how much is too much for 1 meal?

[raggydoll]

at the moment bim is having a scoop and a half of hifi lite and loads of veggies. It looks like a huge amount but then shes been having barely a handful for supplements all summer so im not sure whether it looks alot becuase of that or because it is alot if you see what i mean. So what is the maximum amount of hifi i should be giving in one meal?

[Kaboo]

Ive got feeling that chaffy foods you feed quite alot. Look on the bck of the sack or go to there webpage and weigh it out.


Id be very interested in this thread, as my horse who is under weight gets scoop of calm and condition, alfa oil, blue chip and speedy beat. It adds up to near a bucket full once soaked. Two times per day

[Sexy Sietske]

Correct me if I'm wrong but can't you feed Hi-Fi as part of the forage?? So you can feed quite a bit of it :D:D If the horse got full i think they would leave what they don't want :p

[martini55]

Hi-fi lite can be used to partially replace hay so I don't think it's any problem to feed a lot of it as it is a fibre feed. It is supposed to take as long to eat as the equivilent weight of hay too. It is the hard feed you have to watch the amounts with, though I can't remember the exact amounts per feed.

[Keket]

If the horse got full i think they would leave what they don't want :p

Yes, they do. At least, Topaz does. She gets her breakfast (quite a lot as we're still trying to put weight on her) at 6:00 in the morning, and it's not uncommon to see her nibbling at it all day until she gets her dinner. This is possible because she's the only horse with access to her feed bucket and she has access to it all day.

[Pink's lady]

Nope, thats a tiny dinner. my lot get two scoops of Alfa-A, one scoop of speedibeet and 1/2 scoop conditioning cubes. It takes them abotu 30mins to eat and they are given as long as they want. They tend to eat half them pick at it after that. Since it's almost all forage, it doesn't matter.

[raggydoll]

fab thanks guys :)

[kirstie]

Would add a bit more, amba gets 1 1/2 big scoop of Good doer and 2 of the lo-cal twice a day

[Jessey]

For one meal its about 2-3kg, forage feeds are not such a problem to worry about but per sitting (for hard feed) I think about 1/2 a bucket is max as the horses stomach is only about the size of a rugby ball, if you feed more it just gets forced though too quickly and is not of any benifit as nutrients can't be absorbed as they should and undigested food just passes straight though. However with fibre feeds this is not of any concern as it can be digested further through the gut without causing upset :D

[puzzles]

sorry jessey, but that first bit's just not true. :-)
1 big scoop of the dengie products weigh about 400g.
i scoop of baileys chaff weighs about 500g.

a rugby ball is very small for a stomach!

the maximum your horse can eat in 1 meal is 1.8kg, preferably less of course - so you could feed 4 1/2 scoops of the hi-fi lite safely!
:-D

forage can safely be fed ad-lib (constantly) but conentrate feeds such as mixes and cubes should be fed in moderate amounts (please PM for mroe detailed info)

[Herbie's mummy]

No thats just right :)
Happy hoof and stuff like that have nothing in it :D it's just fluff, so feed away.

[Jessey]

a rugby ball is very small for a stomach
Yep it is small, obviously the whole gut is much bigger than that but the acctual stomach is quite small - horses don't need a very big stomach as they are designed to trickle feed 18 hours a day rather than have bulk meals - this is why feeding more, smaller feeds allows a horse to get more out of each feed as it allows more time for the feed in the stomach before it is pushed through by the next feed coming in - well thats what I was told by a vet nurse anyway :p

[katenco]

Chaffy bulky stuff i think you can feed a fare bit of, i have a dried grass/chaff feed that can be fed more like forage !

[vjwuk]

Re the hard feed mix limits, on our horse course feeding rules bit we were told that a scoop is the max for hard feeds due to size of stomach, as others say hifi, chaff etc is hay / fibre substitute

[becs]

I thought it was a rugby ball sized limit for concentrates, but forage like Hi Fi doesn't count as such.

[Denbenj]

Kai gets 2 large overflowing scoops of alfa-a oil 3/4 build up cubes and 1 scoop sugar beet, and he looks well for it :D

[Yann]

As I understand it cereals are digested in the rugby ball sized stomach, but fibre is digested in the gut which is miles long. So there isn't really a limit on the size of a fibre based meal, it's just like hay and grass but more nutritious :)

[Jay.o]

Speaking to our Dengie Rep at work, with Hi-Fi, Hi-Fi Lite and Good Doer especially, you can give anything up to the equivilant of about 6-7 scoops daily.

Evenings, my TB gets 2/3 scoop of Hi-Fi, 1/2 scoop of Ride and Relax ad a scoop of Fibre beet. Mornings her gets 1/2 scoop of Ride and Relax and 1 and a half scoops of Hi-Fi.

However, he is on as much as as he can eat during the night with some hayledge too and on grass during the day.

[NoviceNic]

I too was advised that the stomach is only the size of a rugby ball...:) So basically if you need to feed more than it is better to split the meals into lots of little rather one great big feed...

[Yann]

That only applies if you're feeding concentrates :)