IowaCanChaser - 2017-05-13 10:12 AM I recently was given coupons for 5 free bags of Premium Nutrena Equine Feed. It's for my weanling, and I just wanted some opinions before I buy it. Is it safe? I'm especially worried since it's for my little guy. Does it work well alone or do you add supplements? I usually feed RG with Platinum and I love it. Any input is appreciated! Thanks

cranky B4 10am - 2017-05-14 2:26 PM

Just a heads up... Looks like 2 more horses are suspected to have died from eating Nutrena... 
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010947793179&fref=nf&pnref=story

Sorry, trying to make the link life, but it won't work...  Here is what it said:
 


 

Chandler's Mom - 2017-05-14 5:17 PM We tried it one time, almost lost Dan, and never again. . . .

Chandler's Mom - 2017-05-14 5:17 PM We tried it one time, almost lost Dan, and never again. . . .

rodeomom3 - 2017-05-14 6:19 PM


 Nutrena responded that the feed was tested and inophores were estimated to be less than .01-levels  that are not harmful.   I guess they are OK with the presence  of ionophores, I don't believe any level is acceptable. 

cranky B4 10am - 2017-05-14 6:32 PM


Glad you didn't loose him!
I know people keep saying "I've been feeding it for years, never had a problem..." but why would you want to even take the tiniest chance???
And of course Nutrena put out on their website that they tested the feed and no ionophore was found.... like they would ever admit to it.... that would open the door to all sorts of law suites!!! 
 

Southtxponygirl - 2017-05-14 7:25 PM I have never fed Nutrena and never will, too many sad storys on horses that has been fed it, theres alot better feed companys to choose from..  

Three 4 Luck - 2017-05-15 5:41 PM  Nutrena just went on my crap list with ADM after what they posted on their FB about this. "Trace amounts of monensin were found but the feed is safe so keep feeding it".  Looking at the lab results there was also lascolaid or however you spell that, as well as monensin. And the monensin results report as positive rather than trace since no amount is safe for horses.  Regardless it was obvious that the mill screwed up and the horses paid the price.  But we're supposed to be ok with this? 

kwanatha - 2017-05-15 7:26 PM Honestly we need to protest the mills. wish I could win the lotto I would pay people to protest. I am so sick of hearing these stories. I do not care what their procdures are. Some boss took the day off and some lazy employee screwed up. with what people get paid nowadays and how much they couldn't  care less. I am surprised it doesn't happen more often. as long as people keep buying their feed, it will not stop. if people could just come together and make a stand they would have to change

cranky B4 10am - 2017-05-15 9:22 PM


I agree to a point. I've been reading all the comments on the link I posted and there are still a lot of them that believe Nutrena is not guilty... 
Comments like "They've been feeding it for years...." And "don't believe everything you read on the net..." etc... As long as people keep drinking the coolaid, these big mills keep doing what they are doing... which is line their pockets.... 
I just feel for the horses, they are the ones suffering!

Chandler's Mom - 2017-05-15 10:08 PM The place we were buying our feed was going out of business; we were driving 45 min one way for feed. The next town that carried it was almost an hour and a half away. (I know a lot of y'all drive even further than that--sad we can't get good feed closer.) Anyway, the feed store in our town sells Nutrena, and the owner is a client of mine so I obviously wanted to do business with him. I asked if he could get my feed, he did some checking, and came back with the question as to why I didn't use Nutrena. Such a great feed, everyone in town used it (even folks who had owned horses for years, etc). I told him I'd had a bad experience, might not even have been the feed, but at my old horse's age I wasn't chancing it. He just kept on and on, giving me names of local horse people who used it and just couldn't understand why I wouldn't use it. Finally, I told him I appreciated his trying to help me, but there was nothing he could say or do that was changing my mind. So now we trade off with two other folks taking turns going to Monroe LA to pick up for all of us. It just isn't a chance I'll take with my horses.

Kay-DRacing. - 2017-05-16 12:31 PM So...would anyone be concerned about feeding Nutrina triple cleaned race horse oats?! 

cranky B4 10am - 2017-05-16 12:44 PM I wouldn't give a dime to them anymore after the way they deflect and "handle" these cases. JMHO 

FLITASTIC - 2017-05-16 2:30 PM I have found big chunks of mold in Nutrena senior years ago. I contacted the company and they told me I had let moisture in ( Nope, it was july and I live 5 minutes from where I bought it). I took pictures to send in... They looked at pictures and it was moldy, but the part that was moldy was a larger cattle pellet from a nutrena cattle product. Good thing was, I saw it before I fed any as I was dumping the bag into my feed bin...

cranky B4 10am - 2017-05-16 7:10 AM Well, I am guessing that is one of the reasons people stick their head in the sand about this... Nutrena is readily available and compared to some other feeds pretty cheap...

