Spent grains to horses..?

[Rob2010SS]

Anyone have experience with horses eating spent grains? Any issues? Obviously, if there's mash hopping done, it's a no-no. But just the grains by themselves, any problems?

 

[lumpher]

It's fine to feed it to them under 2 conditions:
1: You feed it to them quick, before it starts to spoil. Remember, used grain spoils FAST.
2: It's supplemental, not bulk feed. It provides fiber, but you can give them too much.

I've also made dog treats out of them for many years from spent grain, eggs, flour, and peanut butter, and my dogs LOVE them.

 

[Rob2010SS]

It's fine to feed it to them under 2 conditions:
1: You feed it to them quick, before it starts to spoil. Remember, used grain spoils FAST.
2: It's supplemental, not bulk feed. It provides fiber, but you can give them too much.

I've also made dog treats out of them for many years from spent grain, eggs, flour, and peanut butter, and my dogs LOVE them.

Appreciate the info.

We've done the dog treat thing but man, when you have 60-70lbs of grain, that's too many dog treats to make, LOL.

 

[SmoothBrews]

It's fine to feed it to them under 2 conditions:
1: You feed it to them quick, before it starts to spoil. Remember, used grain spoils FAST.
2: It's supplemental, not bulk feed. It provides fiber, but you can give them too much.

I've also made dog treats out of them for many years from spent grain, eggs, flour, and peanut butter, and my dogs LOVE them.

I’m gonna need you to drop that dog treat recipe RIGHT MEOW!

Edit: Never mind. A quick google search turned some up, along with recipes for cookies and bread. Spent grain baking could be a whole thread or sub-forum on its own.

 

[bellhp]

I'll try to remember to ask my wife who is a Veterinarian and owns horses tonight when she gets home . I know our horses get a very regimented diet and changes to that diet need to happen slowly to prevent Cholic which can kill a horse easily ... I'm gonna guess her answer is no . Also remember spent hops are toxic to dogs.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I'll try to remember to ask my wife who is a Veterinarian and owns horses tonight when she gets home . I know our horses get a very regimented diet and changes to that diet need to happen slowly to prevent Cholic which can kill a horse easily ... I'm gonna guess her answer is no . Also remember spent hops are toxic to dogs.

Yep, 100%. We have 2 dogs and are very careful with hops. We just automatically assume that hops are toxic to all animals so we treat it as such.

 

[bellhp]

Yeah she was not hip on the idea , like I said when horses cholic it can be fatal . Cows , goats, pigs ? they can get away with it.

 

[PCABrewing]

Yeah she was not hip on the idea , like I said when horses cholic it can be fatal . Cows , goats, pigs ? they can get away with it.

I would expect that the spent grain has little nutritional value. If your mash was efficient then the endosperm is mostly gone and replaced by sugar. That would leave fiber from the hulls and the residual sugar and some starch.
Doesn't sound to me like a very nutritious feed and possibly harmful to the horses kidneys?
Just a guess.

 

[bracconiere]

I would expect that the spent grain has little nutritional value.

horses eat grass normally though don't they?

 

[PCABrewing]

horses eat grass normally though don't they?

Right, but we are talking about grain that has been processed to extract the maximum amount of sugars thus leaving them with the fiber and some proteins.
So if I get a mash efficiency of 70+% then I am leaving the horse with a lesser energy factor. I don't know that the remaining components justify the mass they consume.
I seem to recall racing thoroughbreds being fed a grain mix that was high in Oats and Molasses.
I don't know if that still happens.

 

[ba-brewer]

A neighbor has horses and allows me to feed them my spent grain. The horses know the sound of my car and watch me every time I drive past to see if I am going to slow down. As soon as I start to slow down they go crazy and start making noise.

He used to get grain from a local craft brewer and feed them that too. Horses are pretty smart, when the grain started to go sour they would not eat it.

I recall people giving horse a treat mix of raw grains that had molasses or something sticky mixed in with it. Sugary spent seems to be in the same category.

With all that said, if I had horses and was thinking about feeding them spent grain I would check with my vet.

 

[bracconiere]

Right, but we are talking about grain that has been processed to extract the maximum amount of sugars thus leaving them with the fiber and some proteins.

i thought they lived off the bacteria like a cow chewing a cud? but lower in the proccess?

 

[bracconiere]

With all that said, if I had horses and was thinking about feeding them spent grain I would check with my vet.

+1 someone just posted a meme, in 1920 only rich people had cars and poor people had horses. in 2020, only rich people have horses, and poor people drive cars...kinda like eating lobster....

