Feed prices going up...

[chandab]

Looks like I might be changing my feed program, the price jumped, again.

I've been feeding a ration balancer to most;

all the easy keepers, then the hard

keepers get senior and/or high fat performance feed. All the feed increased in

price, but the ration balancer took the biggest hit. I was paying $31.50 which

is bad enough, but less than two bags a month covers 10 minis (less than 1/2#

each for B-size minis); today's invoice... $35/bag! I hate to change, as the

program has been working, but that's too big of a hit to my pocketbook. The

senior went up $2.00/bag to $15.00, so not horrible. The performance feed went

up $3.00/bag to $17.50 (only one is on it, so a bag lasts quite awhile, well 1.5

horses, as I mix a little into one's senior). I hate to do it, but when

I get to the end of these bags of ration balancer, I'm likely going to have to

change feeds. The beet pulp shreds are $13/40# bag, higher than what I've paid

for beet pulp pellets, but more convenient.

Our local elevator sells a loose vit/min mix that I may have to try (again,

for longer time), it comes in 50# bags (around $60), but they also break it up

and sell 5# bags (around $6.00) which last my minis quite some time (at least a

month, maybe more, I did try it briefly).

Oh, and since I got that sticker shock, I decided to call and see how much the

other feeds I occassionally use have gone up. Here's a run down on those.

Growth - $25; different senior - $23.50; 12% sweet feed - $13.50; rolled barley

- $11.50; crimped oats - $13.50, whole oats - $13.50; and, the other two ration

balancer formulas - $30.

And, I remembered another locally available feed that I may try again; tried it several years ago on my senior half-Arab gelding (he loved it). A couple Running Horse brand feeds are available to me; the local store carries the Trail Mix and the Mare & Foal. Here's a link to the company website: http://www.runninghorsefeed.com/ The feed is extruded so the horses would think they are getting a bigger meal, but it would weigh about the same. And, since they get more volume, maybe I wouldn't feel the need to add hay pellets to make their meal a little bigger. The Running Horse products are: Trail Mix $17.45/40# (figures to $21.82/50#) and Mare & Foal is $19.60/40# ($24.50/50#).

Has any one here tried the Running Horse brand feeds?

Thanks.

 

[Minimor]

Ouch, those prices do hurt. My oats is still less than $8/bag for 20 kg, which is roughly 44 lbs. The mineral blocks (Equest, made for horses) I buy are $41 for 55 lbs unless they've gone up, I haven't bought any through the summer. The 55 lbs of mineral lasts me 2-3 weeks normally--sometimes I get by on 1 per month, sometimes I have to buy every 2 weeks. This summer, likely because it was so hot, making the horses need salt more than mineral, the horses that had both mineral and salt blocks were leaving the mineral and using only the salt. So, I've just been buying salt for everyone & not bothering with the mineral blocks, but I'll have to get some again through the winter. I've even cut back on the oats--the horses really didn't need it. Ziggy, the weanling filly, still gets some but she's about the only one, other than a handful here & there as a treat when I bring a horse out to work with. Early in the summer I was going through 6-7 bags every 2 weeks, now 2 bags are lastin me a month, so that really saves.

 

[Equuisize]

I feel your pain.

We've fed Safe Choice for 3 years or so.

The price has been real stable until this year.

It has gone up already 3 times and now is $17.99. That penny keeping it from $18 a bag really makes me feel lots better.

I keep my recipts but try never to look at them....but the cost was $14.98, at this time, last year.

Alfalfa Pellets have gone up about $1.50 since last winter.

The Dobbin Apples and Oats by Purina, pony cookies, have stayed the same @ $15.99/20#

We've saved some on shavings and stall pellets as they've gone down like 50 cents a bag, sometimes are on sale.

We've a small local feed store in town besides a Del's which is Tractor Supply, elsewhere.

The small store is competitive to Del's and usually is a bit less expensive.

We've two other locally owned stores in the next town up, also....so we do have good choices as they all seem to specialize in different company's feeds.

 

[mydaddysjag]

I am feeding one Purina mini horse feed, and switching my driving gelding from purina ultium to the purina mini horse feed. Ultium was $22/50lbs when I last bought it, and the mini horse feed is right around $14.50.

I also feed chopped hay in show season, Ive paid between $12-$16 this summer, for 50lbs

Beet pulp has went up a lot too. my TSC now only carries pellets, and they are 40lb bags for $14.99 I went to my other feed store because I only feed shreds, and they are $16.99 for 50lbs.

