How on earth can you calculate that!?

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maplegum

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They say that horses should have between 1% and 3% of their body weight in feed each day right?

How can you calculate how much grass they eat? Impossible?

The field at home has very short grass at the moment as it's winter here in Oz. They really have to work hard to really eat any of it. I top the little horses up with hay twice a day. I don't weigh out the hay, I just fill a tub.

I wanted to do an experiement this weekend and weigh out exactly how much hay it is I'm feeding them and then use the % of body weight calculation to see if they are getting enough.

But - how do I know how much grass is going through their systems??

xox Leonie xox
 
You can't calculate how much grass they are eating. Or at least I have no idea how that could be done.
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You also wouldn't be able to compare the weight of fresh grass to dried hay, even if you were to pick it yourself (the grass, not the hay, lol) and feed it to them yourself, because the grass has so much moisture in it, it weighs more than a comparable amount of hay. For my horses on pasture, I check out how the pasture is doing on a regular basis, and when it is getting eaten down then I consider if the horses on the pasture need extra feed, as in lactating mares and growing foals, or working horses, etc, compared to idle horses, and I feed additional hay to those that I feel need it. It's really a guessing game, but if you keep a very close eye on your horses' condition, you can usually guess pretty well. Since your horses are having to "work hard" to eat any of it, then you'll be best off to consider they aren't getting much of anything from it, and feed accordingly. I hope that made sense!
 

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