Is a forage replacer more appropriate for your horse? Dengie explains…
Whilst many horse owners will rely on hay or haylage to supplement their horse’s grass intake, there are some circumstances when a forage replacer is a more appropriate alternative or addition. This includes:
- Horses with poor dentition
- Lack of forage, or poor quality forage
- Limited turnout time
- To increase or decrease calorie intake
What you need to know about feeding forage replacers:-
- Not all feeds can be used as a forage replacer for horses – they must be high fibre and low starch, as well as being nutritionally comparable to forage.
- Feeding insufficient forage replacer, and therefore fibre, in the diet increases the risk of digestive issues including colic and loose droppings. It is also likely to result in weight loss as well.
- A minimum of 1.5% of bodyweight on a dry matter basis should be provided daily when totally replacing the usual forage ration. For a 500kg horse this is 7.5kg dry matter and given that many forage replacers are around 90% dry matter this equates as 8.3kg of forage replacer as fed (7.5/0.9).
- Forage replacers can’t be fed in a net and instead should be fed in a large wide bottomed bucket. Putting a football or some large, smooth pebbles on top of the bucket can help to slow the rate of intake.
- Like all dietary changes a forage replacer should be introduced gradually into the ration over the period of at least a few weeks. Once a forage replacer has been gradually introduced it is appropriate to leave larger amounts, as you would a haynet.
Pioneering technology = low levels of dust
Precision drying is a way of conserving forages that ensures they are as clean as possible. Hot air is blown through the crop in big, but gentle tumble driers to dry it much quicker than if it were laying in a field in the sun. This allows us to harvest the crops much earlier, making them more digestible and higher in energy and natural nutrients. It also means our feeds are consistently clean with very low levels of dust and mould, making them ideal for those with respiratory problems or the performance horse.
