are limited :(
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Have you had a look at simple systems feeds?
i have my mare on topspec balancer and chaff, but people on my yard and i have before used simple systems, they have lots of unmolassed chops and feeds..x
 
Where I worked changed from hi fi and nuts to simple system. What a pain in the butt!!! POnies looked the same behaved the same and it took extra time to soak make and the only good thing I can see eat!
Why not just feed hay or ha if you want high fibre?
Reading he bag at work of fast fibre you had to add chaff and sugarbeet to it anyway.
 
samlf said:
well, no starch is not sugar. it is a completely different molecule, and behaves very differently to sugar, it is stored sugar yes but it doesnt affect insulin levels/osmosis etc. that is like saying oxygen is water because water contains oxygen...
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Well, you just keep thinking that then my dear!!! :D

For those that realise starch is sugar...Starches are carbohydrates in which 300 to 1000 glucose units join together. It is a polysaccharide which plants use to store energy for later use. Starch forms in grains with an insoluble outer layer which remain in the cell where it is formed until the energy is needed. Then it can be broken down into soluble glucose units. Starches are smaller than cellulose units, and can be more readily used for energy. In animals, the equivalent of starches is glycogen, which can be stored in the muscles or in the liver for later use.

If you have a laminitic, you will realise the significance of not feeding any starch as we all know what it breaks down into - even by saliva, before it reaches the gut!
 
If the feed works for you, great. If not, great. No need to slate something just because you don't get on with it.
 
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I feed fast fibre and get on well with it - however I'm considering going back to chaff because I simply don't trust my YO to soak it properly before feeding. Last time when I came back from a weekend away the remnants left in the feed scoop were much drier than I would consider ok to feed.
 
Tr0uble said:
If the feed works for you, great. If not, great. No need to slate something just because you don't get on with it.
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tallyho! said:
Well, you just keep thinking that then my dear!!! :D

For those that realise starch is sugar...Starches are carbohydrates in which 300 to 1000 glucose units join together. It is a polysaccharide which plants use to store energy for later use. Starch forms in grains with an insoluble outer layer which remain in the cell where it is formed until the energy is needed. Then it can be broken down into soluble glucose units. Starches are smaller than cellulose units, and can be more readily used for energy. In animals, the equivalent of starches is glycogen, which can be stored in the muscles or in the liver for later use.

If you have a laminitic, you will realise the significance of not feeding any starch as we all know what it breaks down into - even by saliva, before it reaches the gut!
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I don't think anyone was slating the feed and I for one am grateful for the knowledge of others on here

so thanks TH:D
 
Maesfen said:
That's what it sounds like!

TBH I've never seen it only read about it on here so am not qualified to speak about it but I would be unhappy paying for that, I'd prefer to buy one bag of beet and a non mollassed chaff then mix my own, would be far better value for money.
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That is exactly the conclusion I came too but thought I was missing something as so many were feeding it
 
I feed it because I can't feed anything with alfalfa in it which most chaffs have. I have to mix my vitamins etc into something and they love this especially when it's mixed with warm water which I've been doing whilst it's been freezing temperatures outside. It also means I don't have to bring it home (like I had to last year with my sugar beet) as it only takes 30 seconds to expand.
 
samlf said:
well, no starch is not sugar. it is a completely different molecule, and behaves very differently to sugar, it is stored sugar yes but it doesnt affect insulin levels/osmosis etc. that is like saying oxygen is water because water contains oxygen...
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Starch is alpha-linked Glucose and is broken down in saliva by amylase. So it might not be glucose in the feed, but once in the mouth it will be.

ETA: Just sen Tally Ho's post! Whoops, he he! I hit quote before reading page 2!
 
dallastheo said:
Have you had a look at simple systems feeds?
i have my mare on topspec balancer and chaff, but people on my yard and i have before used simple systems, they have lots of unmolassed chops and feeds..x
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Simple System is mostly alfalfa and it's awkward for me to get hold of.

I used to travel about 30 miles to get it many years ago.....
 
Well I suppose all horses are different and what suits one wont suit another. Without over analizing it, I feed Fast Fibre and Brewers Yeast to my horse and it has been a turning point. He was always difficult to keep weight on but can also be a stress head and can be pretty intolerant to to much sugar and starch and since being on this I have not had a problem and only the other day I had people compliment me on how well he is. I basically cut out the crap and went back to a basic high fibre diet and its the best thing I ever did.
 
ok - so is Fast Fibre a good thing to feed? I've had no issues on it and i don't feed enough of it to be a money thing (around 1 round scoop a day) but feedback on here isn't exactly sparkling!

My farrier said one of his clients horses has come down with lami - he's an old boy with no teeth but the owner got the impression that you could feed fast fibre ad lib as a hay replacement.....!!!!

It's been marketed as a hay replacer but is the marketing misleading? :confused:
 
Tr0uble said:
If the feed works for you, great. If not, great. No need to slate something just because you don't get on with it.
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I wasn't slating ff, I was actually trying to point out the amount of sugar in it... it can be misleading.

I agree with you - I'm sure lots of people love it and it's convenient.
 
Why is it all so confusing?

I feel as though you need a degree these days to be able to feed your horse. I feed 1/4 scoop FF, half scoop Pure feed easy plus linseed & joint supps twice a day to my 15hh connie mare that had ligament injury last summer.

She is walking & trotting out for 45-60 mins about four times a week at the moment & daily small paddock turnout with hay/haylage, then in at night with approx 5k hay/haylage mix, smallhole net. She is fatter than i would like & gets itchy (i believe with sugar) which is why i chose to feed FF.
I did try Simple feeds last year but she was really itchy on that!

What is the lowest sugar feed?
 
PooJay said:
ok - so is Fast Fibre a good thing to feed? I've had no issues on it and i don't feed enough of it to be a money thing (around 1 round scoop a day) but feedback on here isn't exactly sparkling!

My farrier said one of his clients horses has come down with lami - he's an old boy with no teeth but the owner got the impression that you could feed fast fibre ad lib as a hay replacement.....!!!!

It's been marketed as a hay replacer but is the marketing misleading? :confused:
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I would give it to a horse which did not have metabolic issues but definitely avoid it for a laminitic. There are better products out there for oldies with no teeth. Our oldie (35) at the yard has no teeth and is doing really well with graze on, purina and readigrass. She has cushings too so can't be too careful with sugars.
 
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