An observation re: "soaked feed"

[pintopiaffe]

I have been lugging water for a month now. (yeah, it's getting old. :rolleyes: ) So I've become intimately acquainted with just how much my herd drinks in 24hrs.

Just last week I finally figured out (duh) how to do beet pulp again. I was quite pleased to go back to the ~2lbs dry weight per horse/per day, soaked meal. It *pleases me* to be feeding a warm meal at 0300 on the coldest of days...

IMMEDIATELY I noticed a reduction in the amount of water drank from the tub. Cut by almost 1/2. This has continued, and stayed consistent, for a week, through varying temperatures (so it's not the super-cold-not-drinking )

I find this a little perplexing. I've fed a 'wet' meal for years now, thinking "I'm getting extra water into them" and being quite proud of myself. When, in essence, they are getting the same amount of water... they're either DRINKING it, or eating it in their food, apparently.

I guess I always thought I was 'sneaking' *extra* water into them in a wet meal. It appears that is NOT the case...

Whaddya think? :confused:

[Jacobi]

http://www.shady-acres.com/susan/beetpulp.shtml

Specifically the paragraph:

Concerns about beet pulp "pulling water from the blood and into the stomach and causing dehydration" are also unfounded. Regardless of the type of feed, horses will generally drink approximately 3 to 4 liters of water for every kilogram of dry matter consumed (dry matter is what's left over in a feed after its own moisture content is disallowed). Assuming free access to clean, fresh water, horses will voluntarily consume enough water to adequately process any amount of beet pulp consumed. If soaked beet pulp is provided, drinking will be proportionately less as the moisture content of the soaked pulp supplies considerable water. In either case, it is unlikely that fluid shifts from blood plasma to the interior of the gastrointestinal tract will be significantly different from those occurring with any other type of feed with similar moisture content.

[pintopiaffe]

HMmmm...

I always knew that beep did not 'draw' water as many people think...

But still... I also always thought that "a nice warm, WET mash" was extra 'insurance' against a horse not drinking as much.

I really have been surprized by this... though I happily admit, it's made the water delivery routine easier.

[LarkspurCO]

Pinto, I think what you're saying makes sense. Water is water. Now, if you added salt to that mixture, maybe that would make them drink more.

The only time I've given much thought to this is when a horse was colicky and the vet had me feed him a sloppy mash to get some water in him. He might not have drank of his own accord, but he was hungry so we took advantage of that.

[Kolsch]

I've seen the same effect as well. Soaked concentrates plus soaked hay= greatly reduced water consumption. Its scary how little they now drink. I added salt to their rations which did increase it a little, provide warm water, and still...very little. I also have one that prefers to eat snow- the moment snow is on the ground water consumption drops markedly.

[JB]

Water IS drawn into the hindgut to help keep food lubricated and moving along. That is why lack of sufficient water intake leads to impaction colics - things start sticking.

But, if people are concerned that dry bp is drawing too much water into the gut for digestion, what the heck do they think 20lb of hay is doing? :confused: ;)

[Auventera Two]

I feed 1/2 oz. of salt every night with the soaked beet pulp to help keep them drinking through the winter. I figure they're eating SO much dry hay, and no grass with natural water, that I want as much water going into them as possible. Even with all the soaked beet pulp, they still drink as much water as always. 1/2 oz. of salt isn't a lot, but its enough to keep them drinking. We've always done it this way and never had a colic.

My 3 are also snow eaters but they seem to like it more like a "treat" than to get their water from it.

[Woodland]

I do this ALL THE TIME when the weather is frigid like it is here in the mid west right now. I soak grain, beet pulp, bran, hay cubes, anything they will readily eat in addition to providing plenty of fresh clean water. WOW what a difference. A thirsty horse is a dead horse in weather like this!

If you are lugging water through the snow here is what I have done in the past to provide a full trough "long distance" I take a long flat plastic kids sled - the kind that is like a tray with a rim around it. I put a rubber maid tub on the sled and fill it with water. Snap on the lid and pull it to where the horses need it. I pull of the lid Instant full trough -I leave it on the sled and head to work. I can move huge quantities easily! The snow path gets slick after a few passes and it slides easily!

I also make beetcikles in these by spraying with PAM and filling it 1/4 with beet pulp adding water to fill and stir well. Let it set out side over night. Pull to pasture turn it out of the rubber maid container on to the ground and let them have at it - it will take them all day and they LOVE IT! I usually dump a bag or two of carrots for extra fun into the mix before it freezes solid.

[pines4equines]

Woodland: So creative! Love the beeticles!

