Mixing your own feed

[FatCatFarm]

Anyone do this and what do you use. I was thinking of using whole oats and alfalfa pellets. The horses all have mineral blocks in the pastures and are using them. I feed good coastal bermuda hay supplemented with some rye and clover mix hay. We have decent pasture during the warmer months.

The feed store I had been doing business with closed up shop and I've been comparing feeds and reading labels and it's amazing the crap that goes into commercial mixed feeds. Even some fairly decent ones like Strategy. Rice hulls, soybean hulls and what exactly is wheat middlings??? The cheaper ones actually feed ground up peanut hulls! :eek: WTF? :(

[FatCatFarm]

Previously discussed here in some detail I see: http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=241810&highlight=mixing+your+own+feed

but looks like I'm headed in the right direction.

[FatCatFarm]

And really interesting about the Black Oil Sunflower Seeds: http://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/black-oil-sunflower-seeds.html

What do they run per 50lb bag? Does Tractor Supply carry them? Looks like a really good, nutritious and high fat alternative to corn which I perfer to avoid.

[FatCatFarm]

Just FYI, had my vet out this morning to pull Coggins and asked him about the black oil sunflower seeds or BOSS and he said he had heard absolutely nothing bad about them with regard to feeding them to horses and agreed they would be a great addition. He completely agreed with my plan to switch my horses to oats, alfalfa pellets and Boss, and did not think I needed to supplement with a ration booster at all as long as they have free access to minerals, either loose or in block form, good hay and decent pasture. Said he agrees that commercial feed quality has deteriorated and he is seeing a higher incident of chokes and has become a big fan of keeping feed as simple and natural as possible. Just FYI.

And just as an aside, we talked about worming too and here panacur is practically useless and even some resistance to strongid and ivermectin is being seen. He is now recommending only worming during the cold months as the heat during the warm months kills the larvae here and then doing quarterly fecal floats otherwise. He did say that minoxedectin is about the best wormer out there but they anticipate eventual resistance to it and there are presently no new drugs for equine wormers being developed.

[Fairview Horse Center]

I kept my horse on just whole (recleaned or triple cleaned) oats and good quality hay for years, while competing him in eventing, hunters, and dressage. He won many Grooming and Conditioning classes too - shiny coat and lots of dapples.

[FatCatFarm]

Good to know. There is just an awful lot of crap going into commercial feeds.

[Fairview Horse Center]

I agree, and if I had to choose, I would use a 2/3 oats, 1/3 corn ratio and a bit of molassas, with a good alfalfa/orchard grass mix hay, and no supplements other than mineral & salt blocks.

[equineartworks]

We were going to because we have five very different horses here. But they are all in great health and look fantastic so I figure...why mess with a good thing.

I would think that something like www.feedxl.com would be very useful in a situation like this?

[pintopiaffe]

What kind of mineral blocks though?

If it's the red ones for horses & cows... you might need more than that depending on your hay, water etc. Horses can't get enough of the minerals from those...

If it's something specific to horses that is NOT salt based, that's different.

Especially you need to know selenium levels for your area, as a lack can actually kill them eventually...

I switched to plain whole grains about five years ago now, switched back to a ration balancer in the middle for a time, but am back to whole grains.

Oats, beet pulp, BOSS, Flax, sometimes Rice Bran, Alfalfa pellets for young, pg & nursing, barley for the stallion in full work. Corn in the winter. (yep, I said it, CORN! :p ) I do add oil and vits/mins for my area. I'm particularly concerned with selenium as we have NONE in the local hay, soil etc., and copper & magnesium.

[Melyni]

you will pretty soon find that they don't have nearly enough minerals in them.
Depending on your soil type and where you are you may well run into problems with low selenium, copper, zinc and magnesium.

But if you want to do it go ahead and when you run into problems then you can always ask for help.

My own personal recommendation is good hay, one good vit/min supplement which supplies enough magnesium, zinc and copper and enough grain to supply the calorie needs.
YOu judge the latter by watching the body score of the horse. If it gets fatter feed less if it gets thin feed more.
But base your feed program on good forage and one good vit/min supplement and you should do fine.

MW

[Fairview Horse Center]

Mineral block
http://www.buckeyenutrition.com/equine/grassplusmineralblock.html

Loose Salt (I preferred it when they used to make this in block form)
http://www.buckeyenutrition.com/equine/harvestsalt.html

[stryder]

Last week I moved my mare to a new feed regimen - 50/50 rolled oats/barley, chopped flax for oil and Omegas. I'm adding this for her vitamins/minerals:

http://www.pureformequinehealth.com/productdetails.aspx?PRODUCT_ID=15

plus a teaspoon of loose salt.