 

[PCABrewing]

A neighbor has horses and allows me to feed them my spent grain. The horses know the sound of my car and watch me every time I drive past to see if I am going to slow down. As soon as I start to slow down they go crazy and start making noise.

He used to get grain from a local craft brewer and feed them that too. Horses are pretty smart, when the grain started to go sour they would not eat it.

I recall people giving horse a treat mix of raw grains that had molasses or something sticky mixed in with it. Sugary spent seems to be in the same category.

With all that said, if I had horses and was thinking about feeding them spent grain I would check with my vet.

They are smarter than we give them credit for.
I use to pass a couple horses stabled near the road and I swear the watched me drive by without any reaction but when the owner showed up in his Jeep Comanche they knew the difference.

 

[PCABrewing]

A neighbor has horses and allows me to feed them my spent grain. The horses know the sound of my car and watch me every time I drive past to see if I am going to slow down. As soon as I start to slow down they go crazy and start making noise.

He used to get grain from a local craft brewer and feed them that too. Horses are pretty smart, when the grain started to go sour they would not eat it.

I recall people giving horse a treat mix of raw grains that had molasses or something sticky mixed in with it. Sugary spent seems to be in the same category.

With all that said, if I had horses and was thinking about feeding them spent grain I would check with my vet.

Yeah they are a pretty expensive experiment.

 

[camonick]

i thought they lived off the bacteria like a cow chewing a cud? but lower in the proccess?

Cows are ruminants, horses are not. Different and sensitive digestive system.

 

[bracconiere]

Yeah they are a pretty expensive experiment.

had to look it up ~$4k for horse?

 

[bracconiere]

Cows are ruminants, horses are not. Different and sensitive digestive system.

yeah but instead of a cud they have a hind gut for the same purpose i thought?

Hindgut

The hindgut of the horse comprises the cecum, large colon, small colon and rectum. The cecum consists of 12-15% of tract capacity and the colon 40-50% of tract capacity. The major functions of the hindgut are the microbial digestion (fermentation) of dietary fiber (structural carbohydrates primarily from forages in the horse’s diet). Important end-products of the fermentation are volatile fatty acids (acetic, propionic and butyric) which can serve as an energy source for horses fed mostly forages such as pasture or hay. Fermentation also produces methane, carbon dioxide and water, as well as most of the B-vitamins and some amino acids. Another function of the hindgut is water reabsorption.

 

[camonick]

had to look it up ~$4k for horse?

That’s a cheap one.

 

[bracconiere]

That’s a cheap one.

that's what i thought when i read it, i was thinking like $10-15k at first...

 

[bracconiere]

missed this on my first read, but being the starch is removed?

The diet composition affects the makeup of the microbial population. When starch is delivered to the hindgut the starch fermenters (amylolytic bacteria) begin to rapidly ferment the starch, producing large quantities of lactic acid and volatile fatty acids (VFA). Because of the acidic nature of these products of fermentation, the pH in the hindgut begins to fall. A low pH favors pathogenic bacterial which can then contribute to serious diseases such as, laminitis or founder, colic, endotoxemia and metabolic acidosis.

the cecum, never knew the word, like a lower level cud?

https://www.extension.iastate.edu/e...uwerda/digestive-anatomy-and-physiology-horse

 

[Closet Fermenter]

They are smarter than we give them credit for.
I use to pass a couple horses stabled near the road and I swear the watched me drive by without any reaction but when the owner showed up in his Jeep Comanche they knew the difference.

I used to bugle at reenactments. I was once talking to one of the cavalry guys. Cavalry, artillery, and infantry each have their own unique calls due to different needs and functions. This fellow tells me he was once on the field and heard the bugle signal the command to turn to the right, but his horse would have no part of it. In frustration, he looked up and around to and noticed that the others were going left. At that point, he realized that the horse was correct; he had misinterpreted the bugle call, but not the horse!

 

[pwortiz]

I would expect that the spent grain has little nutritional value. If your mash was efficient then the endosperm is mostly gone and replaced by sugar. That would leave fiber from the hulls and the residual sugar and some starch.
Doesn't sound to me like a very nutritious feed and possibly harmful to the horses kidneys?
Just a guess.

This is from the ReGrained website below. Personally, I dry 2-3 lbs of my grain each batch and then grind into flour for pancakes, breads, etc. I think there is a little more nutritional value than is immediately obvious?

