How best to change from hard feed to mostly or all forage?

Peace

pAin't Nobody's Bidness
Nov 12, 1999
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Looks like my two boys will be coming home from the boarding stable the first of next month.:D

Right now, Bram (23 yr old quarter draft cross) is on sparse pasture and fed sweet feed (grain with molasses mixed in) twice a day. Quanah (7 yr old paint gelding) is on rich pasture and fed oats once a day. Both are too fat.

I have fairly nice pasture (coastal bermuda grass). I think they'll do just fine on grass, supplemented with hay as the weather gets colder, with maybe a little high fat/low starch pellets to mix their supplements in. Or I might just use a handful of fruit or veg for that. They're in really light work, will be turned out 24/7 (as they are at the stable), and are easy keepers (aka good do-ers;) ).

So how best to make the dietary switch? Must I buy a bag of sweet feed and a bag of oats and wean them off hard feed gradually? Or can I just switch them to a mostly forage-based diet right away when they get home?
 
I think the danger of switching feeds too quickly is mostly related to adding grain too quickly. Reducing on the other hand should not cause any medical problems - although your boys may think otherwise. ;)

You NEVER post piccies! I hope to see some when the boys come home. :)
 
yep, you should be fine - the reason behind adding feeds slowly is to let the gut flora adjust to a new feed. so since they already have grass and hay gut flora, you should be fine. but they might feel hard done by if they suddenly stop being fed, so i would ask the barn to start cutting them down in anticipation so they don't think you're mean!
 
I think you're probably all correct in what you say, however it is just my own personal way, but I like to do all changes to diet and management over a period of about 5 days if possible, just to be on the safe side. More grass, different grass etc can cause problems sometimes.
 
Kind of tricky to get your grass to the old barn though?
It was much easier for us since we continued feeding a pellet (in addition to forage) so I dropped off a bag of the kind of food we were going to use at home and the YO transitioned them for me from their feed to our feed.
Good idea about asking your current YO to cut back. :)
 
Certainly would be difficult KarinUS. I have visions of loads of people all digging up turf and replanting it!
I suppose it's the same everywhere, but here in UK, certainly my horses sometimes grow 'grass rings' in their hooves when moved to different fields, or sometimes at different times of the year, and it sometimes can occur when the diet is changed.
 
yes - but that's not really practical to adjust to when they are moving home - you can;';t do that over a week!
they might well have runny droppings as they adjust, but it's not nearly as big a problem or colic risk as changing hard feed.
 
I give Fantasy a couple of cups of soaked beet pulp (without molasses added) for her supplements--everybody else just has it added into their grain, but F doesn't get grain. She seems to feel this is enough like food to snarf it down, and it has the benefit of being wet so her supplements stick to it easily. Also, in winter, I usually soak it in hot water so everybody has a warm treat in their food. It's about as "empty" a feed as I can find for my chubby little mare.
 
Thanks all. I don't know how much success I'll have getting YO to cut back on their feed, though. In fact, I don't really want to tell her my plans for a dietary change - she'll think I'm trying to starve my horses.:D

But that makes a lot of sense - that changing to a new feed would need to be done slowly but simply adding more of something they're already getting would be ok. Within reason, I know - I'm cutting the grass really short so Brammie can't stuff himself.

I don't know what's growing in Bram's pasture now - it's been so long since it's had anything done to it. I bet the grass in Quanah's pasture is coastal bermuda, which is the same as in mine. Hay at both places is coastal bermuda. Which I don't think is terribly rich. And they'll be moving home in fall, when the fructan content should be low.

Thanks, everyone.:)

Oh, ETA - about pics. Yes, I bet I'll be taking lots more of them once they're right outside my door. Maybe I can even save enough $$ not paying board so I can afford something better than a disposable camera.:eek:
 
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