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?
Appreciate the info.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!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.
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.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.
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.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.
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.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.
+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....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.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.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.
Cows are ruminants, horses are not. Different and sensitive digestive system.i thought they lived off the bacteria like a cow chewing a cud? but lower in the proccess?
Yeah they are a pretty expensive experiment.
Cows are ruminants, horses are not. Different and sensitive digestive system.
That’s a cheap one.had to look it up ~$4k for horse?
That’s a cheap one.
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.
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?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.
I seem to recall racing thoroughbreds being fed a grain mix that was high in Oats and Molasses.
Probably "Sweet C.O.B" or simiar.I recall people giving horse a treat mix of raw grains that had molasses or something sticky mixed in with it
that's what i thought when i read it, i was thinking like $10-15k at first...
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
I want to see your brewery, please.those accidents are often expensive, sometimes fatal.
I avoid giving them an excuse. No spent grain.
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