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Expert
Posts: 1207
 
| For those of you that have switched to these cubes, can you tell me how you are feeding them. Are you feeding them like what you have fed the grain in the past, as hay replacement, grain replacement? Just trying to get ideas on how to feed my 3. I have had them on the cubes for 2 weeks as an after grain feeding, not much, maybe a half of scoop to see how they would eat them and to see if my older gelding had any difficulty chewing them. WELL..my older gelding was leaving his grain and wanting the cubes, then my mare started doing the same thing. They devour the cubes. So just trying to get idea on how to feed them, how much to feed them, etc. They are all on pasture (although pasture is getting limited now with colder weather), I have grass hay for them. I don't think I will do a total hay replacement with the cubes but just was wondering what everbody else was doing. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 393
| This is the reply I received from Danco Forage when I asked how much to feed.
It can be fed as a supplement, a concentrate along with other hay, or a sole ration. That is why we say up to 2.5% of body weight.
The vast majority of horses doing this are in great performance shape at about 1.75% body weight daily. Some easy keepers do well on 1.5% and some harder keepers need 2.0-2,5% daily (with most of them falling in the 2.0 range). So if your horse is 1000 lbs and an average keeper, it should be at peak condition with roughly 18lbs/day. If fed with other hay or grain, you will adjust down according to how much you are giving them. For example, many people choose to feed 18-12lbs of Omnis along with 10 lbs of grass hay, or 15 lbs of Omnis with 3-4 lbs of grass hay. It is really up to you, how exactly you utilize it in your feeding program. |
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Expert
Posts: 1207
| Well that sucks as I was hoping to just replace the cubes for the grain. That would mean I would be feeding more cubes per pound than what I would of the grain I am presently feeding. |
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Expert
Posts: 1207
| I am feeding 1.5 lbs to 2 of my easy keepers and about 3 lbs to the older gelding plus adding alfalfa cubes to their feedings morning/night with their grain. The grain is Bluebonnet. I also add Amplify to the older gelding as he was losing weight. The Amplify really helped. |
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Blessed 
 
Location: Here | We no longer feed grain just cubes. You can't compare grain poundage to cube poundage pound for pound because it contains forage. But they do utilize the grain better because it is mixed into the forage
Ours also have access to free choice grass hay
Edited by SG. 2015-12-30 3:49 PM
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| I was feeding about 10 lbs of the omni cubes per horse per day. I am not riding but will next week. My 2 got fat on them so I have backed down to 5lbs Omni cubes and 5 lbs Mustang Sally (made by Danco). They have access to a medium quality grass round bale. The only other thing I am feeding is Cur Ost Total in the am. When I start riding on a schedule I will add more Omni cubes as needed.
My one horse always gobbled his feed and was gone in minutes, but now he is eating slower and no longer paws at his feed tub. I hope to never change their feed again. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | It is a very difficult question you ask, because like SG said, the cubes replace forage and are extremely versatile, for sure. I can give you some examples of rations using the cubes. (these are just examples. You can tweak any of them as you wish)
a) 4-5 lbs of Omnis, along with free choice grass hay
b) 8-10 lbs of Omnis, along with 15lbs of grass hay (can be free choice because the more Omnis given, the less hay will be consumed)
c) 14-16 lbs of Omnis, along with 4-6 lbs of grass hay (about a flake)
d) 18-24 lbs of Omnis, with nothing else. (This is my personal ration)
A 4 quart metal scoop is about 4.5-5 lbs of Omnis. If you are wanting to keep it similar to what you are doing now. I would feed one scoop, once a day, to my easy keepers and 2 scoops (either 2 scoops once a day or 1 scoop twice a day) to my older horse.
For a performance horse or to get the maximum benefit from the oats and flax, I do recommend a minimum of 8 lbs of Omnis along with good pasture or hay, keeping in mind that you are replacing some of your hay with a premium alfalfa forage.
Edited by Tdove 2015-12-30 5:04 PM
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Expert
Posts: 1207
| Thanks Trey, that helps. My 2 are very easy keepers and could stand to lose some weight. I feed grass hay but I fork it off of a big bale because otherwise my 2 would just stand there and eat. My mare is a little on the quirky side as she thinks everyone else is getting something better than what she is. Even though it is all the same. I do add the Muscle Mass to mine in the AM. But the scoop helps a lot. |
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