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 Expert
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| Just interested in anyone's experiences with feeding barley. I am going to follow Dr. Schell's recommendations and feed a whole oat/Barley/Black Sunflower seed mix. Very small amount 2x daily. I have never used barley before. ALways heard it would make a horse super hot. Does anyone have any experience feeding it? Thanks! |
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Blessed 
Location: Here | I did for years. It is still my favorite. But I can no longer find clean barley. It is all musty and trashy now  |
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Extreme Veteran
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| I've heard of people feed barley in their mix of grain (not me personally) but I actually have never heard of black sunflower seeds being fed to horses |
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Expert
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| Thanks SG, for some reason all of the feed stores out here in CA carry nice quality ROLLED barley. Dr. Schell feeds his whole and not sure I can find that. But this stuff looks great and fresh right out of the bag. I am literally feeding a cup of it 2x a day, so not much. As for the Sunflower seeds, its called BOSS ( Black oil sunflower Seeds). Quite a few hunter/jumper horses are on it. It is marketed as bird seed. lol
Here is a link to the BOSS info
http://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/black-oil-sunflower-se...
Edited by FLITASTIC 2015-07-27 1:59 PM
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Expert
Posts: 2685
| I have no help for you lol.
I just wanted to chime in a little. I have been looking into mixing my own because 1) I work at a feed store that has a feed mill in the back 2) my boss is dying for me to give him a mix to make because he wants me to be able to recommend their feed (I feed blue bonnet which he doesn't carry lol) and 3) I would know exactly what's in it and where it came from. All of the grains they use come from my boss's family farms. All local and fresh. Kicker- it scares the daylights out of me. Grain scares me. The starch, the sugar.... Freaks me the heck out.
I know the basics that I want but I need to learn how to get starch and sugar values on a mix before I do anything else so I don't make a terrible concoction. |
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I just read the headlines
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| Interesting reading, thanks Flitastic. |
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Expert
Posts: 5293
| RoaniePonie11 - 2015-07-27 12:04 PM
I have no help for you lol.
I just wanted to chime in a little. I have been looking into mixing my own because 1) I work at a feed store that has a feed mill in the back 2) my boss is dying for me to give him a mix to make because he wants me to be able to recommend their feed (I feed blue bonnet which he doesn't carry lol) and 3) I would know exactly what's in it and where it came from. All of the grains they use come from my boss's family farms. All local and fresh. Kicker- it scares the daylights out of me. Grain scares me. The starch, the sugar.... Freaks me the heck out.
I know the basics that I want but I need to learn how to get starch and sugar values on a mix before I do anything else so I don't make a terrible concoction.
Dr. Schell ( Curost creator) makes his own mix as well it is 1:1: .25 Whole oats/Whole Barley/BOSS. ANd he feeds 2 TOTAL pounds of it a day. So that roughly breaks down to about cup of oats, cup of Barley, 1/4 cup BOSS 2x daily. I am not jumping on the BOSS band wagon yet. lol |
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  Champ
Posts: 19623
Location: Peg-Leg Julia Grimm | I can't get it by itself. But I can get it mixed with corn and oats. It's the only grain I feed. I hope it's never off the market. I would have to feed twice of anything else to keep my animals looking fluffy like I like them. |
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 Expert
Posts: 4121
Location: SE Louisiana | STOP FEEDING BARLEY!! The more barley you feed your horses, the less beer we have to drink!! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 596
Location: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere | Sooo....beer for my horses?
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Expert
Posts: 4121
Location: SE Louisiana | nmeastplains - 2015-07-27 5:28 PM
Sooo....beer for my horses?
