What's in the bin? Mid-sized Pony
- 4 days ago
- 1 min read
This mare is 13hh. Probably a QHx, although I don't know her breeding. She's 8. Potentially in foal. Although unlikely, we're supplying all the minerals and amino acids in case she is.
She has 24/7 turnout on about 3 acres of mixed pasture.
Choosing high-quality ingredients at affordable prices is key to cost-effective feeding.
Hard feed is only what is missing from pasture - meeting all her nutritional needs at a third of the price of a top-end commercial bagged feed, or half the price of an 'economy' pellet. Even if you were to double the fibre components for a bigger, or underweight horse, or additionally supplement with a large biscuit of good quality lucerne hay in winter, you are still coming in well under the price of commercially bagged feeds, and optimally meeting all her nutritional requirements.
For comparison, most 'complete feeds' for ponies have a feeding rate of 2-4kg/day. Most complete feeds recommending feeding alongside chaff. At an average of $50 for 20kg bag which will last 6 days, + 1kg of chaff. That's $10/day.
Twice the price!
It makes sense to separate the calorie / fibre /fat content from the mineral content. This way you can increase or decrease calories for the needs of different horses in your herd, or adapt to a change in circumstances for individual horses without the horses becoming mineral deficient - and suffering all the subsequent symptoms and illnesses that we cover every week.
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