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 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
   
Location: Louisiana | I'm currently feeding about 10 pounds of cubes per day to each horse. We are going to buy a 1000lb square bale. Do I still feed 10 pounds? Or is there a difference in moisture content, etc???
Also any tips on how to cut the bale...the lady we're purchasing from says they cut there's into flakes with a chainsaw, hubby is not too keen on that lol.
Thanks! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | It'll be a lot more than 10 lbs on the bale, due to waste and it is also less digestible. |
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 Party Girl
Posts: 12293
Location: Buffalo, Wyoming | dashnlotti - 2015-11-18 8:05 PM I'm currently feeding about 10 pounds of cubes per day to each horse. We are going to buy a 1000lb square bale. Do I still feed 10 pounds? Or is there a difference in moisture content, etc??? Also any tips on how to cut the bale...the lady we're purchasing from says they cut there's into flakes with a chainsaw, hubby is not too keen on that lol. Thanks!
Can you not just take flakes off the bale? All we feed are big bales and I have never heard of cutting one up with a chainsaw. |
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Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | Do you think they will waste it wen they don't normally waste their grass hay?
Do you want to guess about how many more pounds I would have to feed?
Trying to convince my husband that Omnis cubes are the better least expensive choice. But he is on the fence. Ton for ton, hay is about $280 cheaper and supposed to be really good quality. We have a lot of rodeo friends that get from this supplier.
Thank you :) |
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Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | UTAHCANCHASER - 2015-11-19 8:40 AM
dashnlotti - 2015-11-18 8:05 PM I'm currently feeding about 10 pounds of cubes per day to each horse. We are going to buy a 1000lb square bale. Do I still feed 10 pounds? Or is there a difference in moisture content, etc??? Also any tips on how to cut the bale...the lady we're purchasing from says they cut there's into flakes with a chainsaw, hubby is not too keen on that lol. Thanks!
Can you not just take flakes off the bale? All we feed are big bales and I have never heard of cutting one up with a chainsaw.
I don't know I have never seen one!! Lol
That's just what they're telling me and I'm scratching my head over that one.
Hubby wants a cheaper alternative to cubes, but isn't too sure about all the extra work. He is only home in the dark this time of year and I don't exactly feel comfortable wielding a chainsaw   |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| I've never heard of using a chainsaw. It should have large flakes that you can tear in half to feed. Regardless of type, horses still need about 20 lbs a day. If you load nets, weigh those and make sure you're feeding enough. When I have a group, I just put a round bale feeder next to the fence and throw hay into the feeder. No waste at all that way. I just keep in mind that I feed enough that there's always some hay in there, I like to free choice them. Big bales are a pain, but usually cheaper for sure.
PS I'm really enjoying taking 5 minutes to feed five horses enough Omnis that they're fat and sassy. :) they each get a flake of coastal, it takes them a day to eat a flake on Omnis cubes. |
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Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | classicpotatochip - 2015-11-19 9:06 AM I've never heard of using a chainsaw. It should have large flakes that you can tear in half to feed. Regardless of type, horses still need about 20 lbs a day. If you load nets, weigh those and make sure you're feeding enough. When I have a group, I just put a round bale feeder next to the fence and throw hay into the feeder. No waste at all that way. I just keep in mind that I feed enough that there's always some hay in there, I like to free choice them. Big bales are a pain, but usually cheaper for sure. PS I'm really enjoying taking 5 minutes to feed five horses enough Omnis that they're fat and sassy. :) they each get a flake of coastal, it takes them a day to eat a flake on Omnis cubes.
I'm feeding 10lbs of cubes because they're not strictly on just cubes. I also feed whole oats, rice bran, and they're out on some pasture with a round bale. When we have it I also give them good quality grass hay. The round bale is just for nibbles, it isn't fertilized or anything.
Ive been doing this for nearly a month and am liking what I see. My big guy is starting to get someone flat across his butt, and my easy keeper has lost his huge gut. I REALLY want to try the Onnis but am worried about availability. My husband was all for them at first, but now that we've waited a couple weeks on a load, he's getting annoyed and trying to back out on me. |
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
Location: Opelousas, LA | dashnlotti - 2015-11-19 9:17 AM classicpotatochip - 2015-11-19 9:06 AM I've never heard of using a chainsaw. It should have large flakes that you can tear in half to feed. Regardless of type, horses still need about 20 lbs a day. If you load nets, weigh those and make sure you're feeding enough. When I have a group, I just put a round bale feeder next to the fence and throw hay into the feeder. No waste at all that way. I just keep in mind that I feed enough that there's always some hay in there, I like to free choice them. Big bales are a pain, but usually cheaper for sure. PS I'm really enjoying taking 5 minutes to feed five horses enough Omnis that they're fat and sassy. :) they each get a flake of coastal, it takes them a day to eat a flake on Omnis cubes. I'm feeding 10lbs of cubes because they're not strictly on just cubes. I also feed whole oats, rice bran, and they're out on some pasture with a round bale. When we have it I also give them good quality grass hay. The round bale is just for nibbles, it isn't fertilized or anything.