I have noticed if you feed a bran mash (I know, I know) that is slightly drier, sort of the consistency of hamburger. You'll get the horses drinking extra water because it is like eating popcorn. You have to have something to drink with it. And, if you pop a smidge of salt in it, they will go after the water pretty well.

Thanks for the insight Pintopiaffe. I, too, am discovering all sorts of little things like yours and always wonder if others are interested. I will share my next discovery!

[MikeP]

Wow! This thread makes me glad that I (and my horses) live in a climate where they can always get water from a pond.

Hauling water through the snow, soaking feed, etc., would certainly throw cold water on my enthusiasm for this-here horse business!

[manyspots]

Beetcickles sounds awesome! What kind of bucket do you use to make it????

[GallopHer]

I get MY "warm and fuzzy" feeling from feeding soaked beet pulp by knowing that even if the horse is choosing to drink less water in the winter, at least some of his food is going INTO him wet. Hopefully, this wet food will help offset the potential for impaction colic, should he choose not to drink as much in the colder months.

[Auventera Two]

I do this ALL THE TIME when the weather is frigid like it is here in the mid west right now. I soak grain, beet pulp, bran, hay cubes, anything they will readily eat in addition to providing plenty of fresh clean water. WOW what a difference. A thirsty horse is a dead horse in weather like this!

If you are lugging water through the snow here is what I have done in the past to provide a full trough "long distance" I take a long flat plastic kids sled - the kind that is like a tray with a rim around it. I put a rubber maid tub on the sled and fill it with water. Snap on the lid and pull it to where the horses need it. I pull of the lid Instant full trough -I leave it on the sled and head to work. I can move huge quantities easily! The snow path gets slick after a few passes and it slides easily!

I also make beetcikles in these by spraying with PAM and filling it 1/4 with beet pulp adding water to fill and stir well. Let it set out side over night. Pull to pasture turn it out of the rubber maid container on to the ground and let them have at it - it will take them all day and they LOVE IT! I usually dump a bag or two of carrots for extra fun into the mix before it freezes solid.

WOW, amazing ideas! Thank you! :yes: :D

[msj]

Pintopiaffe, now, besides the water they are getting thru the beet pulp, if you soak the hay because you have a horse with RAO (heaves), they drink even less! But since both horses go out together all day, all the hay needs to be soaked.

Considering how wet our summer was, my hay farmer wasn't able to get into the fields until late to make hay. As a result, a lot of the hay is rather coarse. Soaking it has made it a lot softer and easier to eat for both horses, especially considering one horse is 27. :) Of course, in cold weather, the soaked hay MUST be drained well and not fed frozen. That amounts to keeping it until it's drained well ( several hrs at least) in a room with some heat ~52 degrees F! :sigh:

[joharavhf]

Interesting discovery!

I don't do beet pulp or mashes but I do take out warm water in the PM to "entice" them to drink! Both horses seem to look forward to the warm water. One drinks right away. The other just drinks 'as normal' all the time. I can't believe how much water this little guy drinks!

I also have a stock tank filled all the time, with a heater, so I don't ever really know how much they are consuming....but I do know that both horses drink at LEAST a big bucket full every night.

[MVR]

The only time I wet & make mashes is for horses w/ no teeth, or horses prone to choke. I have been feeding dry beet pulp for many years mixed in w/ other feed and have never had any problems.

Susan Garlinghouse's website is great and I highly suggest anyone w/ beet pulp questions visit! (link provided previously)

[theoldgreymare]

Another member of the "wet and sloppy = extra water intake" here.....live and learn!

For those of you adding salt to your horse's feed to increase water intake, is this salt in addition to mineral/salt blocks in field and blocks in stalls?

[sublimequine]

This is interesting! That beetcicle idea is adoreable, I may try that. :lol:

I give my mare soaked hay cubes, and while she isn't too pleased with them when I really make them sloppy, I can usually get away with about a dozen cubes and half a bucket of water in one of those smaller grain buckets (not the big water buckets, but the smaller ones).

[Jetiki]

I had an arab rescue I was rehabbing for a while, wouldn't drink much, they were insisting his feed be soaked, he came to my house, I stopped the soaking, his teeth were fine making it not necessary to soak his feed, and I changed his hay, too bad I couldn't change his attitude. Once I stopped soaking his feed he was drinking a more normal amount.


Karen

[Right on Target]

I had a TB mare who wouldn't drink enough when it was cold out, and it caused her to colic a few times. The barn I boarded at started feeding her a warm mash (sweetfeed only) and the colic disappeared.

They also dumped some cold water into her sweetfeed in the summer and she liked that just as much. It wasn't from need, but it kept her happy and made her stop dumping her feed into the water bucket (obviously she was hinting about wanting it wet). A lot less trouble to clean up after.

