Question about "Timothy Balance" cubes

[dmalbone]

The only plain timothy product in my area I can find are the Ontario Dehy timothy balance cubes. I THINK they can order a pallet of plain timothy cubes, but they were a little iffy. They do care the timothy balance though, and I guess I was a little confused about what exactly they are. I know they're used for IR horses, but can these be used for "regular" horses as well? Anything else about the diet I would need to modify? If I don't need them asap, should I just wait for the timothy cubes?

[rcloisonne]

As the name implies, they are a hay cube composed of timothy hay that has been tested for NSC. They are fairly low in sugar/starch. They've also had other minerals added, depending on the hay analysis, to make them a complete feed Fine to feed any horse.

[cloudyandcallie]

Yes they can be used for "regular" horses. That company is great and the lady there tried to help me find them locally, but they don't have a distributor in my area. I'd love to be able to get them for my horse who doesn't need anything like alfalfa/timothy cubes. He's "regular" but portly.:lol:

[Maude]

Does anyone know of a feed store in the SE PA area that carries Timothy Cubes or Timothy Balance cubes? Unionville/Oxford area? We have several feed stores in the area. Just trying to save the time to call all of them :)

[MistyBlue]

Huh, learn something new almost every day here. I had no idea Ontario Dehy carried Timothy Balance cubes...just knew about the one timothy only cube. Good to know for future referrence if I ever need it.
If you don't need the low NSC then I'd probably wait it out for the plain cubes if there's a price difference.
Did the feed store tell you what the price per bag for the pallet of cubes was? Or how many bags to their pallets? I know the price of the cubes from Ontario Dehy and the denig from Lucerne Farms went up by quite a bit around here in the last 3 years or so. I used to pay $9 for the Lucerne Totally Timothy and $12 for the Ontario Dehy timothy cubes. Now I pay $17 for each. :eek: Thankfully I don't use a whole lot...4 dry quarts of cubes per day for 2 horses and a double handful of broken up Totally Timothy per day per horse. Each usually lasts me about two weeks. (I only feed those in a soaked mixture at the night time bed check. Kind of does triple duty as a bit extra forage, a treat and a sneaky way to get an extra 3-4 gallons of water into each horse every day)

Maude, I'm not in your area so no advice on who to call. But if you do find a feed store that carries Ontario Dehy products just ask them if they'll order you in the timothy cubes. That's what I had to do. The feed store I use all the time carried Lucerne and Ontario Dehy but all their products were either the alfalfa only or the alfalfa/timothy forage mixes. A couple years back I had a gelding who was sensitive to alfalfa and got stones from the alfalfa dengi and I found out online that both Lucerne and Ontario Dehy carried timothy only products. So I asked at the feed store if they could get those in for me, they called their supplier and had both products in by the end of the week. The funny part is that apparently a lot of folks in this area wanted alfalfa free stuff too and now they carry as much timothy only stuff as they do the alfalfa mixes due to demand. But the feed store owner told me to never worry about asking for different orders as long as they already carry the brand so maybe a feed store near you can do the same?

[Cherry]

Maude, Ontario-Dehy cubes are sold under other brand names other than their own.

When I had my horse I fed her Triple Crown timothy/alfalfa cubes and but the hang tag on it was from Ontario-Dehy. Call your local feed store and ask some questions! ;)

Here's the info on the timothy balance cubes: http://www.ontariodehy.com/tab02-07.htm
There's beet pulp in it (probably acting as a binder) and added minerals and amino acids--good if you have a Cushing's horse or pony.

Would say "no", you don't have to worry about adding anything because they are already "balanced" by the addition of the minerals and amino acids. I would use like I would the regular cubes but because they are low in NSC they are probably more costly than the plain timothy you had been using. For some reason it always costs more to take something out of a product--go figure.... :rolleyes:

[rcloisonne]

For some reason it always costs more to take something out of a product--go figure.... :rolleyes:
The "Balanced" cubes are tested for NSC and fortified with other minerals to balance them. How is that taking something out? They are considered a complete feed.

Regular cubes or hay for that matter are not tested or balanced - unless you test yourself (which costs money) and add what's lacking on your own (more money)...

[kcmel]

Does anyone know of a feed store in the SE PA area that carries Timothy Cubes or Timothy Balance cubes? Unionville/Oxford area? We have several feed stores in the area. Just trying to save the time to call all of them :)

Maude, Embreeville Mill can order them for you. Pennfield carries them.

