Can anyone describe me whether in that are any problems contained by feed rolled barley to horses and whether so what are they, thanx?
I am not sure why rolled barley should not be fed to horses when it is after all a particle, why would it be so different to rolled oats or maize. What qualifies you to answer this question?
We used to mix rolled barley in with sugar beet and chopped up hay for horses that needed to build up condition. As part of a mix it's fine - on it's own it's incomplete in some vitamins and is low in calcium, so you need to supplement it next to other food stuffs. It can also be hard for horses to digest and in some cases can cause colic.
What qualify me to answer the question? My family have always had horses and I used to work in a horse & pony rescue core. That, and reading about horse care.
The only thing I know of is that both barley and corn can overload the hindgut with starches, which, for example, oats, won't typically do. It have to do with the way it is broken down in the intestinal tract. So it's not considered to be as polite to feed horses as other grains like oats. So, it would lately mean there is more risk of a digestive upset when you feed it, which could imply more of a risk for colic or laminitis.
If you really want a great book on equine nutrition read Storey's Guide to Feeding Horses. It sounds simple but is surprisingly scientific (but is still easy to read).
Barley is heating, much more so than oats, and can create a horse difficult to handle. Also some horses have an allergy to barley and come up in hives. Otherwise near is no reason you shouldn't feed it, people are fooled by 'complete' mixes, there's nil wrong with 'straights'
Answers: Many horse owners prefer barley over oats because the former is smaller quantity likely to trigger "hot" behaviour.
It's considered a good nurture for putting condition on a horse, but it's certainly not the perfect feed. It have a poor phosphorous/calcium ratio (Corn and oats aren't great either, but barley is the worst of the three). It also lacks vitamins A and D, so alternative sources will need to be found by horse owners.
The grains of barley are extraordinarily hard and need to be crushed or rolled, or cooked before feed. It should never be crushed too finely, and, when cooked, it's generally best to do so without crushing or rolling.
The answer is to mix the barley with a bulkier nurture such as sugar beet pulp, chopped hay or wheat bran, lucerne chaff, even rolled oats, ensuring the bulkier feed comprises 15 to 25 per cent of the mix.
Some horses dislike the taste of barley. It will mostly be more palatable when cooked, or by adding molasses.
It's important to remember also that each crumb of barley locks in its nutritional value. As soon as you crush a grain, the nutritional convenience will begin to decline.
Crushing your own and then feeding it will result surrounded by more nutritional value getting to the horse. A bag of crushed barley fed out over two weeks will own considerably less food value after a few days.
There's a big variation contained by the quality of barley, too. Quality barley will be a pleasing pale-golden colour. The grains will be of uniform size and undamaged. There should be a minimal amount of fines - dust and other debris - surrounded by with the barley.
Source the best possible barley you can. As with most horse feed, you're mostly better off to pay more for the best quality, fairly than saving money by compromising on quality.
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We feed our colt a mixture of crushed barley and oats for particle, as where I live, we cannot purchase commercial horse feed in this nouns. Barley is great for putting on condition for a horse and you could feed it to your horse if desired, but make certain you keep it secured so no bugs get in it. You can also attach a supplement to it, so your horse is getting all the minerals needed. We are very happy feed barley and so is our colt.
they might bite your fingers.
