Feeding Carrots

[partlycloudy]

I'm talking about feeding carrots as a major part of the horse's diet (maybe about 25% of his roughage) the fellow I bought my draft cross from feeds vast amounts to the horses...he buys truckloads.
I'm thinking this would not be too good for draft types...too much starch and sugars. What do you think?
He is bringing a couple of bags with the horse so I can gradually adjust his feed. but I could get large quantities from him if I cared to continue to feed it.
Bad idea or ?
My horse should have great eyesight;)

[JB]

Horses generally have no trouble consuming ample amounts of Vit A and beta carotene from their forage.

Carrots are way high in sugar, so no, that protocol is not healthy!

Don't worry about buying bags to wean him off, just reduce to a carrot a day ;)

[cloudyandcallie]

Horses generally have no trouble consuming ample amounts of Vit A and beta carotene from their forage.

Carrots are way high in sugar, so no, that protocol is not healthy!

Don't worry about buying bags to wean him off, just reduce to a carrot a day ;)

What JB says. When Callie got a dex shot and foundered, despite not being IR, I learned from vets that her only treat, carrots, were verboten. Too much starch, too much sugar, so for a year Callie didn't get a carrot. So I eliminated from my Partly Cloudy Hessen Horse's diet also. I'm not a nutrition expert, so I was totally surprized that the "healthy" carrots, aren't healthy.

OP, do you have a partly cloudy too?

[partlycloudy]

Just as I thought...too high in sugars. this fellow has some*interesting* management ideas :lol:
Yes, I used to have a 'Partly Cloudy'...a sweet grey and white pinto pony with an amazing coat pattern.

[deltawave]

I think I did the math once and there is a lot more sugar in a pound of hay than in a handful of carrots. It's all about portion sizes. :)

[merrygoround]

Last person I heard of feeding truckloads of carrots, lost several to botulism.

Carrots are a root vegetable, truckloads tend to not always be good.

I would err on the side of safety, and sanity.

UhHuh, I know some of the old timers fed their horses with truckloads of stale bread.

Those draft horses are survivors.

But then I remember an English woman telling me of feeding potaoes to horses during WWII. At first they used to cook them, and that was a sight watching them make mashed poatoes. They then found that the cooking wasn't necessary. Much tidier. :D

[kahjul]

A million years ago I boarded near the Bunny Luv plant. The horses were all fed a shovelful of carrots for breakfast and a shovelful of cubes for dinner. That was it, year round. I can't remember any problems, but I was a kid so...
Wouldn't do it now-I know better, but I'm guessing the board was pretty cheap!

[JB]

One number I've seen is about 5.5gm of sugar per carrot.

If hay is, let's say, 10% NSC (which I realize is not ALL just "sugar"), then 1lb of that, which is 454 grams, 45 gm, so sure, 1 average carrot is only about 1/10th the sugar of 1lb of hay, and that's for some really low sugar hay.

So, 1 carrot is not the issue. a 5lb bag is an issue, and for sure more is an issue.

And then you get into the types of sugar - 10% NSC hay can be fed free choice to just about any metabolic horse, without trouble, but some of those cannot have a single carrot.

[cloudyandcallie]

:cool:Just as I thought...too high in sugars. this fellow has some*interesting* management ideas :lol:
Yes, I used to have a 'Partly Cloudy'...a sweet grey and white pinto pony with an amazing coat pattern.:cool::cool:

Is that a required name for a "sweet grey and white pinto pony?"
OK so mine isn't sweet and he's not short, but he is grey and white pinto.:lol::lol::lol::lol: Was dappled, now flea bitten when not manure covered.

[Thomas_1]

High sugar and high DE and not a forage either. They're best as an occasional treat or with a few chopped up in a general food mix to make things more interesting.

[JB]

Carrots? High protein? :confused::confused:

[Thomas_1]

Brain Blip!!! I meant Digestible Energy. Protein is 9.2% though which is same as maize and higher than grasses and hay.

[Seven-up]

I heard a story of a woman wondering why her grey horse had an orange tint. Turned out she was feeding free-choice carrots. Like 50-100 lbs. worth.





I wouldn't do it.

[Simkie]

I heard a story of a woman wondering why her grey horse had an orange tint. Turned out she was feeding free-choice carrots. Like 50-100 lbs. worth.


I know a new mom who's son was only interested in carrot baby food. She took him to the doctor, panicked when he turned orange. I still tease her about it ;)

[Thomas_1]

Reminds me of when my daughter went into a blind panic after a visit to the toilet when she was about 10.

She'd had a passion for beetroot and had eaten a whole jar!

[partlycloudy]

I noticed that all the manure about the place had an orange tinge...as does all the white markings on my new horse!
the fellow was kind enough to send two bags full of carrots along with him!
Anyone want some frozen carrots?

[Seven-up]

I know a new mom who's son was only interested in carrot baby food. She took him to the doctor, panicked when he turned orange. I still tease her about it ;)

My friend's baby's favorite food is carrots. You can tell, because her nose is orange. :lol:


OP, I don't think you need to give them away. If they're frozen, just keep 'em in the freezer. Unthaw and feed a couple a day.


I didn't know raw carrots could be frozen. Learn something new every day!

[partlycloudy]

When you live in Canada, you find out that just about everything freezes!
No freezer required!

[cloudyandcallie]

Well enjoy your new horse and feed him the draft diet which is supposed to be high in fat, right? I forget what my draft owning friend, who's moved to Ohio, feeds her 3, but I think she said she had to feed more fat than TB owners do.

[partlycloudy]

since they are prone to EPM, they need to be fed a high fat low starch diet. I feed a high fat diet to all mine,will just have to be more diligent with him.
He is the most adorable clyde/hackney tb cross with high socks(orange right now) and a wide blaze!

[JB]

Brain Blip!!! I meant Digestible Energy. Protein is 9.2% though which is same as maize and higher than grasses and hay.

Oh thankgoodness! :lol:

[JB]

I know a new mom who's son was only interested in carrot baby food. She took him to the doctor, panicked when he turned orange. I still tease her about it ;)

I'm a HUGE carrot eater, have been all my life. In college, I was eating a LOT of them, and realized one day that the palms of my hands were orange! :eek: