Fibre Feeds - 2011 - what do you feed?

[The Moo]

I've just been reading through this dalesfans.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=feeding&action=display&thread=13647 from 2009 and wondered if you were still all feeding the same or have changed to something else.

My two are on Hi-Fi Lite with Speedibeet and Baileys Lo-Cal but they seem to be a bit bored with it.... both are a nice weight but that does go up a bit as I will have to give haylage when the frosty mornings start.

Moo has had lami in the past so I want to keep the sugar down and the fibre up.

Do any of you use Hi-Fi/nuts/chaff/lucerne etc as a hay replacer for ponies to come and go to and if so, do you dampen it/leave it as is/mix with beet?

I'm trying to figure out their diet for the winter and end up going round in circles

[zeldalithgow]

At the mo they are on Fast Fibre and Mollichaf high fibre alfalfa which is un-molassed, plus various supplements Daisy has a fair bit of micronised linseed meal in hers and Prince a couple of handfuls to help his creaky joints, fed fairly wet

[valerie n scout]

Scout is on 16plus and sugar beet..I change the chaff occasionally, cause he gets bored too x and Haylage at night X

[jaimie]

i think you've got a good diet there , i would'nt change it maybe add something to jazz it up garlic powder ??

[dalesponyrider]

Just curious, how do you know they are bored?

[harveydales]

I think the grass has been high in sugars these last few weeks with this odd weather - it has up here anyway. This could be why your lot seem to have gone of their food which won't taste as sweet. My old laminitic Quest would always go off his Hi Fi Lite when the grass sugar was high, even though he was on very restricted grazing. He would never go off Happy Hoof though I felt Hi FI LIte was better for him. Once the sweetness of the grass went, then he would be fine again with his Hi Fi Lite.

I've got all of mine on Fast Fibre now. It is ideal for old Winnie as he needs to be fed a "soup" now and all of mine seem to love it. It is low starch and easy to add supplements to or linseed etc.

[The Moo]

Jaimie - it is a diet that I always seem to come back to as the Lo-Cal gives the nutrients, the Hi-Fi and SB give the bulk and fibre to keep their stomachs happy, I increase or decrease the amounts depending on time of year.

I think Pam has hit the nail of the head, the grass is very scrummy at the moment so they will both wander off, leave their half eaten food in favour of the new 6" of grass they get each day, maybe they are not so much bored but the grass is always greener - literally!

I bought a bag of Fast Fibre to see what it is like and for use as a possible alternative to haylage, I made it up with more water than recommended yet it still absorbed all of the water and became quite stiff and not soupy. I was looking for an alternative to haylage for the frosty mornings as I didn't want Moo getting a cresty neck too quickly and hoped to find a source of fibre that was low in sugar. I don't have the storage for hay, plus the nutrient and sugar content is unknown unless you get it analyzed so sadly hay is out of the equation.

So... thinking aloud now....according to the figures by the manufacturers....

4.5kg of haylage = 135g of sugar (3%)
1.5kg of FF + 3kg water = 4.5kg mash = 45g sugar (2.9%) even if the official figures are for FF made up with the water it still has no more sugar than haylage weight for weight, they both have sugar listed at 3%.

I doubt if leaving out a big tub of Hi-Fi Lite for them to pick at would work as it is quite dry, plus I would get nervous about choke, if I dampen it with water and it wasn't eaten then it would spoil (or freeze) and wet hi-fi can't be any more tasty than dry hi-fi. If I dampen it with SB then it would be more yummy but again it could freeze or spoil, plus it is a so and so to mix through in quantity...

But...4.5kg of haylage is approx 1/4 bag @ £7/bag = £1.75
1.5kg of FF is approx 13.33th of a 20kg bag @ £8.25 = 61p

I don't normally get this anal about feed, normally just go with throwing in a bit more hay etc but with Moo now having Cushings and the lack of suitable storage for hay, plus trying to make best use of money available and not having a million bags of feed around the place |I thought I ought to be a bit scientific ..... doesn't look as it's gonna happen does it

[cutemangurdi1]

We have fed high fibre for a long time and never known an empty bucket! I love it because it is low in starch and if they only need a small amount I can add in the vitamin supplement easily.

[gingermegs]

My three are on healthy hooves which is good for ponies prone to laminitis. Also one cup full each of the new balancers spillers original balancer, These add all the vitamins and minerals u need. U can also add speedibeet if u want although the spillers rep told me that this is not really necessary. They also have ad lib hay now. They all look great. I am pleased with the new balancers that hav e just came out.