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 1D Lawn Mower
Posts: 1417
 
Location: Southeast, Texas | Do any of you buy/use bulk feed for your horses? Have a local trainer who uses a bulk cattle feed on horses, both personal and outside horses. While they have never had a issue, the feed contains cotton seed and I have always been told horses could not have cotton seed. (And who knows what else.. but the cotton seed is obvious.) It was stated that it was cheap and kept them looking like a million bucks. Admittedly, they are all slick and toned.
So, who else uses a bulk feed? What is it? How do you deem it horse quality?
If you are like me and think feeding bulk feed is a scary idea.. what do you feed, that you find cost effective, to maintain a large herd when pasture quality is poor?
Edited by ABroussard 2019-02-05 5:56 PM
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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| I dont really know, to answer your question. I refuse to feed junk. Our trainer feeds everything country acres, needless to say I supply the feed if we send one to him. I dont care if the horses on that feed look good, its junk and not safe at all. It costs me more in the long run but I've just come to terms with that. |
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 A Barrel Of Monkeys
Posts: 12972
  
Location: Texas | I try to feed horse feed. I've never bought anything in bulk other than oats, and I think it's pretty safe. Actually, Country Acres is made by Purina and is a pretty safe feed. It just doesn't have all the bells and whistles the other feeds provide. I try to feed the best hay I can find. That seems to cover all the bases. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 357
| I have my feed made at the local feed mill in bulk. I get to customize my feed with what I want and what I don’t and have my supplement already added in. Cost me a little less then $10 a 50lb bag. I think we buy around 600lb at a time.
When we raise beef cattle and had them together with my horses, I always made sure my horses did not eat their feed. I was always taught that there is stuff in cow feed horses shouldn’t eat. However I know a chain feed store sells a type of grain that is supposed to for cows horses goats and sheep. |
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1D Lawn Mower
Posts: 1417
Location: Southeast, Texas | To my knowledge, we don’t have any mills nearby that allow that option. If I could buy a quality feed for $10 per 50lbs, I would have no problem buying a bulk order. I don’t own a easy keeper, I’m sure that is mostly due to our pasture quality, I have to feed a good feed to make my guys look presentable! It’s just always mind blowing to see these horses who are kept on dry lots, eating cheap feed, plain jane hay, and thriving. Makes me wonder what type of monster I’ve created in my own program. I can get a discount to buy my feed by the ton, which is great.. but it’s not a significant discount. .20¢ off a $20 bag just doesn’t make much difference in the grand scheme of things. |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12703
| bbennington - 2019-02-06 8:46 AM I have my feed made at the local feed mill in bulk. I get to customize my feed with what I want and what I don’t and have my supplement already added in. Cost me a little less then $10 a 50lb bag. I think we buy around 600lb at a time.
When we raise beef cattle and had them together with my horses, I always made sure my horses did not eat their feed. I was always taught that there is stuff in cow feed horses shouldn’t eat. However I know a chain feed store sells a type of grain that is supposed to for cows horses goats and sheep.
The one customer mill within 100 miles of me quit producing any custom horse feeds. They barely saved themselves from a lawsuit from a crazy NoVA horse woman a few years ago and now won't touch horse feed.
I tried to get a custom feed formulated and this was where it ended.
I have since gone to top quality alfalfa and timothy and little to no bagged feed. I sure wish trainers would do the same - they would find out that it's cheaper per pound and that the horses are less prone to issues and maintain great weight under heavy work loads. |
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Expert
Posts: 1314
Location: North Central Iowa Land of white frozen grass | There is no difference between fancy packaged horse feed and bulk.
What do you think the fancy bagged stuff starts out as. Bulk feed and then pellited.
I run a grain elevator and our sister location has the feed mill. They make my horse feed for me a ton at a time. I tell them what i want in it and they bag it up for me.
Go to any of the Ag universities and they can help you figure out a mix for you. I use Iowa State University.
I use my grain mix mainly to carry the salt, minerals and proteins that I want them to have each day.
