[SweetLatte]

The closest Purina or Nutrena deals are about an hour and a half away from me. Though I don't have my horse with me currently, I'm trying to estimate yearly costs for when I do bring her out to Oklahoma with me. Although I can mix my own rations, I'm looking into all of the alternatives. We have a feed here called Safe and Sound that is very similar in guaranteed analysis to Nutrena Safe Choice. However, I can't find a list of ingredients for SafeChoice. Would someone mind posting a list for me? Thank you!

[Tee]

If you don't get an answer, I'll try to remember to grab the tag when I go out to the barn tonight.

[SweetLatte]

Thank you, I really appreciate it! I know this is a real PITA to ask for, but I can't find a list of ingredients anywhere...

[Blue Yonder]

Sweetlatte - I couldn't find an ingredient list on the website either. Odd, as I'm almost positive it used to be there....?

Anyway, I feed Safe N Sound, and for what it's worth, my Acco feed rep says the 2 products are the same. Nutrena and Acco are both owned by Cargill and in theory the two products (SafeChoice/Safe-n-Sound) are made from the same formula. I pulled feed tags from both bags before, compared them, and they appeared to be identical, which lends credence to his words.

[crewgirl34]

Grain Products, Plant Protein Products, Processed Grain By-Products, Roughage Products, Forage Products, Vit. A Supplement, Vit. D3 Supplement, Vit E Supplement, Vit B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine, DL-Methionine, L-Lysine, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Natural and Artificial Flavors added, Manganese Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Ferrous Carbonate, Copper Chloride, Copper SUlfatge, Zinc Oxide, ZXinc Sulfate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selenite, Zinc Methionine Complex, copper lysine complex, manganese methionine complex, cobalt Glucoheptonate, Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product dehydrated, Lactobacillus casel Fermentation Product dehydrated, Bifidobacterium thermophillum fermentation Product dehydrated, enterococcus faecium fermentation Product dehydrated, cane molasses, vegetable fat product, lecithin, sulfuric acid, acetic acid, benzoic Acid (a preservative), Propionic Acid (a preservative), corn oil, soybean oil

[SweetLatte]

Thank you! This is great to know, I assumed that the products are simialar given their similar names, but wanted to make sure.

[BoyleHeightsKid]

That ingredient list doesn't look right... This is from what I took off of a bag last night:

Dehulled soybean meal, yeast culture, wheat middlings, distillers dried grain with solubles, ground corn, soybean hulls, dehydrated alfalfa meal, cane molasses, selenium yeast, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin B12, riboflavin, folic acid, biotin, thiamine, l-lysine, etc.

There is a ton more, but I won't type it out. The most important ingredients have been listed, in order of the % of the ingredient, ie there is more dehulled soybean meal than any other ingredient and so on and so on. I also find it strange that Nutrena does not list the ingredients on their site either.

I know Blue Seal makes a feed called Carb Gard that is similar, but has a little more fat and a little less protein. http://www.blueseal.com/equine/produ...Carb-Guard.pdf It also contains NO molasses.

[crewgirl34]

That ingredient list doesn't look right... This is from what I took off of a bag last night:

Hmm, that's curious. I typed up the ingredients directly off the white tag as well. Maybe it's a regional thing. When and where did you buy your bag? I bought mine about a month ago in MN. I'm just curious if it is a regional or maybe my bag is older and thus from a different batch. I don't know, but it's interesting...

[WaningMoon]

This is off the bag of Safechoice I bought today.
Yeast culture, HOminy feed,wheat middlings,distillers dried grain with solubles, wheat red dog, soybean hulls,dehydrated alfalfa meal,cane molasses,selenium yeast, vit A supplement, vitamin D supplement, Vitamin E supplement, etc,,,,, also from the white tag. I think maybe ppl are forgetting that Nutrena substitutes their ingredients by batch on the basis of what is cheaper to buy for them and still meet the guaranteed analysis. Last I knew Blue Seal, Triple Crown and Buckeye were some of the rare ones who don't do this and keep the exact same ingredients regardless of price.

[BoyleHeightsKid]

Whoa.... it's off of a bag that was purchased just recently in SW PA. Hmmm... interesting, I don't know if I want my horse eating something that's going to change when ever the company just wants to save money. I would rather pay a little more and keep the ingredients the same.

[dressagetraks]

I bought a bag yesterday, and the tag is EXTREMELY similar but NOT identical to crewgirl's tag. Has a couple of substitutions and a couple of order inversions. Bag bought in Missouri.

[Mtn trails]

I just bought a bag the other day and clearly remember the second ingredient was rice bran. This was in western WA.

[HappyHorsey]

Wow, I guess SafeChoice does vary by region! I don't currently feed SafeChoice, but I investigated it a while ago...when I checked out the ingredients, the list was similar to what WaningMoon posted. I remember thinking, what on earth is "wheat red dog"?!

[Chief2]

From http://www.admworld.com/naen/ahn/wheatmilling.asp

Wheat Red Dog
Wheat red dog consists of the offal from the “tail of the mill,” with some fine particles of wheat bran, wheat germ, and wheat flour. It is an important source of carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals, and must not contain more than 4% fiber. It enhances pelleting and extrusion mixtures.

Good site to learn about milling ingredients.

[wstrngrl]

The reason the tags are different is because Nutrena uses a "least cost" formula. Which means they use whatever ingredients are the cheapest but still provide the guaranteed analysis.

So basically, from bag to bag, you never really know what you are feeding your horses....

[Cashela]

Lovely. Cricket won't be going back on Safe Choice next spring...

[MunchkinsMom]

Interesting. . . that might be why there were times when my horse would refuse to eat the SafeChoice - I had to return 3 bags in a row one year, and then switched brands.

[WaningMoon]

Lovely. Cricket won't be going back on Safe Choice next spring...

But as I said it isn't just SafeChoice. Last I knew ( when I actually checked it out) the only three who didn't switch ingredients based on cost were Triple Crown, Blue Seal, and Buckeye. This was last year that I was told this and then talked to a rep at each one. Blue Seals mill is within ten miles of me and now that they have a low starch,sugar feed I will go back to them. But on the SafeChoice side, I have liked the results I get with the feed and my mare has not seemed to be affected by the switch in ingredients. I imagine if your animal was allergic to something though and you had bought the feed thinking it wasn't present so didn' tread the label next time you could have problems if it was cheaper that week and used in the feed.

[LoveMyPonies]

I have been using Safe Choice in WNY and have checked the tags every time I get a load. It seems to be pretty consistent in this region and the horses have all done well on it. None of my guys have refused to eat it, and a pony who had foundered in the past has done very well on it.
Good luck!

[pj]

Was curious so checked a bag of sc that I bought a couple of weeks ago. First ingredient was wheat middlings then rice bran. It's about time for me to get another load, going to be interesting to see if it's the same or something different.