Ive been doing this for nearly a month and am liking what I see. My big guy is starting to get someone flat across his butt, and my easy keeper has lost his huge gut. I REALLY want to try the Onnis but am worried about availability. My husband was all for them at first, but now that we've waited a couple weeks on a load, he's getting annoyed and trying to back out on me.
Just wanted to clarify that the delay in getting a load is my fault, not Dancos. We have built a new hay barn and are trying to get semi friendly parking laid down which has been near impossible with all the rain, we need sun to make the binder set up. The thought of having problems unloading a $12,000 load of cubes has been keeping me up at night, lol. Hoping the next week weather forecast will stay sunny! |
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Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | Barnmom - 2015-11-19 7:39 PM
dashnlotti - 2015-11-19 9:17 AM classicpotatochip - 2015-11-19 9:06 AM I've never heard of using a chainsaw. It should have large flakes that you can tear in half to feed. Regardless of type, horses still need about 20 lbs a day. If you load nets, weigh those and make sure you're feeding enough. When I have a group, I just put a round bale feeder next to the fence and throw hay into the feeder. No waste at all that way. I just keep in mind that I feed enough that there's always some hay in there, I like to free choice them. Big bales are a pain, but usually cheaper for sure. PS I'm really enjoying taking 5 minutes to feed five horses enough Omnis that they're fat and sassy. :) they each get a flake of coastal, it takes them a day to eat a flake on Omnis cubes. I'm feeding 10lbs of cubes because they're not strictly on just cubes. I also feed whole oats, rice bran, and they're out on some pasture with a round bale. When we have it I also give them good quality grass hay. The round bale is just for nibbles, it isn't fertilized or anything.
Ive been doing this for nearly a month and am liking what I see. My big guy is starting to get someone flat across his butt, and my easy keeper has lost his huge gut. I REALLY want to try the Onnis but am worried about availability. My husband was all for them at first, but now that we've waited a couple weeks on a load, he's getting annoyed and trying to back out on me.
No worries! I know the weather has been terrible. We needed rain and now we drenched.
I'm not annoyed with YOU, just weighing options and dealing with a hubby that isn't fully onboard the all natural train!!
He thinks the new diet is too expensive. Well, it is expensive compared to his former program lol. But not to most! His opinion is if they're fat, they're healthy...  |
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  Expert
Posts: 1584
Location: Central Texas | I used to chainsaw the 4x4x8 bales. I'd cut a cross in the end so that the flakes would come off in fourths. They are just perfectly sized. However, it is hard on the chainsaw and required a lot of maintenance. The hay dust plugged up the air filter. I eventually have up on the chainsaw method and pulled them apart or mostly just set the bale out for them to easy free choice. |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | I've been feeding the Mustang Sally Cubes and it has been cheaper then feeding baled alfalfa. I haven't figured out exactly the difference but instead of feeding 8 bales of alfalfa I go through 6 bags of Cubes. I also give coastal, Renew Gold, 2 cups of Beet Pulp and FORCO. The only thing I changed was feeding baled to cubes. I need to figure it out. |
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Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
Location: Opelousas, LA | Nevertooold - 2015-11-19 8:26 PM I've been feeding the Mustang Sally Cubes and it has been cheaper then feeding baled alfalfa. I haven't figured out exactly the difference but instead of feeding 8 bales of alfalfa I go through 6 bags of Cubes. I also give coastal, Renew Gold, 2 cups of Beet Pulp and FORCO. The only thing I changed was feeding baled to cubes. I need to figure it out. Good to know! I hope to get our business built up to where I can carry both, but it is just too humid down here to risk having unsold cubes sitting around for too long.
I don't feed the Omnis as a sole ration to most of ours just because of the cost to get them down here. That said, I am amazed at how our broodmares look after a long, hot, humid summer and all I changed was to replace peanut hay and half their feed with ten pounds of Omnis. I think you just have to play around with it and see what works best for your horses and your pocketbook.
I have started adding Coolstance to the Omnis on three of mine, that is the coconut meal part of Renew Gold. I liked RG but didn't like the fact I was paying a premium to feed something with rice bran when RB is super cheap down here.