And I agree, my horses are not something I want to take a gamble on. They are accident prone enough as it is....

 

JLazyT_perf_horses - 2017-05-16 4:59 PM You have potential for any feed brand to be compromised in some way. I've fed Purina, Nutrena, several brands of oats, Total Equine, and several more. Some brands you'll have contamination issues, some you'll have moisture issues, bugs, etc. The oats I got always had tons of bugs in them, no matter which brands. The Ultium I used to feed was always old at the stores I purchased them from. Sometimes the Nutrena would be old. I've learned to always check the bags for a date. I've spoken with reps from Nutrena and Purina about the shelf life of the feeds I've used. I currently feed the ProForce Fuel line and the rep told me not to feed it if the date is 3 months or older. Dealers are not required to remove it from the shelf, they will sell it as old. My dealer only stocks as many as he knows his usual customers will purchase and my feed is always manufactured the month I buy it. The one I had the worst luck with was the TE though, it was often moldy. Unsafe feed from a mill that doesn't manufacture other livestock feed, so you'd think it was safe right? No. Sometimes it's also the dealer that contaminates the feed. A couple years ago I knew someone who's horse was poisoned from a chemical in the Strategy. Luckily this was before the time where everything was blown up so quickly by social media because I know 99% would have done to Purina, exactly what we've done to Nutrena. And in the end it was the dealers fault, an employee had heard and admitted to having spilled a jug of antifreeze on several bags, which soaked into the bags through the seams on the ends. Had nothing to do with Purina at all. I'm not saying this is every case, but sometimes there are outside factors. Nothing is 100% safe. I continue to feed Nutrena and am ok with it. We hold these feed companies up to such high standards, saying only 100% purity is acceptable but then we shovel food into our own mouths with chemicals that could eventually kill us as well. How many brands of food do we all still continue to eat even after they've been recalled for potentially life threatening contaminations. Not trying to be an ***hole, but if you demand purity for you horses but you'll feed your kid processed foods, then you're now holding your horse's life to a higher standard than your own kid. There's big name people who still proudly endorse the ADM feeds and they've had far more issues than Nutrena has had lately. Nutrena is offering coupons because they've taken a big hit in sales due to the accusations that we will probably never know the true story behind. You're at risk no matter what you feed, grain or hay. I almost lost mine to Potomac over a dead mayfly in a flake of hay once, I still feed hay from the same place.

rodeomom3 - 2017-05-16 6:09 PM  Agree with three4luck.   There are some valid analogies in your post and some not so valid.  We as humans eat  a variety of foods, much of it can case  long term health issues, they are issues though that can be reversed with a change of diet, not so with inophore contamination. Horses on grain don't eat a wide variety, those on grain eat one source and I don't think it is too much to ask that the one food source of grain come from a trusted manufacturer.   How Nutrena has handled this is very telling.   Monosin present but not in enough amounts to cause illness, obviously this is acceptable to them.   The reports are online, we do know the story.  The story I know is that Nutrena finds "trace" amounts of contamination acceptable, I don't.  Whether these trace amounts killed these horses may yet to be determined but I sure would not gamble with my horses.   This is not a new issue, Nutrena has had decades to improve. Not to long ago a different feed producer came on here and addressed an issue someone had with what they found in a bag.  He did not say " it happens", he apologized and said heads were going to roll because someone did not follow procedure, no excuses, it may  just be PR but good PR goes a long way.   Yes, big names still endorse them, I understand being loyal to your sponsor,  but in no way does that have anything to do with the credibility of Nutrena, most have never been to a Nutrena mill.  Yes, blister beetles, other bugs can cause illness but that is different than  processing grain in a controlled environment.    It comes down to dollars, Nutrena does not want to change their mills or how they process the grains. 

Nevertooold - 2017-05-16 7:19 PM

Nutrena did real well for Triple Crown when they started to mill their feed..

Kay-DRacing. - 2017-05-16 2:04 PM I just bought a bag dang it! Before this whole thing errupted. I shouldve known better! Maybe theyll let me return it. 