My horses are outside 24/7 up here in Iowa and are on hay 24/7 so they don't get pampered in a stall.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 357
| lonely va barrelxr - 2019-02-06 10:01 AM bbennington - 2019-02-06 8:46 AM I have my feed made at the local feed mill in bulk. I get to customize my feed with what I want and what I don’t and have my supplement already added in. Cost me a little less then $10 a 50lb bag. I think we buy around 600lb at a time.
When we raise beef cattle and had them together with my horses, I always made sure my horses did not eat their feed. I was always taught that there is stuff in cow feed horses shouldn’t eat. However I know a chain feed store sells a type of grain that is supposed to for cows horses goats and sheep. The one customer mill within 100 miles of me quit producing any custom horse feeds. They barely saved themselves from a lawsuit from a crazy NoVA horse woman a few years ago and now won't touch horse feed.
I tried to get a custom feed formulated and this was where it ended.
I have since gone to top quality alfalfa and timothy and little to no bagged feed. I sure wish trainers would do the same - they would find out that it's cheaper per pound and that the horses are less prone to issues and maintain great weight under heavy work loads.
It only takes one person to ruin it!
We have had ours made for a long time now and also make all our own hay,there is some alfalfa in it but mostly high quality grass hay. Recently talked our farrier into trying our feed mix on her hard keeper Thoroughbreds. She ended up cutting the amount of grain she had to feed in half and couldn’t believe the difference in the way that looked.
I don’t think I could ever go back to name brand feed again. Plus it would probably cost 3x as much.
We always joke that we should start selling our feed mixture!
I honestly think trainer/boarder are going to most unlikely fed the cheapest possible not the same thing they feed their own horses. (Not always but see it a lot) |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| lonely va barrelxr - 2019-02-06 10:01 AM
bbennington - 2019-02-06 8:46 AM I have my feed made at the local feed mill in bulk. I get to customize my feed with what I want and what I don’t and have my supplement already added in. Cost me a little less then $10 a 50lb bag. I think we buy around 600lb at a time.
When we raise beef cattle and had them together with my horses, I always made sure my horses did not eat their feed. I was always taught that there is stuff in cow feed horses shouldn’t eat. However I know a chain feed store sells a type of grain that is supposed to for cows horses goats and sheep.
The one customer mill within 100 miles of me quit producing any custom horse feeds. They barely saved themselves from a lawsuit from a crazy NoVA horse woman a few years ago and now won't touch horse feed.Â
I tried to get a custom feed formulated and this was where it ended.
I have since gone to top quality alfalfa and timothy and little to no bagged feed. I sure wish trainers would do the same - they would find out that it's cheaper per pound and that the horses are less prone to issues and maintain great weight under heavy work loads. Â
I'm curious what a NoVa horse woman is? I dont think I have any mills around me that I could get a custom mix from. Do yall worry about ionophores when having a mill mix your horse feed? I do get tired of paying upwards of $20-30 for a bag of feed but I really only feed my guys a few lbs a day and they maintain really easy on that. |
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Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12703
| want2chase3 - 2019-02-06 11:48 AM lonely va barrelxr - 2019-02-06 10:01 AM bbennington - 2019-02-06 8:46 AM I have my feed made at the local feed mill in bulk. I get to customize my feed with what I want and what I don’t and have my supplement already added in. Cost me a little less then $10 a 50lb bag. I think we buy around 600lb at a time.
When we raise beef cattle and had them together with my horses, I always made sure my horses did not eat their feed. I was always taught that there is stuff in cow feed horses shouldn’t eat. However I know a chain feed store sells a type of grain that is supposed to for cows horses goats and sheep. The one customer mill within 100 miles of me quit producing any custom horse feeds. They barely saved themselves from a lawsuit from a crazy NoVA horse woman a few years ago and now won't touch horse feed.
I tried to get a custom feed formulated and this was where it ended.