I had another TB who refused to eat grain if it didn't have water in it. He'd just stand there with feed in the bucket looking forlornly out the stall door. Barn workers would think he was colicing until they realized they'd just forgotten his warm water! If it makes them happy, I'm happy to add water to their feed.

[MistyBlue]

My two slow down their outside drinking drastically when there's snow on the ground. There are days when there's fresh snow on the ground that they drink nothing from the water sources at all. Mainly because as they're eating the hay off the ground they take a bite of snow after every 2 bites of hay or so, so I imagine they just don't get thirsty. Which can bug the hell out of me because I know darned well they're not getting as much water from eating snow as they would if they were drinking. So when they come in for dinner, the dinner is salted and I add a splash of apple juice of molasses to their hay dunking buckets and then at the night check they get a 5 gallon bucket of cubes, dengi and water in a mushy soup with their hight hay. That has 4 gallons of water in it. I also noticed if they're not blanketed they drink less even if they're not acting or looking cold without a blanket.
All in all one gelding normally goes down from an average of 10 gallons water per day to about 6-7 gallons per day in winter once there's snow on the ground. The other one stays up around 10 gallons at the same time but still drank about 13 gallons in fall. (I got him in September I think)
My personal preferrence is to have each horse drink 10 gallons per day...8 minimum to keep me from freaking out over water consumption. In heavy work I prefer to see 15 gallons per day.

[Kolsch]

Another member of the "wet and sloppy = extra water intake" here.....live and learn!

For those of you adding salt to your horse's feed to increase water intake, is this salt in addition to mineral/salt blocks in field and blocks in stalls?

In addition to access to the salt block.

Which leads to what I think is really odd- the addition of salt to the ration increased the amount of attention the salt block gets, regardless of temps. I can't calculate how much they're eating from it, but it's definitely seen more licks.

The one horse that eats snow does the same bite of hay, bite of snow. He's a mini and if I take him out for a jog will stop to eat snow on the way. Times it perfectly- heads out to the end of the lead, CRUUNCH as he eats the snow, and by the time he's at the end of the lead behind me starts trotting again. give him fresh warm water and he looks at you like you're daft.

[msj]

Another member of the "wet and sloppy = extra water intake" here.....live and learn!

For those of you adding salt to your horse's feed to increase water intake, is this salt in addition to mineral/salt blocks in field and blocks in stalls?

I add loose salt but do not have the salt blocks. Last time I used the salt blocks my horse ate it in 2 days (that's the 4lb one). I then tried the 50 lb ones just sitting in their stalls and they rarely used them. That's when I went to 'force feeding' it. If the feed is dry (no water added) then my OTTB will leave any powder or granules. With the beet pulp mix, he licks his feed tub clean so he gets BP yr round! I add anywhere from 1/2 to 1 oz BID. More if needed.

[trubandloki]

I get MY "warm and fuzzy" feeling from feeding soaked beet pulp by knowing that even if the horse is choosing to drink less water in the winter, at least some of his food is going INTO him wet. Hopefully, this wet food will help offset the potential for impaction colic, should he choose not to drink as much in the colder months.

This was always my thought too.

I never thought it meant he was going to drink just as much. But this way I know at least that much water went in.

And there is that nice feeling of feeding a warm meal on a cold day.

[gabz]

I get MY "warm and fuzzy" feeling from feeding soaked beet pulp by knowing that even if the horse is choosing to drink less water in the winter, at least some of his food is going INTO him wet. Hopefully, this wet food will help offset the potential for impaction colic, should he choose not to drink as much in the colder months.

Yup. Pretty much the same reason here. But I feed wet stuff 365 days. It makes the supplements stick. : ) I just make it MORE wet in the winter and add loose salt.

PPiaffe - thanks for the scientific aspect of this. I do know that when the horses are on grass, they drink less since they get water from the grass. I also know that when I have to feed more hay to keep the body temps up, I want them to take in more water. But I never knew how much anyone was getting since I have 1 de-iced tank for up to 3 horses.

With the extra deep snow we've been getting this winter, I am SO thankful that I FINALLY got my FF hydrant installed (in October) in the barn. I used to haul some and also fight with 100' of hose down a hill. argghhh...

[Rodeio]

If you are lugging water through the snow here is what I have done in the past to provide a full trough "long distance" I take a long flat plastic kids sled - the kind that is like a tray with a rim around it. I put a rubber maid tub on the sled and fill it with water. Snap on the lid and pull it to where the horses need it. I pull of the lid Instant full trough -I leave it on the sled and head to work. I can move huge quantities easily! The snow path gets slick after a few passes and it slides easily!



My horses would have that whole operation destroyed in 0.3 seconds.