intentionally fermented feed

[kevin27]

I was wondering if there is any benefit to fermenting the feed at all?
it's supposed to be very good, to breakdown the nutrients into simpler form.
and the colony of microorganisms, fermenting the food, will out-compete, and kill off, anything that does not belong there.

 

[kevin27]

I just read the ingredients, in the Triple Crown Lite, it has probiotics added....

 

[chandab]

Triple Crown products are an excellent choice. The Lite is a good choice for maintenance minis, only like 1 cup daily for most minis, 2 cups for the big minis.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Have you read somewhere that fermented feed is good for horses? I have never heard that. It doesn't sound right. But I'm always learning!

 

[kevin27]

I didnt know if it was or wasnt, so I was asking.
I'm guessing that in winter, they generate needed heat from the internal fermentation.

In the summer, I thought, it might be ok to jump one step forward, and pre-digest with the fermentation.

 

[chandab]

Not with horses, fermented feed often causes colic (tummy ache). There are a few forage products available for horses that are a type of fermented feed, but if not stored properly and used fairly fast once open they'll sour.

 

[Cayuse]

I have always worried about my feed fermenting when I have had to soak it for various reasons as I have always heard it is bad for their digestion (really bad as in colic and maybe feet problems). I toss my grain whenever we have a heat wave and I have not used it up as fast as I think it should be because I am afraid it will start to "go over". I have always wondered about "fermented feed" as it just does not sound right to me!

 

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

A lot of people are confusing molding and fermenting.

Grain that's gotten hot and wet is molded - not fermented. That pile of lawn clippings that's sat for 3 days is molded - not fermented, fermentation is an art and a science.

My filly loves corn silage. I don't feed it but if she can nab a mouthful you bet she does. Same with my mini stud. Corn silage > sweet feed. No idea why.

Fermentation is made for ruminants. A rumen is just a giant compost tumbler for lack of a better way to put it. By putting pre fermented feed in, more feed can be pushed through the rumen because it doesn't take as long to process

More feed = more proteins and VFAs, which = more end results (usually meat or milk.) After feed leaves the Rumen, it goes through the other chambers to extract all the 'other stuffs.'

A horse is a hind gut fermenter. First nutrients are extacted in the stomach, then fermented in the hind gut to get more. Feeding a horse a fermented feed is asking their digestive tract to work in reverse. You aren't making it easier for the horse at all. Also the point of fermentation is to speed up digestion - if you're trying to pull weight off horses that's the opposite of what you want.

Also, it's not easy to do. Particle length, dry matter % at processing and storage, oxygen content, etc are all critical - otherwise you get mycotoxins and molding - NOT fermentation.

It would be extremely impractical for the average horse owner to ferment feed - you NEED the RIGHT equipment that isn't cheap. You NEED to mow it, chop it, and store it at the right time. You can't do first cutting past the end of May: you ant let any oxygen in your storage (whether it be bunked or bagged), and the dry matter has to be tested frequently. We have 6 years of education between the 2 of us focusing on ruminant nutrition, and over $1 million in equipment to get our feed to properly ferment and we still can't get it right sometimes.

Fermented feed is very right when done right and fed eight to the right species in the right situations. Cows do not do well on just dry hay. But, if you half butt your haylage, you're better off with dry hay because the mycotoxins can kill them otherwise.

 

[kevin27]

glad that you were able to clear that up,
thank you FurstPlace

 

[paintponylvr]

NOW, all that said - some of us do feed WET. That means that when we feed our feed to the horses, it gets water added and that water sits long enough to soak in but is NOT fermented in any way, shape, form or fashion.

I love feeding wet. I feed dehydrated, pelleted feeds (Nutrena Safe Choice Original and Southern States Alfalfa pellets). Since I like to feed our guys "soupy" - they generally get 2x more water added to the feed bucket as feed. Some of ours seem to get A LOT OF FEED - but it expands due to the water. It adds both volume and weight but not extra nutrients (that is determined by the amount of feed you have in the bucket before adding water). During the winter, I often have ponies "singing" to me - I feed HOT water in the feed and they LOVE it. It is hot soup for them and a cool soup in the summer. Some make quite the mess!

Wizard, below, makes a mess when he's not wearing a bit as well. Just happened to take this pic as it was his first time wearing a bit/bridle. Note he has wet feed in his forelock and on his neck, too. He just gets gross!

Currently, due to schedule(s) and having many more ponies and no-one helping out (daughters moved out/on) - I've started feeding those same pelleted feeds - dry. Takes a lot less work, a lot less time, I'm not tying the ponies up individually at the moment (at least not most of them). However, I'm noticing a lot of coughing whenever we haven't had rain and the humidity is lower and the 3 foals especially seem to have regular "choking" incidents (coughing - not an actual Horse Choke - though that is a concern since our older ponies are so used to eating this feed wet). I'm not liking that. Also, since we are essentially "free feeding", I've now got ponies that are at the right weight, some VERY round and others in the same paddocks that are too "lite" and/or downright ribby. SO, I will probably go back to catching each pony and tying them at their buckets and feeding wet - at least on the days that I'm not working...

That same pony above - feeding him dry right now - he's lost a ton of weight. He often leaves his feed bucket and won't eat it. He's an embarrassing, walking rib cage at the moment (happened in less than 60 days) - and I haven't seen enough fence running/pacing to say it's because he's being "studdy" (he is running with a mare at the moment - he lets her eat all the feed). So, this arrangement will be changing... Have to put his pen back together to do it - our arab mare flipped backwards over his pen fence and I haven't repaired it yet - he's been in a different pen with the shetland mare.

I am not feeding beet pulp right now, but considering going back to it, at least for a few individual ponies. Years ago, when I first started feeding it - the directions stated right on the bag that it needed to soak several hours (over night would work) and that is what I did. During the hottest days of summer - it sat in our laundry room to keep it from fermenting/turning sour (OMG - the scent would turn my stomach when it started to turn!!). If left out in the barn, wet/soaking, it would actually turn moldy in just 24 hours from June - September. I set it up in the evenings to feed in the mornings - but if I cut my time by not adding it to the feed - the beet pulp would be bad by that evening. During the winter - the buckets of soaked beet pulp would sit overnight in our laundry room and I carried it out in the AM to feed with hot, soupy wet feed. Then directions on the bag changed - now says only need about 30 minutes of soak time. Beet pulp will expand at least 2x it's dehydrated state - sometimes more. On some horses, it worked great for adding weight - on others it worked for reducing weight and I've had several over the years that wouldn't touch it no matter how you fed it - from mini horses up to draft horses. They also now make pelleted beet pulp - I always used the regular shredded type. When available - we got it with NO molasses added. Funny - it costs more to get that way. You can't get the beet pulp pellets anywhere around us (75 mile radius) w/o molasses. Not sure - they may not make the pelleted beet pulp with no molasses.

 

[chandab]

FYI - Paula, they do make beet pulp pellets without molasses added back for flavor and dust control, I can get them. I've also discovered that beet pulp quality varies from brand to brand. I prefer molasses free for my easy keeping herd, but you never know what you'll get between the brands; some is very clean and needs little rinsing, the next batch is just gross (and even molasses free will have some residual molasses depending on how good the extraction process was) all brown and gritty (combination of molasses and dirt).