Edited by Barnmom 2015-11-19 9:16 PM
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Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | Nevertooold - 2015-11-19 8:26 PM I've been feeding the Mustang Sally Cubes and it has been cheaper then feeding baled alfalfa. I haven't figured out exactly the difference but instead of feeding 8 bales of alfalfa I go through 6 bags of Cubes. I also give coastal, Renew Gold, 2 cups of Beet Pulp and FORCO. The only thing I changed was feeding baled to cubes. I need to figure it out.
Do you know what your bales weighed?
Thanks everyone for your input!! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 396
| Marfan - 2015-11-19 7:17 PM
I used to chainsaw the 4x4x8 bales. I'd cut a cross in the end so that the flakes would come off in fourths. They are just perfectly sized. However, it is hard on the chainsaw and required a lot of maintenance. The hay dust plugged up the air filter. I eventually have up on the chainsaw method and pulled them apart or mostly just set the bale out for them to easy free choice.
We did the same on some alfalfa that was super tight and hard to split one flake in half or into fourths. My husband cleaned the oil out and replaced it with vegetable oil though and then after replaced it back with his regular oil. It was alot of work. |
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 Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | He kept our big bales on a tarp to reduce the waste when you have to cut them up. You'll lose a lot of leaves just getting them pulled apart. Ultimately they were a huge pain and there was a LOT of waste, between getting them fed and the horses picking through and leaving stems behind. Some were more stemmy than others. We found it very difficult to get good quality alfalfa consistently. |
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I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | They would average 70#'s and they came from New Mexico. I was paying $16.95 for a bale versus $13.25 to $14.75 for Mustang Sally Cubes. If I just go and buy around 6 from the Feed Store I pay $14.75. When I bought 30 from a dealer I paid $13.25. Plus he now eats about 2 flakes of Coastal where he use to eat between 4 and 6 a day.
Edited by Nevertooold 2015-11-20 8:28 PM
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Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | Nevertooold - 2015-11-20 12:30 PM They would average 70#'s and they came from New Mexico. I was paying $16.95 for a bale versus $13.25 to $14.75 for Mustang Sally Cubes. If I just go and buy around 6 from the Feed Store I pay $14.75. When I bought 30 from a dealer I paid $13.25. Plus he know eats about 2 flakes of Coastal where he use to eat between 4 and 6 a day.
Thanks!!
Ok, definitely going to have to convince hubby to stay the course and try the Omnis. They'll actually be cheaper than the next best cube I can get locally. Apparently there's a huge markup. I like that the Onnis have the oats and flax added in also.
Just this morning I was looking at the pile of leftover hay from my small bales. So yea, the horses might not waste it but there is waste at several points. Truck, loading, unloading, etc etc. |
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | Barnmom - 2015-11-19 9:10 PM
Nevertooold - 2015-11-19 8:26 PM I've been feeding the Mustang Sally Cubes and it has been cheaper then feeding baled alfalfa. I haven't figured out exactly the difference but instead of feeding 8 bales of alfalfa I go through 6 bags of Cubes. I also give coastal, Renew Gold, 2 cups of Beet Pulp and FORCO. The only thing I changed was feeding baled to cubes. I need to figure it out. Good to know! I hope to get our business built up to where I can carry both, but it is just too humid down here to risk having unsold cubes sitting around for too long.
I don't feed the Omnis as a sole ration to most of ours just because of the cost to get them down here. That said, I am amazed at how our broodmares look after a long, hot, humid summer and all I changed was to replace peanut hay and half their feed with ten pounds of Omnis. I think you just have to play around with it and see what works best for your horses and your pocketbook.
I have started adding Coolstance to the Omnis on three of mine, that is the coconut meal part of Renew Gold. I liked RG but didn't like the fact I was paying a premium to feed something with rice bran when RB is super cheap down here.
It is vital to not confuse the cheap raw rice bran you buy and the food grade stabilized rice bran used in Renew Gold. All raw rice bran is rancid, period. There is no exception to this. that is why it is cheep. It is junk waste. When it goes rancid it degrades the remaining nutrient value and some great and unique nutrition is lost. I have often said that all rice bran is the same, just like all hay is the same.
Edited by winwillows 2015-11-22 10:40 AM
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 The Color Specialist
Posts: 7530
Location: Washington. (The DRY side.) | I feed from big bales. They are a PAIN IN THE ARSE! LOTS of waste. (Not from the horses not eating it, but because they have to be SO dry when baled, so they don't mold, that the "flakes" don't stay together. So I have to move it with a pitch fork. ) |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1131
| The breeding farm used to get the huge bales of alfalfa, it was a pain for sure, but it simply tore into pieces by hand. No chainsaw. haha Now they switched to regular square bales, which makes feeding so much easier IMO. The large bales aren't worth the hassle they cause, honestly. |
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