Replacing Forage –What are the options?

Short of forage? Or does your forage just not suit your horse? 

If either of these are challenges you’re facing this summer, don’t despair. Some fibre feeds such as short chops and pellets maybe used as partial or full forage replacers to ensure every horse or pony’s ration is right for them. 

Lack of Grazing? 

The British weather is increasingly unpredictable. If you are worried about starting on this season’s forage already, a forage replacer is a useful alternative and can make last year’s forage last longer. Using a couple of kgs (the typical weight of a section of a small bale of hay) each day is practical for most people to use and is between 20-25% of a 500kg horse’s requirement.  

Forage that’s just too good!

Sometimes your forage or grazing is just too good for your horse or pony which is often the case with a good doer. Using a low calorie chopped fibre feed can help to reduce the overall calories provided by the forage.  Dengie Meadow Lite with Herbs is a soft, blend of grass and soft straw with tasty herbs and postbiotics to support digestive health. Naturally low in sugar at just 3% – a typical grass hay would be about 10% simple sugar and 15% + WSC – and starch at 0.5%, it can be fed ad lib as a low-calorie forage replacer.  Alternatively opt for Dengie Hi-Fi Lite, a straw and alfalfa blend with a light molasses coating. Offer a large tub to help keep the good doer chewing and occupied while stabled.

Forage that’s just not good enough!

At the other end of the spectrum, poor grazing or late cut forages are likely to be less nutritious and for horses with increased nutritional requirements such as young, old and those in work, it may well not be enough. Using a higher calorie chopped fibre feed is a relatively safe way to provide extra calories without having to use more cereal based feeds which is particularly useful for those prone to laminitis.  Dengie Meadow Grass with Herbs & Oil or Dengie Alfa-A Molasses Free or Dengie Alfa-A Oil can all be fed up to 3kgs per day as partial forage replacers.

Coping with poor dentition?

A compromised ability to chew is not just a problem for older horses and ponies as diastemas (abnormal gaps between teeth where food can get trapped, leading to pain and potential complications) are increasingly being diagnosed in horses of any age. If the horse can still manage a short chop then one that can be used as a complete forage replacer is a good starting point. Examples include Dengie Hi-Fi Senior which can be fed to horses of any age and combines grass and alfalfa. It should be fed on a weight for weight basis to replace hay. If the horse can no longer manage any chopped fibre then Dengie Grass Pellets can be soaked and fed as a mash alongside other soaked feeds such as Dengie Alfa-Beet.  As these feeds are fed soaked, they can also help to increase water intake so great to use in hot weather. 

Feeding forage replacers: what you need to know?  

Not all feeds can be used as a forage replacer–they must be high in fibre and low starch, as well as being nutritionally comparable to forage to be suitable.

• Feeding insufficient forage, and therefore fibre, increases the risk of digestive issues including colic and loose droppings. Make sure you weigh a forage replacer to ensure you are feeding enough

• A minimum of 1.5% of bodyweight on a dry matter basis should be provided daily when totally replacing the usual forage ration. For a 500kg horse this is 7.5kg dry matter and given that many forage replacers are around 90% dry matter this equates as 8.3kg of forage replacer as fed (7.5÷0.9 = 8.3).

• Forage replacers can’t be fed in a net and instead should be fed in a large wide bottomed bucket. Putting a football or some large, smooth pebbles on top of the bucket can help to slow the rate of intake.

Like all dietary changes a forage replacer should be introduced gradually into the ration over the period of at least a few weeks. Once a forage replacer has been gradually introduced it is appropriate to leave larger amounts, as you would a haynet.

For further help and advice on all aspects of feeding call the Dengie Feedline: 01621 841188