Nutrena Feeds, a good choice?

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lilnickers

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I have been feeding Agway Superior 12% to my minis for years and years and I have never had any issues. They look good, and are happy year round.

Well, Agway just discontinued this line and will now carry Nutrena Feeds. I would like others' opinions on whether I should switch or travel farther to find a different recommended feed.

My Agway dealer went to a seminar and had good things to say about how Nutrena's feeds are starch controlled and have good levels of Biotin, Lycine and Omegas.

My minis are mainly light/maintenance and easy keepers.

Any advice here would be much appreciated!!
 
Many have good luck with Nutrena's Safe Choice line of feeds (and other feeds as well). I've tried them, and they didn't work for me and my herd (well, didn't work for everyone: I tried the Special Care, it worked great for my stallion and geldings, but a couple mares had issues, but they have with other feeds also).
 
I've had good luck with the Safe Choice line. Over the years I've used the Original, Junior, and Senior. I prefer the Senior because it has a higher fat content, therefore their coats look better.But Everybody does well on it.
 
A met a woman who swore by Safe Choice (original) in 2008 and her Arabs looked awesome on it. When I first switched to it, it was expensive compared to a lot of other feeds - but I liked that I could get it anywhere with my "wonky" hours. I could also get it out of state. My ponies and arabs did great on it!

In 2012, we tried the Special Care for some of our seniors. The first bag smelled so bad that I turned away gagging. The feed store I'd gotten it from was already closed (it was after 7 pm by the time I got it home and opened), but I was able to return it the next day and replace it w/ a different bag. The smell wasn't the same - but to me was still not good. The ponies thought it not good either - I usually feed wet & mushy - add water to that and it was instant slime even at a 1/4 ratio w/ old feed. The ponies wouldn't touch their feed. So I dumped it in the compost heap and did their regular feeds and offered them a cup of the new feed dry/freechoice in a pan in the pen they were in. They happily munched thru the Original - but not the Special Care. Eventually, the two seniors did start eating it - but they just never seemed to like it - eating seemed like it became a "chore" rather than something they were happy with. The ROUND Arab mare, not really a senior yet - also wouldn't eat it.

I gave that up - I think a total of 4 bags went into the compost heap.

I tried one of the other Safe Choice lines and that didn't work either - same issue. I love pelleted feed (over grains) and I've just stayed with Safe Choice Original. I've also used some of the other Nutrena feed lines - an extruded sweet feed think it was called X10 or something (was in a purple bag). The ponies LOVED that and the herbs that were in it were GREAT smelling. The feed store(s) quit carrying it or it was switched out many years ago - can't remember. That was more than 10 years ago - and when I moved and was shown the SC Original - I switched from the feed I was feeding to it.

I currently LOVE Safe Choice Original for the ponies and horses (I add Mare + for our broodmares in last trimester and while lactating). I add alfalfa pellets for some if I feel they need extra "bloom" or weight and beet pulp w/o molasses. I also feed Nutrena pellets and crumbles to our chickens - they go crazy over it!

I like that I can get Nutrena Feeds out of state when I go else where - I don't have to carry a lot with me or if I run out, I can get more readily. Right now, our feed store is offering a special - for every 10 bags of Nutrena feed - you get a free bag. I feed a lot of feed so usually get a couple free bags every month. With the cold - chickens are eating more - I ended up getting 4 free bags in January and looks to be 4 this month too. That helps A LOT when feeding this many critters!!
 
Thank you all so much for your advice and opinions! My feed dealer thinks I should try the Triumph line. Maybe I should ask about the Safe Choice line.
 
You can check out Nutrena's website to see what feeds they offer. Not all of them are carried by every store though...

Safe Choice Original is carried by TSC and they are open until 9 pm here during the week and on both Saturday and Sunday. Their hours vary when out of state - but still seem to be regular in all the states I went thru while attending shows and visiting family while transporting ponies from 2011 thru now. One of the reasons that I've stayed with the SCO rather than switching to other feeds... Plus, I can actually have family pick it up if necessary.
 
I like the SafeChoice Senior for my senior big gelding. He looks a lot better when I give it to him in the winter. I didn't notice much difference for the easy keeper minis so I stuck with the cheaper low starch feed from a local feed mill.
 

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