[BoysNightOut]

http://www.ontariodehy.com/tab02-06.htm

This is what my barn fed...I never thought to look it up online, lol. I knew I wasn't crazy thinking I saw Timothy written on the bags (although now they feed the Alfalfa ones I guess, since the ones now have the Alfalfa label).

[Antaeus]

[QUOTE=MistyBlue;4585759]... I used to pay $9 for the Lucerne Totally Timothy and $12 for the Ontario Dehy timothy cubes. Now I pay $17 for each. :eek: ...QUOTE]

Wow! I started my IR boy on the ODTB cubes 2 months ago, and I pay $22.88 per bag right now:cry:! And they are only avaiable at one place in SoCal so I have to drive 70+ miles to get them. Spent 2 hours in stop-n-go freeway traffic on the way home yesterday...

[sdlbredfan]

Ontario Dehy makes plain cubes too, but the Timothy Balance cubes with lavender label are better, IMO because they already are a fully balanced ration. They are great not only for IR horses, ponies and other easy keepers, but can remove any need for a general purpose supplement. They also are great for oldsters, cuz they can be fed softened/moistened for easier chewing.

[MistyBlue]

Wow! I started my IR boy on the ODTB cubes 2 months ago, and I pay $22.88 per bag right now:cry:! And they are only avaiable at one place in SoCal so I have to drive 70+ miles to get them. Spent 2 hours in stop-n-go freeway traffic on the way home yesterday...
Good Lordy...that price and a 70 mph drive through traffic???? Whoa! Do you have somewhere you can keep a pallet of them? Maybe it'd be easier to order a pallet and have it delivered? Although that can't be cheap by the pallet, although usually a couple dollars off each bag for a bulk buy.

sdlbredfan...the lavender tag are the timothy balance cubes? I didn't know that...my feed store has the lavender tag bags there. I never bothered reading the tag since I was also looking through the stacks for the orange tag plain timothy cubes. I just figured the lavender tag was another alfalfa mixed forage. Good to know...maybe I'll try those. I do use a RB for my horses too. But then in order to balance the diet I would guess they'd need more cubes than I normally feed, which is only 2 dry quarts (presoaking) per horse per day. The RB is only 2 oz per horse per day. Which ironally I sprinkle on the soaked cubes, LOL!

[Antaeus]

Good Lordy...that price and a 70 mph drive through traffic???? Whoa! Do you have somewhere you can keep a pallet of them? Maybe it'd be easier to order a pallet and have it delivered? Although that can't be cheap by the pallet, although usually a couple dollars off each bag for a bulk buy.
!
Can't get them delivered. I can get them for 38 CENTS a bag less if I buy 1000 #. We have five other horses, and I only get paid once a month. So, right now, I can only buy one month's ODTB cubes at a time (12 bags). It's a shame they're so expensive, because they really are great cubes. So much easier than soaking hay for an hour, three times a day!
I'd give them to all my horses for one feeding a day if I could afford to...

[sdlbredfan]

Yep, on the 'the lavender tag are the timothy balance cubes? I didn't know that...my feed store has the lavender tag bags there. I never bothered reading the tag since I was also looking through the stacks for the orange tag plain timothy cubes.' I am so glad I had a helpful factoid!

[Arrows Endure]

Maude, Crown Stone Feed carries them. They are right over by Fair Hill.

I wish I could have gotten the ODTB cubes when I was in Florida for my IR paso, however the closest place I could get them was about 6 hours away.

[MistyBlue]

Can't get them delivered. I can get them for 38 CENTS a bag less if I buy 1000 #.

Whoa, that's a crappy discount. I wouldn't bother with that either. :no:

Sdlbredfan...it was a useful factoid! :D I never did bother to check what it says on the tags anymore since I know I only use the bright orange tagged bags. It's good to know the few times I go to the feed store and the orange tags are all gone I can use the lavender tags! :yes:

[Cherry]

Rcloissone, I meant getting rid of the sugars and starches (the lower NSC). Yes, it is balanced unto itself but it is hardly a "complete feed" in the whole scheme of things. To be a "complete" feed it would have to have a full spectrum of vitamins and minerals, which it clearly does not have.

[Antaeus]

Rcloissone, I meant getting rid of the sugars and starches (the lower NSC). Yes, it is balanced unto itself but it is hardly a "complete feed" in the whole scheme of things. To be a "complete" feed it would have to have a full spectrum of vitamins and minerals, which it clearly does not have.

Along with the ODTB cubes, my guy gets flax, vit E, and salt mixed in plain beet pulp...