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Post by penny70 on Jan 10, 2011 12:58:50 GMT 1
Just been told today that the hay is going up to £5.50 a bale (boo!) but that YO has found someone to sell him 500 bales more so hopefully that'll see the yard through till spring. I daren't cut Mouse's fibre rations too much as he's only just maintaining weight as it is, so although he could be out 24/7 and come in for a fibre feed without staying in, due to the lack of nutrients in what grass we have, I think he'd then lose weight, and I was one of the few Highland owners who was trying to put a bit of weight on my pony by the end of the summer as he was looking too thin! So off I went to the feed merchants today, and have come back with HiFi Unmolassed (as opposed to Lite), and a bag of Allen and Page Fast Fibre, which seems to be just fibre in pellet form, needs soaking for a minute and can be used as a hay replacer. So I'll feed Mouse some of that with his HiFi, keep his hay ration as is, and see what happens. Any one have any experience of Fast Fibre?
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izzy
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 2,077
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Post by izzy on Jan 10, 2011 22:51:24 GMT 1
OMG makes me realise how lucky i am i have 14 round bales to last my nf ,arab and mini they were priced at 15-£20.I am feeding it in nets though as they waste so much ad lib
i do feed fast fibre though and they love it my Arab who is 17yo lives out 24-7 looks good on compared to last year when her bum was angular.
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Post by kirsten on Jan 11, 2011 0:40:17 GMT 1
What is Allen and Page's FF made from? I mean, is it sugar beet based, for example? I have looked on their website but couldn't see what it is exactly. Thanks (sorry to hijack, a wee bit!)
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Post by mags on Jan 11, 2011 9:28:32 GMT 1
I've had good success using Timothy HorseHage as "emergency forage". It's fine for my pony who is pretty sugar sensitive, and I've heard from others also that their horses got on well with it despite usually needing soaked hay. I like it because it's easy to transport in small amounts (no hay mess in the car) and the bags are small enough that you can use them up within a reasonable time before the haylage goes off. Maybe worth a try?
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Post by Zuzan on Jan 11, 2011 14:29:13 GMT 1
What is Allen and Page's FF made from? I mean, is it sugar beet based, for example? I have looked on their website but couldn't see what it is exactly. Thanks (sorry to hijack, a wee bit!) Yes I'd be interested as what the ingredients are too ... if anyone has a bag it should list the ingredients.. Cheers
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Post by mags on Jan 11, 2011 15:08:56 GMT 1
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ruby
Olympic Poster
Posts: 720
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Post by ruby on Jan 11, 2011 16:07:39 GMT 1
If you have problems with transport, is there nobody round you who can deliver? We have limited storage but several merchants round here will deliver a few bales at a time, or a large bale of haylage should last you a few weeks as long as it keeps.
Although farmers were still able to make hay/haylage round here, apparently there are folks coming from the south to the markets and taking lorry loads back with them, consequently the price of hay has gone up a lot to £5-8 a small bale.
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Post by annabelle h on Jan 11, 2011 16:17:15 GMT 1
Good quality oat straw is fine to feed, ideally mix it up with hay, and perhaps a handful or two of haylage if you have a fussy eater.
Back in the 80s we did this all year round to save hay money - no expensive forage replacers around then!
A x
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Post by kirsten on Jan 11, 2011 20:19:39 GMT 1
The farmer in Dunbar where I get my hay is charging the same for straw - £4 per small bale collected, £4.50 delivered.
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Post by Zuzan on Jan 12, 2011 23:31:53 GMT 1
Many thanks for posting the ingredients of fast fiber...... interesting but i feed everything in the ingredients except the oat fibre (whatever that is ....... if its straw i am) anyway.... suspect it is cheaper and just as effective to buy "ingredients" separately... am fairly unconvinced by mixes and composite feeds when the single ingredients are available individually..
yes our forage straw is approx same as hay now... but I am quite interested to see if the harder forage (straw) is better for teeth... have a theory that horses need coarser / harder forage to maintain their teeth..
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