JLazyT_perf_horses - 2017-05-17 10:00 AM

The allegations against the feed were for an all livestock feed, that right there is asking for trouble. You always have that risk when feeding an all livestock feed. A local mill mixes one and they pull different feeds from different parts of the mill and mix the final product together. Some of it is pushed through the same machines as the cattle feed, so contamination is always a potential. However they put a warning label on the bag about it. Most likely other big mills do it the same way. There is never as much care put into an all livestock feed as there is equine only. Common sense should tell you not to use an all livestock feed to a horse, but people do because it's dirt cheap. A 50lb bag is $7, red flag right there. I've had my feed tested and it came back clear, so I'm not concerned about it.

JLazyT_perf_horses - 2017-05-17 10:00 AM

The allegations against the feed were for an all livestock feed, that right there is asking for trouble. You always have that risk when feeding an all livestock feed. A local mill mixes one and they pull different feeds from different parts of the mill and mix the final product together. Some of it is pushed through the same machines as the cattle feed, so contamination is always a potential. However they put a warning label on the bag about it. Most likely other big mills do it the same way. There is never as much care put into an all livestock feed as there is equine only. Common sense should tell you not to use an all livestock feed to a horse, but people do because it's dirt cheap. A 50lb bag is $7, red flag right there. I've had my feed tested and it came back clear, so I'm not concerned about it.

Kay-DRacing. - 2017-05-17 10:47 AM Great news! I was able to get my money back for my oats! WOOHOO! I then proceeded to show the store manager this thread and his jaw about hit the floor....

JLazyT_perf_horses - 2017-05-17 10:00 AM The allegations against the feed were for an all livestock feed, that right there is asking for trouble. You always have that risk when feeding an all livestock feed. A local mill mixes one and they pull different feeds from different parts of the mill and mix the final product together. Some of it is pushed through the same machines as the cattle feed, so contamination is always a potential. However they put a warning label on the bag about it. Most likely other big mills do it the same way. There is never as much care put into an all livestock feed as there is equine only. Common sense should tell you not to use an all livestock feed to a horse, but people do because it's dirt cheap. A 50lb bag is $7, red flag right there. I've had my feed tested and it came back clear, so I'm not concerned about it.

JLazyT_perf_horses - 2017-05-17 11:33 AM I just read about it and I'm not buying that it was a feed issue. Seems to me like after what happened last fall it was just easiest to point the finger at Nutrena. But that's just my opinion, not enough evidence to point the finger at monensin. I will continue to feed my Fuel. If anyone is concerned about their feed its very easy to have some samples tested at a toxicology lab also, there's many that will do it. My point of the post was to emphasize that no matter what you feed, there's always a risk for something harmful. As for the oats I posted about, I had used 3 brands (Diamind, Producer's Pride, and Country Feeds brands). Diamond was the worst with the bugs. I only fed rolled oats, as whole oats are highly wasted in their body. However the horse I fed them to has developed a low starch tolerance and feeding him oats would kill him now, so I haven't purchased any in a couple years.

JLazyT_perf_horses - 2017-05-17 9:33 AM

I just read about it and I'm not buying that it was a feed issue. Seems to me like after what happened last fall it was just easiest to point the finger at Nutrena. But that's just my opinion, not enough evidence to point the finger at monensin. I will continue to feed my Fuel. If anyone is concerned about their feed its very easy to have some samples tested at a toxicology lab also, there's many that will do it. My point of the post was to emphasize that no matter what you feed, there's always a risk for something harmful.

As for the oats I posted about, I had used 3 brands (Diamind, Producer's Pride, and Country Feeds brands). Diamond was the worst with the bugs. I only fed rolled oats, as whole oats are highly wasted in their body. However the horse I fed them to has developed a low starch tolerance and feeding him oats would kill him now, so I haven't purchased any in a couple years.

JLazyT_perf_horses - 2017-05-17 11:33 AM

I just read about it and I'm not buying that it was a feed issue. Seems to me like after what happened last fall it was just easiest to point the finger at Nutrena. But that's just my opinion, not enough evidence to point the finger at monensin. I will continue to feed my Fuel. If anyone is concerned about their feed its very easy to have some samples tested at a toxicology lab also, there's many that will do it. My point of the post was to emphasize that no matter what you feed, there's always a risk for something harmful.

As for the oats I posted about, I had used 3 brands (Diamind, Producer's Pride, and Country Feeds brands). Diamond was the worst with the bugs. I only fed rolled oats, as whole oats are highly wasted in their body. However the horse I fed them to has developed a low starch tolerance and feeding him oats would kill him now, so I haven't purchased any in a couple years.