 

[Jill]

The lousy economy and gas prices 

 

[mydaddysjag]

Diana, In the winter I feed an extra meal of soaked beet pulp as lunch, to help get some extra water in them because mine dont like to drink enough in the winter. During show season I sometimes feed it too, to make up for a little bit of hay.

 

[chandab]

Diana, In the winter I feed an extra meal of soaked beet pulp as lunch, to help get some extra water in them because mine dont like to drink enough in the winter.

Me, too! We get some awfully cold weather and it does seem to help to give them the soaked beet pulp.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Little good news, corn harvest reports are above estimates so corn on the CBOT have dropped to $7 a bushel. That price doesn't quickly effect the feed price already at the feed store, but as corn prices drive all commodity prices, it is encouraging news.

Dr Taylor

 

[sfmini]

We have been feeding the biggies a local mix, some minis hay only and some minis omolene and hay. We are going to have to change it up as the feed bill is insane. The stallion we are leasing will go back home, one less mouth to feed will make a difference, and sadly, we are thinking of putting two of the biggies down. No, not because of how much it costs to feed them, well, mostly not. They are almost 30, very hard keepers, thin, can't keep them in stalls or they weave and worry and fuss and lose even more weight and look even crappier than they do now. With little body fat they are going to get cold, can't blanket outside horses, waterproof blankets don't breathe and you can get fungus, nonwaterproof obviously get really wet and really cold.

It is a hard decision to make, but we look at the full picture and we have the economics on top of the inevitable on top of them getting cold and it seems more prudent to have them enjoy the fall and then let them go on a nice fall day before they have trouble. We'll have to see, they are Judy's horses, not mine so her decision and a hard one to make but she is thinking and talking about it. Also logistics, digging deep holes is really hard in frozen or muddy ground.....

My suggestion was to switch most of the horses to the old Meredith Manor standard which was oats and corn. Those horses worked HARD and looked great and were healthy on oats, corn, and good hay. If the price of corn goes down, we might actually save money that way right off the bat.

 

[wingnut]

Here in Maryland, I've recently paid:

Omolene 300 - $18.28

Purina Mini & Horse - $16.29

Strategy - $15.69

 

[Minimor]

can't blanket outside horses, waterproof blankets don't breathe and you can get fungus, nonwaterproof obviously get really wet and really cold.

Many people blanket their outside horses--todays good turnout blankets are waterproof and breathable, so moisture gets wicked away from the horse--I know plenty of people who blanket their outside horses 24/7 and don't have any problems with fungus. I've thrown my waterproof kensington onto a soaking wet (from the rain) horse and in a couple of hours she was completely dry under that blanket.

 

[Marty]

I just paid $19.95 a bag of Equine Sr. yesterday. Something has got to give. My 31 year old quarter horse eats 2 of those every ten days during winter, plus beet pulp for lunch, orchard grass hay in front of him all the time and I also keep a bale of alfalfa for him to mix in with it at night during winter months. I could deal with the hay as its not expensive but I need another alternative for Purina Equine Sr. He has never coliced on me and at this stage of the game and I am contributing that to Purina Equine Sr. being highly digestable, but maybe I've just been lucky. I hate to mess with the recipe, but these prices are way out of hand. I did compare Dumor (TSC) senior feed to Purina senior feed a while ago and it is lacking a lot of stuff in comparison and its $5.00 less a bag. We tried it for a week and Sonny did not like it.

 

[cretahillsgal]

I pay 19.25 for a bag of Equine Sr. And 15.50 for each bag of SafeChoice.

I use 1 bag of SafeChoice a day and 1 bag of Equine Sr every 2 days.

One of the many reasons I have had to drastically reduce the number of horses I have. I want to be able to feed them all they way they should be fed. And with feed and hay prices going up like crazy I couldnt do that with as many horses as I had before.

 

[Margo_C-T]

I feed Triple Crown Senior and rabbit pellets(they're the only things she can chew!)to my 29 YO mini mare; she has actually become FAT, so I've had to cut her back on amounts this summer! Last time I went to the feed store where I've bought the Sr. for years, the price had gone from $21.95/bag to right at $26/bag! No way I am paying that again; found how much it can pay to shop around, because I found that another area feed store has it at $20.25/bag(all prices BEFORE a 7+% tax is added on...so the 'actual cost' is even higher.)

I have all the minis on either the TC Senior or 'Thrive', the forage-based steam-extruded feed I've spoken of here before. I really like it, and the price I paid looks pretty good now, comparatively, but of course, I have to drive a LONG way to get more, and if the price of it has also gone up, I will likely have to go back to the TC Lite for them.

