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Discussion on Switch from corn/oats to Nutrena Safe Choice
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Member:
dtranch
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Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 11:25 am:
Dr O. and all ..
I have always fed cracked corn and whole oats .. 60/40 corn to oats in winter and 60/40 oats to corn in summer. My horses seem OK, but have concerns about starch levels, protein levels, Vitamin A and E deficiencies as pasture is in sandy area and grass quality is poor.
I adjust for different needs, but basic feed program is 4 lbs corn/oats twice daily and 12 to 15 lbs grass hay and 24 hour turnout.
I have been considering a switch to Nutrena Safe Choice pelleted feed for some time (nutrition info attached). With the market price of both corn and oats going through the roof, now seems to be a good time to switch. I have calculated that instead of the 8 lbs corn/oats daily, I could feed 5 lbs of the pelleted feed so pricing is now comparable.
I would appreciate any comments you may offer.
Thanks
DT
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 1:40 pm:
Dennis,
Not to answer for DrO, but I've fed Safe Choice for a couple of years now and love it. I also used to feed corn/oats, sometimes just oats. Then used Omolene for years.
I just had the vet here last week and we discussed feeding. She seemed to think Safe Choice is good stuff and told me about 2.5 lbs a day met even the Selenium deficiency problems we have here. (I think that was amount, maybe it was 5 pounds.. and 2.5 with the vitamins I was adding due to poor quality hay)
My horses are looking good on it, and they are not as "hot" (even Tango, ) as they were on sweet feed...it did make a difference. (might help with that bucking mare?)
Only negative I have found with Safe Choice is one of my horses does need the pellets fed with water or some oil added or she has some choke issues.
BTW, you may find you feed less of it than you did the corn/oats just because the horses are getting a good balanced feed. Not to imply your horses weren't getting fed a balanced diet.
FYI, to use Tango as an example, he got 3-4, 13 oz coffee cans of S.C. daily over the winter. That is pretty close to 3-4 lbs daily.
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Member:
image
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Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 5:29 pm:
Hi Dennis!
I agree with Angie!
I've been feeding Safe Choice for a little over a year now and I really like it! After many years of feeding sweetfeed, it took alot of convincing for me to make the change but it has been very good for my "girls". (18 year old, 10 year old and 7 year old mares) The 18 year old has always been harder to keep looking good but she has never looked better than she does now and I have had her since she was 4 years old. The 7 year old was born with an "attitude" but she has really calmed down on this feed. They also don't seem to sweat as much which is a real plus. (we live in Florida and they used to pour sweat just standing in the stalls during summer.) Now they just sweat normally while working.) None of the girls have choked on the pellets yet and I do watch for that as it is one reason I wasn't wild about this feed at first but so far so good!
One of the things I like about it is the decreased starch levels. I did alot of studying and feeding increased fats/decreased starch just made alot of sense to me. So I went for it and haven't looked back!
Our best to you and yours!
Charlayne
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Member:
paul303
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Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - 1:23 am:
I have an old QH Cushings mare, and I feed Safe Choice - well, just to be...safe. My other two mares got Safe Choice just because it was easier...but after awhile, I really felt it did them all good. They are far from overworked, so we really fight the weight thing all the time. All three get just about 3cups of Safe Choice and 1/2 cup Farriers Formula twice a day. They have free choice grass hay and spend a limited amount of time in the pasture each day. They are all sleek, shiny, mildly overweight, and happy.
I like the simplicity of this pelleted feed. It seems to be put together well, and my horses do well on it....both the 2"normal" ones, and the Cushings one.
I also think that they use it better. At least, when they poop, it's just plain poop, and not poopy sweet-feed, or poopy oats.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - 7:53 am:
Hello Dennis,
This is a high quality feed that should meet the concentrate needs of most horses. Concerning the specific nutritional aspects of your diet the question falls "first" squarely on the shoulders of the quality of the hay you are feeding, are there strengths or weaknesses there?
DrO
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Member:
erika
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Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - 8:52 am:
'Nuther vote for Safe Choice, cowboy.
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Member:
dtranch
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Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - 9:45 am:
Thank you all ... I am confident I am making the right choice now.
Dr O ... my primary source sews at a rate of 16 lb alfalfa (85%) to 2 lb timothy (10%) to 1 lb orchard grass (5%). I know this is no guarantee as to what I am actually getting when all is said and done, but a good estimate. My secondary source is more like 25% alfalfa to 75% orchard grass.
DT
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2007 - 6:56 am:
Concerning your specific nutrient concerns of "too much starch" and "too little protein" concerns covered. If your hay is fresh and green the vitamins will not be a problem either. If not, I would not rely on the published nutritional makeup of the concentrate to prevent supplementation as recommended in the vitamin article.
One other thing you could consider is do they make a less expensive 10% protein formula as your forage has ample protein?
DrO
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Member:
jd1947
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Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2007 - 1:03 pm:
Hi Dennis,
Since your questions have been answered, I won't go into details, but I also switched to Safe Choice several years ago, upon the advice of an equine nutritionalist I know...it's great stuff.
Fed it to my foals also, and if you have seen photos of the foals I had here you can see how incredible they looked...the mares also do great on the SC...as a matter of routine, I always had blood draws done to check minerals ect, and everything always came back just right. (I did have one foal that had problesm with contracted tendons, but found out it was from a new batch of hay I was using and I failed to have it analyized first, big boo-boo...after making some changes for this one foal, she came out of it and is now a yearling with great legs.
Anyway...SC is a great feed.
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Nutritional Info