[sweet mustanq]

well the feed the reccomended i don't believe is straight sweet feed..They mix their feed with other things.

I wouldn't put him on STRAIGHT sweet feed. I know its not good for them..thts why i stopped. and actuley thats why im having a problem trying to find food now because i always thought sweet feed was fine.

[Dawn]

What do you mean by 'not a straight sweet feed'?

[sorrell]

Originally Posted by sweet mustanq

well the feed the reccomended i don't believe is straight sweet feed..They mix their feed with other things.

I wouldn't put him on STRAIGHT sweet feed. I know its not good for them..thts why i stopped. and actuley thats why im having a problem trying to find food now because i always thought sweet feed was fine.

I know I am one of the few commerical feed advocates here, but again, after feeding over 400 horses on sweetfeed with good outcome and no behavioral or nutrient problems, I think I have good reason to feel that way.
There are a number of good feeds on the market that combine weight gain, hoof and coat conditioners, while keeping starch and sugar to a minimum. Plus the one you mentioned for foundered horses. A lot of research have gone into these feeds, so they must have some benefits to the horse industry.
I have read all the papers and advice on the evils of feeding grain to both humans and horses, but again, I have seen very positive results in both and it irks me that many a horse owner has let their horse get thin while being brow beaten that to feed complete feed makes them bad horse people. Many horses do fine on grass or hay alone. I have one that does. I also have one that doesn't. I tried him on beetpulp and alfalfa cubes and he also dropped weight rather rapidly.
Whatever course you take, it is wise to start out slow and build up.
Buckeye makes a great high fat extruded pellet that will put weight on a horse in a hurry. I think it contains soy, flax and rice bran, so there are feeds that do not contain grain per se, but will put weight on a horse without stressing his digestive system, if that is a worry.
The big thing is to get him started on something that will add the weight in a safe manner, but with all the hundreds of products available to acheive those results, it does depend on who your feed dealer is.
That's why I asked if you knew who carried what in your area.

[sweet mustanq]

Originally Posted by sorrell

I know I am one of the few commerical feed advocates here, but again, after feeding over 400 horses on sweetfeed with good outcome and no behavioral or nutrient problems, I think I have good reason to feel that way.
There are a number of good feeds on the market that combine weight gain, hoof and coat conditioners, while keeping starch and sugar to a minimum. Plus the one you mentioned for foundered horses. A lot of research have gone into these feeds, so they must have some benefits to the horse industry.
I have read all the papers and advice on the evils of feeding grain to both humans and horses, but again, I have seen very positive results in both and it irks me that many a horse owner has let their horse get thin while being brow beaten that to feed complete feed makes them bad horse people. Many horses do fine on grass or hay alone. I have one that does. I also have one that doesn't. I tried him on beetpulp and alfalfa cubes and he also dropped weight rather rapidly.
Whatever course you take, it is wise to start out slow and build up.
Buckeye makes a great high fat extruded pellet that will put weight on a horse in a hurry. I think it contains soy, flax and rice bran, so there are feeds that do not contain grain per se, but will put weight on a horse without stressing his digestive system, if that is a worry.
The big thing is to get him started on something that will add the weight in a safe manner, but with all the hundreds of products available to acheive those results, it does depend on who your feed dealer is.
That's why I asked if you knew who carried what in your area.

oh okay

I got the feed today and I got it from hallway feeds.
Hallway Feeds - Official Feed Supplier of the NTRA

[sorrell]

Hope it works out for you. I know a lot of people who would like to have more of a feeding choice, but don't have feed dealers in the area that sell anything but the standard sweet feed and pellets.

[PeggySue]

If he is lacking in protien why woudl you put him on a 10% instead of going somethign higher ???

THis is the info off of thier Stamm 30:

Crude Protein (minimum): 30%
Crude Fat (minimum): 3%
Crude Fiber (maximum): 7.5%
Calcium (minimum): 3.3%
Calcium (maximum): 4.3%
Phosphorus (minimum): 2%
Copper (minimum): 195 PPM
Selenium (minimum): 2.5 PPM
Zinc (minimum): 560 PPM
Vitamin A (minimum): 35,000 IU/LB
Vitamin D (minimum): 4,000 IU/LB
Vitamin E (minimum): 250 IU/LB


BTW the Select 10-10 is a textured sweet feed ...

[sweet mustanq]

Originally Posted by PeggySue

If he is lacking in protien why woudl you put him on a 10% instead of going somethign higher ???

THis is the info off of thier Stamm 30:

Crude Protein (minimum): 30%
Crude Fat (minimum): 3%
Crude Fiber (maximum): 7.5%
Calcium (minimum): 3.3%
Calcium (maximum): 4.3%
Phosphorus (minimum): 2%
Copper (minimum): 195 PPM
Selenium (minimum): 2.5 PPM
Zinc (minimum): 560 PPM
Vitamin A (minimum): 35,000 IU/LB
Vitamin D (minimum): 4,000 IU/LB
Vitamin E (minimum): 250 IU/LB


BTW the Select 10-10 is a textured sweet feed ...

im feeding him complete 10/10 HE...not the select 10/10

and it has stamm 30 already mixed in it. and also he really just needed more calories and protine..because he wasn't getting enough before. ALSO it dosn't have to be a huge percentage of protine 10% is good and if i need more i can add something to it. The more protine..the more energy and he dosn't need any more extra energy.lol.

[Blistering Winds]

What you should be looking at is the amount of nutrients in WEIGHT.

10% protein of ANYTHING if you are only feeding 1 lb is not sufficient unless you have extremely high protein in your hay available and eating enough.


Protein is NOT sufficient for Energy. However, the ingredients usually put in higher protein feeds include an increase in CALORIES!!!

CALORIES is your "ENERGY". So what you need to do, is contact some of the feed dealers you are looking at and find out how much calories is in each pound and/or Kilogram. And ask SPECIFICALLY if it is in pounds or kg they are reading. I've had a feed dealer tell me wrong and corrected when I specified the weight.

[PeggySue]

BW the KCal is listed on all of the feeds on that site...

I stand behind the 10% any feed is not enough if your horse is lacking in protein ... the least I have ever feed even my pasture puffs is 12% ..

[Blistering Winds]

This is what I calculate for your horse "per day" at 1000 lb and low performance.

"general guidelines" per NRC
Going to post the "generals" since that is about all you can usually get off a feed tag, but it gives you a nice base if the company is reputable, the rest of the vitamins/minerals "usually" fall within an acceptable range. (note the word usually)

Calories: 18.16 MCal

Crude Protein: 635g

Calcium: 27.27g

Phosphorus: 16.36g

Magnesium: 8.64g

I have the other numbers, just most feed bags don't include much else.


Basically, if you know what your hay content is and how much in weight your horse consumes, you can figure out what he needs in "grain" and you decide which feed bag will do you "justice" in both cost and weight.

Because if you are feeding low quality hay, then you will definitely need the higher % bags so you aren't feeding 10+ lbs to get the right number of nutrients into your horse.

Personally, I use the NRC's as a baseline. And adjust as needed.

Fat will give you "cooler" calories over "starch" which is what you find in many of the sweet feeds that cause your horse to be "energetic" the higher % you go. However, if you go up in protein, change up the "content" causing that protein increase, you will find not as much "crazy" calories. And why people are getting more and more wise on utilizing fat calories and more forage based feeds than the starch based feeds (sweet feeds are usually high in starch which for your laminitic horses, NOT advised to feed them.)