I have since gone to top quality alfalfa and timothy and little to no bagged feed. I sure wish trainers would do the same - they would find out that it's cheaper per pound and that the horses are less prone to issues and maintain great weight under heavy work loads. I'm curious what a NoVa horse woman is? I dont think I have any mills around me that I could get a custom mix from. Do yall worry about ionophores when having a mill mix your horse feed? I do get tired of paying upwards of $20-30 for a bag of feed but I really only feed my guys a few lbs a day and they maintain really easy on that.
Northern Virginia, mostly h/j/dressage/fox hunting women (and men) who own 25 blankets per horse and have 2 pages of instructions for how to use them.
Liberals.
Makes me embarrassed to live in NoVA and be an horse person, and one of the biggest reasons I chose barrel racing to get back into way back in 1997. |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| lonely va barrelxr - 2019-02-06 1:11 PM
want2chase3 - 2019-02-06 11:48 AM lonely va barrelxr - 2019-02-06 10:01 AM bbennington - 2019-02-06 8:46 AM I have my feed made at the local feed mill in bulk. I get to customize my feed with what I want and what I don’t and have my supplement already added in. Cost me a little less then $10 a 50lb bag. I think we buy around 600lb at a time.
When we raise beef cattle and had them together with my horses, I always made sure my horses did not eat their feed. I was always taught that there is stuff in cow feed horses shouldn’t eat. However I know a chain feed store sells a type of grain that is supposed to for cows horses goats and sheep. The one customer mill within 100 miles of me quit producing any custom horse feeds. They barely saved themselves from a lawsuit from a crazy NoVA horse woman a few years ago and now won't touch horse feed.Â
I tried to get a custom feed formulated and this was where it ended.
I have since gone to top quality alfalfa and timothy and little to no bagged feed. I sure wish trainers would do the same - they would find out that it's cheaper per pound and that the horses are less prone to issues and maintain great weight under heavy work loads. Â I'm curious what a NoVa horse woman is? I dont think I have any mills around me that I could get a custom mix from. Do yall worry about ionophores when having a mill mix your horse feed? I do get tired of paying upwards of $20-30 for a bag of feed but I really only feed my guys a few lbs a day and they maintain really easy on that.
Liberals.
Makes me embarrassed to live in NoVA and be an horse person, and one of the biggest reasons I chose barrel racing to get back into way back in 1997. Â
Lol! Gotcha... |
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 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | want2chase3 - 2019-02-06 10:48 AM
lonely va barrelxr - 2019-02-06 10:01 AM
bbennington - 2019-02-06 8:46 AM I have my feed made at the local feed mill in bulk. I get to customize my feed with what I want and what I don’t and have my supplement already added in. Cost me a little less then $10 a 50lb bag. I think we buy around 600lb at a time.
When we raise beef cattle and had them together with my horses, I always made sure my horses did not eat their feed. I was always taught that there is stuff in cow feed horses shouldn’t eat. However I know a chain feed store sells a type of grain that is supposed to for cows horses goats and sheep.
The one customer mill within 100 miles of me quit producing any custom horse feeds. They barely saved themselves from a lawsuit from a crazy NoVA horse woman a few years ago and now won't touch horse feed.Â
I tried to get a custom feed formulated and this was where it ended.
I have since gone to top quality alfalfa and timothy and little to no bagged feed. I sure wish trainers would do the same - they would find out that it's cheaper per pound and that the horses are less prone to issues and maintain great weight under heavy work loads. Â
I'm curious what a NoVa horse woman is? I dont think I have any mills around me that I could get a custom mix from. Do yall worry about ionophores when having a mill mix your horse feed? I do get tired of paying upwards of $20-30 for a bag of feed but I really only feed my guys a few lbs a day and they maintain really easy on that.
We get a mix from a local mill. Not bulk because of storage, but they do have that option.
To answer you question on ionophores, no I don't worry about it because the mill doesn't process any medicated feeds...I asked and they confirmed, simple as that. The mill down the road has a great mix that tons of people still buy, but they're not a safe mill as they do process the medicated cattle feeds.
To answer the OP...the issue isn't bulk feed...it's the mix itself whether it's in a 1 ton bag or a 50 lb bag. |
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