# Feeding Sheep Nuts to Horses



## Croeso (15 August 2006)

I was told you can feed Sheep nuts to horses that need a high protein diet.
is this true?
they have 16-18 % protein and cost £4 a bag

I doubt very much I would feed it to mine, but are interested to hear if any one has tried and tested this??


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## Laafet (15 August 2006)

I know an up and coming dressage rider that feeds beef nuts to his horses and hardly any added fibre, only haylage- hence two deaths from colic and two expensive surgeries - still wont believe that it is the way he feeds and turned down the oppurtunity of the feed specialist when she visited me - she was horrified at the combination.
Sorry to be down beat but I do believe that horse feed is for horses and no other. I use hi-light cubes for my lot and they cost £4 a bag or their conditioning cubes which are £5.50. They are made by Baileys and not that different to their standard ranges.


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## seabiscuit (15 August 2006)

NO WAY! 
god knows what crap has been put in it ( animal waste springs to mind!) it wont have been regulated by the proper feed authorities.

Apart from anything else, horses cant actually digest more than 12% protein, ( despite racehorse mixes being more, its wrong) any more protein than 12% and it will cause a toxic build up.


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## PapaFrita (15 August 2006)

I think it would be MUCH better and almost as cheap (I think... haven't lived in the UK for over a year!) to feed straight oats (soaked) plus a double handful of alfa-A and unmollassed soaked sugar beet.
Superb diet. Horses do brilliantly on it (including mine) and several other forum members will agree


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## Christmas_Kate (15 August 2006)

My dog eats them....but I wouldnt feed them to a horse.


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## seabiscuit (15 August 2006)

Too right PF ! oats are only £4- £5 a bag, and when soaked for 24 hours, are NOT heating, and are an EXCELLENT feed, full of vitamins, oils, and goodies,plus oats are the most digestible of ALL cereals for horses.


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## Leigh (15 August 2006)

I know of people at my yard who feed sheep feed to their 3 horses without any problems. I'm not sure exactly what it is but I'm sure they've told me in the past its very similar to something like bluechip or seaweed stuff or something(can see I was paying lots of attention!) but is obviously much cheaper. While I'm not sure I'd be convinced to feed this to my horses these people do have a lot of experience and knowledge and one of their horses in particular is worth quite a lot of money i.e I doubt they would be taking any chances.


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## hussar (16 August 2006)

My YO proposed feeding calf nuts to the horses last year as much cheaper.  I was very unhappy about this and checked it out to universal horror. Feeds formulated for ruminants should not be fed to horses - they're very high in starch so make horses fizzy and you have to feed more to get the nutritional benefit, so a false economy.


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## wvfoxylady (16 August 2006)

One other word of caution would be that a lot of feed designed to be fed to farm animals will contain medications or chemicals to assist growth. One sheep farm I worked on had monensin added to the feed to control the abortion problem they had on the farm - this is toxic to horses and can be fatal to them if eaten. Also some levels of trace elements such as copper, selenium and cobalt may be added to feed which may not be ideal when fed to horses.


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## parsley (16 August 2006)

I don't know for sure but I would check the levels of minerals such as magnesium as sheep and cattle need different amounts.


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## MagicMelon (16 August 2006)

I wouldn't. I know someone who feeds cow nuts to horses and claims they do well of them (in fact she does compete them and they do look in good condition).

However, surely cows/sheep have totally different requirements to horses?


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## Cuffey (16 August 2006)

http://www.ingredients101.com/brsgrnd.htm

Used to buy dried brewers in cube form for sheep at lambing time--horses got a handful--they love the taste but wouldnt feed much as high protein


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