Margo

 

[chandab]

I'm dredging up this thread, as I am tryiing the Running Horse Trail Mix on a couple, and so far, so good. They've been fully on it about 10 days, and they seem to like it and it seems to be working, although going into winter it'll be hard to see what its doing for their coats for several months. I'm trying it on my two girls with laminitic issues (one is in "remission" and the other is getting over an abcess); I figure if they can handle it and do well, it should work for everyone, and it might even work for my hard keepers when feed at the higher end of recommended levels.

I just paid $19.95 a bag of Equine Sr. yesterday. Something has got to give. My 31 year old quarter horse eats 2 of those every ten days during winter, plus beet pulp for lunch, orchard grass hay in front of him all the time and I also keep a bale of alfalfa for him to mix in with it at night during winter months. I could deal with the hay as its not expensive but I need another alternative for Purina Equine Sr. He has never coliced on me and at this stage of the game and I am contributing that to Purina Equine Sr. being highly digestable, but maybe I've just been lucky. I hate to mess with the recipe, but these prices are way out of hand. I did compare Dumor (TSC) senior feed to Purina senior feed a while ago and it is lacking a lot of stuff in comparison and its $5.00 less a bag. We tried it for a week and Sonny did not like it.

Marty, how well does Sonny eat hay? If he's having some trouble with regular baled hay, is there anyway you can chop it for him, like with a chipper/shredder or something? [My neighbor chops hay for his cattle and last winter I got some chop from him for my oldster with teeth issues (we were essentially snowed in, so equine dentist couldn't come til late spring and fixed his problems and he can eat regular hay again), it worked great and he loved it. My neighbor uses a bale processor, but a chipper/shredder or something similar would work.] Chopping it does help with digestion, as its already partially processed before they eat it; but, you do have to put the chop in a feeder or they waste too much.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I just paid $19.95 a bag of Equine Sr. yesterday. Something has got to give. My 31 year old quarter horse eats 2 of those every ten days during winter, plus beet pulp for lunch, orchard grass hay in front of him all the time and I also keep a bale of alfalfa for him to mix in with it at night during winter months. I could deal with the hay as its not expensive but I need another alternative for Purina Equine Sr. He has never coliced on me and at this stage of the game and I am contributing that to Purina Equine Sr. being highly digestable, but maybe I've just been lucky. I hate to mess with the recipe, but these prices are way out of hand. I did compare Dumor (TSC) senior feed to Purina senior feed a while ago and it is lacking a lot of stuff in comparison and its $5.00 less a bag. We tried it for a week and Sonny did not like it.

Hi Marty... I had a senior quarter horse that my vet had me soaking the 50/50 timothy alfalfa hay cubes into a slop to feed. My horse loved it, he picked up weight and looked terrific. The horse was well over 30 and he had trouble keeping on weight before I did this with the hay cubes...and with the hay slop I fed about 50 % less of the senior feed.

PS in SE Pa. hay is getting scarce and is going to be expensive this winter. We had a drought followed by too much rain. Because corn got so high in price a lot of people turned under their hay and planted corn... then the hurricane blew down so much local corn... and hay is scarce... Going to be a long winter feeding livestock this year.

 

[Tremor]

Here in Maryland, I've recently paid:

Omolene 300 - $18.28

Purina Mini & Horse - $16.29

Strategy - $15.69

I'm in Iowa and those prices are about the same here except for the Mini feed.

When I started feeding it, it was near $13. Now its $15. I'm honestly tempted to feed Omelene for part of my herd again.

 

[wpsellwood]

My good clean oats are 15.00 for 50# bag and omelene 200 is 1899. Thanks to my good friends in tx

there feed mill mixes the same formula close to it for 1039 a bag and they bring it when we meet at shows. That really helps. Hay was good 4.25 out of the field and my grass delivered 5.00.

 

[Flying minis]

Just bought my sweet feed yesterday, had gone up another $1 for a 50 lb bag, so it's gone up $2 in 6 weeks. Usually at harvest time the prices go down, not up! Haven't bought rolled oats in 2 months, waiting to see what those went to. . . . Not sure on hay here, there's quite a bit available, and I haven't had to buy any since we had a 25 acre pasture that we cut this year, and I haven't even used any of that yet. . . Around here so many people planted corn for ethanol that all other grains are in short supply - so is hay, because they even plowed hay ground for corn. Even worse is the price of land, we rent 20 acres from my husband's aunt, since she died the kids are selling the land. I won't pay $6000 an acre for pasture, but farmers will pay it for crop land, so there goes the hope of putting the old homestead back together. We'll be down to 20 acres, luckily sold a bunch of horses last fall, so we'll still be fine.