making your own feed
Moderators: Roguelet, hpkingjr, WaveMaster
-
Jenny
- Restricted Stakes Winner
- Posts: 801
- Joined: Sun Feb 04, 2007 5:15 pm
- Location: Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
making your own feed
Please give me some suggestions on rations you have tried, that you have had made with amounts etc. The prices of corn and oats are sky rocketing. so feed is going way up. I would like to implement a plan to buy in bulk. maybe make up my own mix. anyone tried it and were they happy with the results? We are in Ontario, Canada. so anyone from the area with names of products would also be great. Thank you
I think if Jenny is horrified by the price of oats and corn, chances of "making" her own feed with Born to Win are slim to none.
We are paying $7.80 for a 50 lb bag of oats. I do not feed corn at all any more because it can cause founder, or re aggravate it. A lot of feed mills have a lower cost all-grain. In the case of this new mill we deal with, they have a 14% all-grain for $7.25 a 50 lb bag, which only needed a calcium boost to make it into a broodmare mix. They agreed, and my bags come with tags with the added calcium written on the back of the tags.
We are paying $7.80 for a 50 lb bag of oats. I do not feed corn at all any more because it can cause founder, or re aggravate it. A lot of feed mills have a lower cost all-grain. In the case of this new mill we deal with, they have a 14% all-grain for $7.25 a 50 lb bag, which only needed a calcium boost to make it into a broodmare mix. They agreed, and my bags come with tags with the added calcium written on the back of the tags.
So Run for the Roses, as fast as you can.....
I used to work for an old fellow, Steve Rowan of Penn National. Very good lifelong raqcehorse trainer, survived by a son Steve "Brody" Rowan who was at Phila Park last time I looked. The boss had us mix up the feed every day in a wheelbarrow. First we added oats, then corn, some barley, cooked flax seed, maybe something else I dont remember. In between the layers we put about a half gallon of molasses, drizzling it in lines across the top of the feed (make sense?). Then the head Mexican would dig in with his (freshly washed) hands and arms and start mixing the molasses in with the feed and turning it all over so it was evenly mixed. The designated feed wheelbarrow ended up completely full. This was enough to feed approx 15-17 horses per day.
-
Retrospectiv
- Maiden Special Weight
- Posts: 140
- Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2005 9:43 am
- Location: I know where I'm not... ;-)
There was a bit of a discussion on making custom feed a bit back in this thread. You might talk to nythoroughbred as far as the cost of buying in bulk for cost comparisons.
http://www.pedigreequery.com/forum/view ... hp?t=17462
http://www.pedigreequery.com/forum/view ... hp?t=17462
~There is always one more imbecile than you counted on~
-
Jenny
- Restricted Stakes Winner
- Posts: 801
- Joined: Sun Feb 04, 2007 5:15 pm
- Location: Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Well a 50 lbs bag of oats is up to $25.00 here. I don't feed oats or corn at all. I am on pelleted feed by Purina and I love it and the horses look great. It is costly and with the prices of corn and oats going up they say our feed prices are going to double any day! with the price of hay being so dear and now the cost of feed as well. I am just looking for an alternative that won't break the bank. I don't want a "cheaper" feed however. I am thinking of buying in bulk. It is half the money right now for corn and oats if you do it that way.
Madelyn i am going to have to go to your dealer. a 40lbs bag of most of the purina feeds is $20.00
Madelyn i am going to have to go to your dealer. a 40lbs bag of most of the purina feeds is $20.00
OMG. $25 FOR A BAG OF OATS?
It's an awful long drive to KY for feed. There are feed mills in northern Indiana, Ohio, etc., that have those kind of prices. Buying from a feed mill will cut your price down to the bare minimum, near the price of bulk with a bag charge. My feed mill supplier also delivers and stacks the feed. They will custom mix any kind of feed you want, but it is a higher charge because they have to set up for it..
It's an awful long drive to KY for feed. There are feed mills in northern Indiana, Ohio, etc., that have those kind of prices. Buying from a feed mill will cut your price down to the bare minimum, near the price of bulk with a bag charge. My feed mill supplier also delivers and stacks the feed. They will custom mix any kind of feed you want, but it is a higher charge because they have to set up for it..
So Run for the Roses, as fast as you can.....