JLazyT_perf_horses - 2017-05-17 1:54 PM The feed tested positive for monensin, yes even Nutrena posted that. I never said there wasn't monensin in the feed, I said I'll believe it when the tissue report comes back proving that cause of death. The feed could have that in it and the horses could have still died from something else entirely. But the tissue sample reports apparently aren't out yet from what I can see. Each person is going to have their own opinions about it anyway. The whole point of my original response was completely disregarded, so I'm just going to be done or else this is going to end up one of those never ending beating a dead horse posts.

JLazyT_perf_horses - 2017-05-17 11:54 AM

The feed tested positive for monensin, yes even Nutrena posted that. I never said there wasn't monensin in the feed, I said I'll believe it when the tissue report comes back proving that cause of death. The feed could have that in it and the horses could have still died from something else entirely. But the tissue sample reports apparently aren't out yet from what I can see. Each person is going to have their own opinions about it anyway. The whole point of my original response was completely disregarded, so I'm just going to be done or else this is going to end up one of those never ending beating a dead horse posts.

3canstorun - 2017-05-17 4:34 PM

 My levels on my report were .16g/tn reported by the lab in auburn. It was enough to make a horse is have owned over 20 years go into a bad colic. She recovered, but it wasn't pleasant. 

winwillows - 2017-05-17 4:42 PM Nutrena admitted the contamination because they could not deny it. The levels shown were from the samples tested and may not be representative of what else was in the bag that these two horses actually ate. If something had hung up in the system and ended up in that feed, there could easily have been a hot spot and not an even distribution throughout the bag tested. Who knows. The safe choice, pun intended, is to simply buy your feed from companies that do not make medicated feeds, or use ingredients from sources that do. If you do not have any medications on the property, this will not happen.

FLITASTIC - 2017-05-17 2:37 PM You should NOT FEEL OK with ANY amounts of ANY ionophores in your horses feed. PERIOD. ZIP ZILCH ZERO...

rodeomom3 - 2017-05-17 5:24 PM  Exactly and arguing is that contamination can happen from bugs, on the store shelf, etc, while true,  is like arguing car wrecks happen all the time for different reasons do go ahead and text and drive.  You can control the environment where no inophores have a chance of any contamination just like you can control whether you text and drive at the same time.  

Three 4 Luck - 2017-05-17 6:11 PM


That's what I commented when Nutrena responded to me that botulism is more toxic.(duh, it's like the most toxic substance on earth)  Contaminants that can be 100% prevented don't belong in the same conversation with things that can't be prevented (and are tested for because of that).

Lovin Life - 2017-05-18 8:37 AM

I'm sure this has been gone over previously, but what companies are safe to feed from? I tried feeding Bluebonnet and my horses will not eat it. I went back to Purina so they would eat.

Lovin Life - 2017-05-18 8:37 AM I'm sure this has been gone over previously, but what companies are safe to feed from? I tried feeding Bluebonnet and my horses will not eat it. I went back to Purina so they would eat.

Runnincat - 2017-05-17 2:47 PM


It could have even been from the prior bag of feed, one that was fed up and never tested.  Then say you crack into a new bag, horses die...test the feed and the levels come back low.  Makes ya think?!! 

Lovin Life - 2017-05-18 8:37 AM

I'm sure this has been gone over previously, but what companies are safe to feed from? I tried feeding Bluebonnet and my horses will not eat it. I went back to Purina so they would eat.

BamaCanChaser - 2017-05-18 10:21 AM


This is what I have for verified safe feeds:

Seminole
Renew Gold
Total Equine
Standlee Hay
Manna Pro
Hay-Rite
Blue Bonnett
Buckeye
Red River Feeds
Woody's Feeds
Danco Forage

I was recently told about Crytpo Aero Feed company, after looking into it, I think it's safe to add to the list too, unless anyone knows otherwise. This is the statement on their website. "Crypto Aero Wholefood Horse Feed is milled at Walpole Feed Inc. In its own mixer. No other feeds are ever run in the same mixer and/ or bagging machine. Walpole Feed does not use any feed additives such as monensin, rumensin, or paylene, that could possibly be harmful to a horse in any of their feeds."

To the person who asked, Purina horse feed is not 100% ionophore free. It depends which mill your feed comes from.

want2chase3 - 2017-05-18 1:34 PM

What about Triple Crown now that Bluebonnet is now milling for them?

cutnrunqhmt - 2017-05-18 4:16 PM


Not all TC in milled by them us out west are not.