"In a nutshell, the brewing process takes the sugar out and leaves all the good stuff (dietary fiber, protein, resistant starch, magnesium, iron, zinc) behind. There are literally decades of nutritional science research about the health benefits of consuming ReGrained SuperGrain+ (the ingredient formerly known as "brewers spent grain")
ReGrained SuperGrain+ is a bonafide functional food loaded with protein, dietary fiber, prebiotic fiber, phenolic compounds, iron, magnesium, manganese, zinc, and phosphorous. Tap on over to our blog to read up more."

 

[Nate R]

I seem to recall racing thoroughbreds being fed a grain mix that was high in Oats and Molasses.

I recall people giving horse a treat mix of raw grains that had molasses or something sticky mixed in with it

Probably "Sweet C.O.B" or simiar.
Corn Oats Barley. Sold as plain or 'sweet' mixed with mollasas.
I worked for 6 months in a feed store... thoose suckers were sold in 70# bags. And when the sweet bags were left outside in 100+ degree heat they had a unique odor to them.
That was the Best shape i was ever in... ah to be 25 again....

I bet race horses get even an even better mix feed.

that's what i thought when i read it, i was thinking like $10-15k at first...

The cost of the horse (unless a breeder) is usually nothing compared to the cost of upkeep, feeding, and vet bills.
Horses are no joke crazy expensive- either with your time alone or you pay someone to do it.

Geldings can go for over $25k easily.


15 years ago there were 50# specialty bags of horse feed with supplements that we sold for over $100/bag. We could not keep it in stock.

 

[TimLa]

We have two horses, a 28 year old purebred Arabian, and a very, very large (1400#) 20 year old Paint. Their feed is tightly controlled - alfalfa hay and a blend of 'senior pellets' and beet pulp pellets soaked in water overnight. Having had to put down 2 other horses we owned due to colic, I would do anything to avoid that risk. When we had pigs, they ate all the spent grain I could produce. Cows are another big consumer.
Horses cost whatever you're willing to pay. I've seen a jumper go for $30K.
We keep our guys on our property - the original owner spent about $70K installing a 36 x 36 foot three stall barn, pipe fence paddocks, and a 2 acre electric fenced in pasture. Oh, and a large arena (no building, just the RR ties for the border plus about 100 yards of gravel and sand). Oh, and two portable round pens for training. Now let's talk riding gear. A good western saddle starts at $1k. bits, bridles, lead ropes, etc.
Hay for a year for these two guys here in central NM runs about $1600 delivered and stacked, the rest of the food we buy for them is around $1200. Add a ferrier (hoof trimmer, shoes, etc) at $108 every six weeks. Add $1000 per year for vet checks. floating of teeth, etc. and you start to see where the big costs lie.
We have two sayings in the horse community:

There is no such thing as a free horse.
A horse is an accident searching desperately for a place to happen, and those accidents are often expensive, sometimes fatal.

I avoid giving them an excuse. No spent grain.

 

[pwortiz]

We have two horses, a 28 year old purebred Arabian, and a very, very large (1400#) 20 year old Paint. Their feed is tightly controlled - alfalfa hay and a blend of 'senior pellets' and beet pulp pellets soaked in water overnight. Having had to put down 2 other horses we owned due to colic, I would do anything to avoid that risk. When we had pigs, they ate all the spent grain I could produce. Cows are another big consumer.
Horses cost whatever you're willing to pay. I've seen a jumper go for $30K.
We keep our guys on our property - the original owner spent about $70K installing a 36 x 36 foot three stall barn, pipe fence paddocks, and a 2 acre electric fenced in pasture. Oh, and a large arena (no building, just the RR ties for the border plus about 100 yards of gravel and sand). Oh, and two portable round pens for training. Now let's talk riding gear. A good western saddle starts at $1k. bits, bridles, lead ropes, etc.
Hay for a year for these two guys here in central NM runs about $1600 delivered and stacked, the rest of the food we buy for them is around $1200. Add a ferrier (hoof trimmer, shoes, etc) at $108 every six weeks. Add $1000 per year for vet checks. floating of teeth, etc. and you start to see where the big costs lie.
We have two sayings in the horse community:

There is no such thing as a free horse.
A horse is an accident searching desperately for a place to happen, and

those accidents are often expensive, sometimes fatal.

I avoid giving them an excuse. No spent grain.

I want to see your brewery, please.

 

[madscientist451]

Don't have any horses, can't afford them. But what I do know is that if your horse gets sick because of not getting the right food, you're in for some pretty big bills. Put the spent grain in the compost, add some horse poop, and use it on your garden next spring.