I was really hoping nobody would make that connection...  |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
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Location: In the Hills of Texas | SG. - 2015-07-27 1:31 PM I did for years. It is still my favorite. But I can no longer find clean barley. It is all musty and trashy now
Me too...Loved it. Fed very little of it and it filled in my horse's toplines.  |
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
Location: Opelousas, LA | Our local feed mill uses really nice rolled barley in most of thier higher quality horse mixes, our horses have done really well on it. Interesting about the BOSS, I know a very successful race horse trainer in OK had it in his custom mixed feed when we hauled in to his barn years ago, not sure what else was in it but his horses sure looked good. |
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Tried and True
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Location: Where I am happiest | I fed rolled barley for years and years and my horses always looked and performed awsome on it and I didnt have to feed a crap load of it. A little goes a long ways. Unfortunatelly you cant get it where I live now so I am forced into C.O.B but it's still better then any of the crap processed mixed grains on the market that cost a fortune and you have to feed so much of ,and my horses still look great on very little C.O.B. I just would prefere without the corn.
I am suprised though you said someone was feeding whole barley. Are you sure it's whole and not rolled or crimped? The hull of barley is VERY hard and not recommended for horses. In fact horses really cant even chew whole barley the hull is so incredably hard.
Edited by ThreeCorners 2015-07-27 8:12 PM
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Blessed
Location: Here | I am not familiar with this dr you are referring too but barley should not be feed whole. Unless it is cooked or pearled |
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 Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | If you do go whole barley it has to be boiled.. |
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | A small amount of barley would be ok but I would not base my horse's diet around it. It only has a 30-40% starch digestibility whereas corn has over 90%. This means that barley is hard for their digestive systems to break down and if fed in large enough amounts can cause a lot of issues. Same with corn. Oats are a better whole grain but barley can complement it as part of a feeding program. As for the BOSS, lots of people around the world have had luck with it. I've heard some unpleasant stories but overall it seems like a good option. The only issue is it is really high in omega 6's so depending on how much you feed, you can really throw the omega 3 to 6 ratio out of whack. If you feed a lot of BOSS then making sure your horse has lots of access to good fresh grass and flax or chia if that's not available to help get more of those omega 3's in them.
Edited by cavyrunsbarrels 2015-07-27 11:11 PM
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Expert
Posts: 5293
| The vet I was referring to is the creator of Curost products and the one Herbie on here speaks so highly of. |
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Blessed
Location: Here | cavyrunsbarrels - 2015-07-27 11:07 PM A small amount of barley would be ok but I would not base my horse's diet around it. It only has a 30-40% starch digestibility whereas corn has over 90%. This means that barley is hard for their digestive systems to break down and if fed in large enough amounts can cause a lot of issues. Same with corn. Oats are a better whole grain but barley can complement it as part of a feeding program. As for the BOSS, lots of people around the world have had luck with it. I've heard some unpleasant stories but overall it seems like a good option. The only issue is it is really high in omega 6's so depending on how much you feed, you can really throw the omega 3 to 6 ratio out of whack. If you feed a lot of BOSS then making sure your horse has lots of access to good fresh grass and flax or chia if that's not available to help get more of those omega 3's in them.
Barley has a high caloric content and lower protein. It is my grain of choice. It has less fizz than oats. You don't need as much volume as oats because it is a heavier denser feed. A pound of barley is a lot less volume than oats. This is why it is an ideal feed. |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | SG. - 2015-07-28 12:17 AM cavyrunsbarrels - 2015-07-27 11:07 PM A small amount of barley would be ok but I would not base my horse's diet around it. It only has a 30-40% starch digestibility whereas corn has over 90%. This means that barley is hard for their digestive systems to break down and if fed in large enough amounts can cause a lot of issues. Same with corn. Oats are a better whole grain but barley can complement it as part of a feeding program. As for the BOSS, lots of people around the world have had luck with it. I've heard some unpleasant stories but overall it seems like a good option. The only issue is it is really high in omega 6's so depending on how much you feed, you can really throw the omega 3 to 6 ratio out of whack. If you feed a lot of BOSS then making sure your horse has lots of access to good fresh grass and flax or chia if that's not available to help get more of those omega 3's in them. Barley has a high caloric content and lower protein. It is my grain of choice. It has less fizz than oats. You don't need as much volume as oats because it is a heavier denser feed. A pound of barley is a lot less volume than oats. This is why it is an ideal feed.
agree... Id not feed corn at all..
we are all wanting less grains so its a good option to add.. |
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