It's way too early to tell anything, except she really likes it. She was getting LMF Feeds, which I think are good quality, but she could take 'em or leave 'em.

I've seen horses on this diet. They're in good weight, beautiful coats, and very calm. It's worth a try, anyway.

[FatCatFarm]

If you look at the nutrition content of the BOSS, between that, good quality hay, good pasture and mineral supplementation, I really can't see where they will need much more than that. I trust my vet and will keep him in the loop regarding their nutrition but this is making good common sense to both of us. But each to their own and I certainly agree that you need to take into consideration the soil content in your area as it affects pasturage and locally grown hay. I mean these are common sense things that always need to be considered. But the basic principle of what I'm after is sound was all I'm trying to say.

[Frizzle]

Most mineral blocks are made up of mostly salt, so your horse will not be able to get enough minerals without also getting an overabundance of salt. And the blocks were designed for cattle, not horses; horses' tongues are different than cows' and licking the block is hard on their tongues.
You really will need to add a vitamin/mineral supplement so that your horse's nutritional needs will be met.
I also think you need to do some research about horse feeds - some of the ingredients that you feel are "bad" are actually very good and low in non-structural carbohydrates. On the other hand, oats, corn, and barley are extremely high in NSCs. Please do some research before you start customizing your horse's feeding plan.

[Fairview Horse Center]

Buckeye mineral blocks (see link in my post above) are designed for horses, by Don Kapper and are not salt blocks. Horses will eat more mineral if they need it. Sometimes the horses will go thru one quickly, and you know they need mineral. Other times/farms, they leave them sit in the field, and don't touch them.

They are useful to SEE if your feeding program is working.

[Fairview Horse Center]

I really DON'T want to see fiber sources in my horse grain. Fiber is hay, and THAT is the way I want to feed it. If I need concentrated calories and energy, because the hay is not enough, then I want oats, corn, and barley - concentrated calories! Oil is also much LESS a natural feed than oats, corn, and barley. Molasses is also an important feed item that is missing in "in vogue" diets.

It is also much cheaper to feed fiber using the local hay farmer, rather than lots of processing, and shipping it in bags across the country, paying a "grain" price.

Fiber in feed has its uses - for old horses that won't eat enough fiber in hay, foundering, etc, but why pay for it of you have a healthy horse that will eat hay. You can also judge for yourself what the quality of the fiber/hay is.

[Bif]

I had my guys on straight oats and boss, with Source and free access to salt and mineral blocks. They were on a very established old pasture with a variety of plants (not just grass) and minor hay supplementation (good 15-25% alfalfa, 75% orchard grass mix). Moved horses for training, and ended up switching to grain mix so I can get supplements in the one horse, and the other because it's what the management used, and that horse needed less than a cup a day of grain by then.

My only issue with boss, and why I stopped feeding it, is it has the wrong ratio of omegas, with more of the "inflammatory" omegas. http://www.thewayofhorses.com/sunflowers_0508.html
I will say they were shiny and picked up well. And horses do really, really like it. I might have had a few oats left in the bottom of the feeder, but no BOSS!

I think it depends on type of horse, competitive/riding goals, and your reasons for wanting to avoid mixed grains. Horses for years got straight grains. IMHO, if you have good pasture with a mixture of grasses and other plants, the horses are out at least 6+ hours a day, and good hay, I wouldn't hesitate to try a straight grain diet, with loose minerals available as well, perhaps several kinds of combinations at all times, so the horses can pick what their bodies need. I would add Source or another broad spectrum micronutrient supplement, and or a good "all-around" herb mix from Hilton or other good quality company.

[Bif]

Fairview ~ I agree, it used to be grain was grain, forage/roughage/fiber was your hay, pasture, and maybe beet pulp, and people knew the difference!

I admit I've been using a "complete feed" for one reason you didn't list: having an air fern that needs joint/pain supplements, and won't eat them without a good amount of "grain". The complete feed's pellets soak up quickly into a nice mash and he can't avoid those dastardly supplements then! All those fillers can help...

I am actually switching him to Triple Crown Lite, since he can get a little more volume with less than 10% NSC and a lot less calories per volume than what I'd been using... fingers and hooves crossed that he'll like it. He can't really be exercised due to his bad joint, so field exercise and calorie control is all I can do. They have very good mix hay out in the fields at this boarding barn, so I can't keep that cut back as much as I'd like, and I think he spends a lot more time eating than exercising!