-
nythoroughbredvz
- Allowance Winner
- Posts: 378
- Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 2:11 pm
- Location: upstate ny
Mixing your own feed can be a huge discussion..oats here are $11-$13 per hundred. Corn I get from a local farmer and have it checked before purchasing to assure moisture content and no mold etc..Myself I have had a concentrated mix made. im still working on a table to cut the mix with oats to meet each horses diet. All of my horses are similar except for 2 riding horses that require very little grain. My Goal is to have a concentrate at the max acceptance & high enough in fat, vitamins, minerals, protein etc.. to be fed out of the bag. or mixed to a ratio with oats till the desired nutrients are met and still have the needed vitamins and minerals. right now im feeding 2 parts oats, to one part mix. but still have a bit more to nail down. You should be able to find a local feed mill to come up with a mix using the ingriedients you want in your feed and provide you with its nutrient levels with a little work. Just remember if you allow them to use fillers you will be paying for 20-25% of useless bulk. cost may seem higher than some feeds but you can also feed 20-25% less to get the same or better results because you are feeding a 100% totally digestable diet.
I would use the following..
Base or bulk of feed:
whole oats, beet pulp shreds, cracked corn, alfalfa pellets
2nd level to gain desired fat and nutrients:(would have following pelletized)
Rice Bran oil, soybean meal (really shouldnt need), linseed/flax- whole or meal,cottonseed meal,wheat bran, beet pulp shreds (enough to assure pellets have enough fiber content).iodized salt, brewers yeast, limestone, trace, mineral salt,electrolites, lipids(should be supplied from the rice bran oil), vitamin E, seliniumn, dried skim milk
Enough to hold the feed together to insure consistency and no settling of ingriedients:
liquid molasses
remember if you keep the following levels high enough. fat, protein, fiber,and the Ca:P ratio @ 2:1. you can add oats to your mix to cut it as long as you dont lose nutrients along the way.
Rice Bran Oil plays a big part in this it gives you the fat without using soybean, and provides you with much more nutrients that you would have to find elsewhere including lipids.
I would use the following..
Base or bulk of feed:
whole oats, beet pulp shreds, cracked corn, alfalfa pellets
2nd level to gain desired fat and nutrients:(would have following pelletized)
Rice Bran oil, soybean meal (really shouldnt need), linseed/flax- whole or meal,cottonseed meal,wheat bran, beet pulp shreds (enough to assure pellets have enough fiber content).iodized salt, brewers yeast, limestone, trace, mineral salt,electrolites, lipids(should be supplied from the rice bran oil), vitamin E, seliniumn, dried skim milk
Enough to hold the feed together to insure consistency and no settling of ingriedients:
liquid molasses
remember if you keep the following levels high enough. fat, protein, fiber,and the Ca:P ratio @ 2:1. you can add oats to your mix to cut it as long as you dont lose nutrients along the way.
Rice Bran Oil plays a big part in this it gives you the fat without using soybean, and provides you with much more nutrients that you would have to find elsewhere including lipids.
I've fed many types of bagged feed and have gone back to have my own mixed. Originally I designed a feed for the racehorses who needed low carb diets (long before they were available at the feed store). The base of this was beet pulp and alfalfa pellets. It was only about 10% oats and no corn. Because of the caloric needs of the racehorses it was about 20% fat. You won't need this much fat but you can still base your feed on beet pulp and alfalfa.
For my feed now it is beet pulp, alfalfa pellets, oats and KER crumbles. There is quite a bit of soybean oil added and I top dress with ground flax seed. My horses had spectatular coats this summer and are wintering the best ever. The feed costs about $11.50/50# and the flax is $16/50# (1 cup daily/horse). I feed so much less of it than any processed feed that I save money.
In the winter at the track we used to cook the oats first. I wish I had the time now - as there is nothing better than watching them slurp down their oat/bran mashes!
For my feed now it is beet pulp, alfalfa pellets, oats and KER crumbles. There is quite a bit of soybean oil added and I top dress with ground flax seed. My horses had spectatular coats this summer and are wintering the best ever. The feed costs about $11.50/50# and the flax is $16/50# (1 cup daily/horse). I feed so much less of it than any processed feed that I save money.
In the winter at the track we used to cook the oats first. I wish I had the time now - as there is nothing better than watching them slurp down their oat/bran mashes!
First you need to consider what you are feeding and what they need to accomplish what you want. All oats and corn are not equal. The hardest thing for me is balancing the minerals. We feed a mixture of crimped oats, corn chops, alfalfa pellets, soy bean meal, redcell, minerals and oil. Each class of horse gets what we feel that they need. We pay $9.50 for crimped oats and pellets, $6.25 for corn chops, $10 for soybeanmeal.