Anyone using CryptoAero feed!

[HarnessOutrider]

Hi all!

I’m considering making the switch to Crypto Aero feed.

Previously I’ve been feeding Ultium and Buckeye Trifecta. I loved Ultium but wasn’t happy about the things I’d discovered about Purina not using the same ingredients each time, lots of Buckeye dealers around me, plus they deliver and the feeds were close in fat and protein percentages and the horses love it.

However! I’m feeding about 9-10 lbs of grain per horse per day, 3 meals daily. The cost is getting high.

My horses always have full hay nets of grass hay, and they have a tub in the corner of alfalfa pellets that I fill each afternoon around lunch time, I feed them about 6lbs of the cubes a day.

My horses aren’t easy keepers as they work as outriding horses at the track, so they are in constant work.

If I could I would take them off grain entirely as they are OTQH and don’t really need the extra sass.

Crypto Aero seems like a good feed for me as there isn’t any molasses or synthetic fillers. I like that it has REAL ingredients, that I can pronounce.

I have been reading that some people have cut back from 8 lbs a day to 2lbs a day with no other changes in diets.

I should mention my horses have no health issues, I keep them full of hay as to limit the possibilities of ulcers due to their jobs and limited turnout. The only supplement they receive is consequin pellets in the morning.

I have read the previous articles on this topic, but was immediately put off by the comments from both fellow posters and the owner of the company. I can look up ingredients myself.

Just curious to hear opinions and thoughts on other people who HAVE USED THE FEED…I don’t care if you’re a vet, nutritionalists, or Joe blow off the streets. If you’ve used the feed, or know someone who has, I’d be interested.

Thanks!

[tazycat]

I wouldn’t feed anything with whole oats in it. Horses don’t even digest the whole oats, they poop it out totally intact hull with the meat still in it.

I’v done some checking of oats that were in manure,so whole oats are pretty much a waste of money. I’v quit buying whole oats,feed store guy even admitted horses just poop them out totally intact.

Horses i was feeding whole oats to have good teeth ,and are young as in 4 years old 3 years old and 7 years old. All three have teeth checked twice a year and floated as needed.

[HarnessOutrider]

Actually I’ve been recommended oats by several vets, what you see in the manure is the hulls of the oats. The only way they aren’t digested is if the horse isn’t chewing them properly.

I used to have the same mind set and refused to feed oats until my vet actually ‘dissected’ some poo and showed me that it was an empty shell left over.

I prefer oats over commercial feed anymore

[Pippigirl]

Took a quick look on their website at the guaranteed analysis page. Doesn’t it look like the iron content seem high compared to the copper and zinc (153:6:35)?

[JLR1]

If you do a search you will find some interesting threads about this feed.

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?440099-Crypto-Aero-Horse-Feed&highlight=crypto+aero

[Simkie]

Highly recommend you peruse the thread JLR linked.

[Can_tFindMyWhip]

I haven’t fed it, although someone at my barn worked with a nutritionist and developed a very similar concoction that I put my horse on for about 6 months. My interest in the new diet was to see if the old feed I had my OTTB on was upsetting his stomach.

The woman driving this experiment has a big, fat warmblood in light work. He gets like 2lbs of this mixture a day and is the size of a house. But my not-so-easy keeper OTTB did terribly on it. It was embarrassing. I wound up putting him back on TC Senior, and he is wonderful.

My understanding of Buckeye, like Crypto Aero, feed is that you are supposed to feed less of it than you would feed a regular grain. (I think that is how they justify the cost as well.) But if you are feeding that much Buckeye, something about that program isn’t working for your horses. I would absolutely not try Crypto Aero if I were you.

[echodecker]

I’ve been feeding it for over a year, very happy with the results and the amount I am feeding. I am at half the weight of the processed feed I was feeding before, which was Triple Crown 30 ration balancer and Buckeye Ultimate Finish 25. I have had 5 horses on it, from a hard keeper TB gelding to a pregnant (now lactating) broodmare…good results with all. It also cleared up skin problems and allergies on the gelding after years of working on them using topical and allergy meds.

I think you’ll be happy if you try it…all of this is assuming that your horses are consuming the appropriate amount of roughage every day good luck!

[Can_tFindMyWhip]

[QUOTE=JLR1;8735868]
If you do a search you will find some interesting threads about this feed.

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?440099-Crypto-Aero-Horse-Feed&highlight=crypto+aero[/QUOTE]

I have nothing against Crypto Aero, but I love me a good train wreck thread! Thank you for bringing this to my attention!

[JB]

9-10lb of a fortified commercial feed for a hard working horse isn’t that much, actually.

If you think the cost of that is a lot, I think you will be gasping at the cost of how much CA it takes to feed to keep that same weight.

I suspect most of the 8lb down to 2lb people were using really poor quality feeds to start, high in sugars. The “case studies” and testimonials on the CA site are pretty useless, so no help there.

A good quality feed program doesn’t put “sass” on a horse. It gives them the proper energy for their job. If they have “sass” on the feed you’re using now, it may just be too high in sugar.

What other brands do you have available?

If you like the ingredients in the CA, then make your own feed with oats, hay pellets, and a v/m supplement. There’s nothing inherently wrong with CA, but most horses just don’t need all the fancy ingredients that drive up it’s cost, at least in their minds.

I love how a testimonial from a nutritionist (equine? human? canine?) states “its whole grain concept is how horses were made to eat”. No, they weren’t, actually, and we know for a fact that some processing, such as crimping or steaming or rolling whole grains makes them more digestible, and they are most definitely NOT designed to consume the sugar amounts in meals containing lots of grains.

Sorry, getting too much again into why the whole marketing and hype about CA puts me off ever even recommending it. So I’ll just say again - if you like its concept, just make your own for a lot less. Racehorse oats, some hay pellets of your choosing, and add a good quality v/m supplement because it’s woefully low in trace minerals.

[JB]

[QUOTE=echodecker;8735925]
I am at half the weight of the processed feed I was feeding before, which was Triple Crown 30 ration balancer and Buckeye Ultimate Finish 25. [/QUOTE]

So I’m curious - since TC 30 is fed at 1-2lb for most horses, why even bother with 1/2-1lb of CA? Why not, say, a cup or 2 of alfalfa pellets and a vit/min supplement? Or 1lb oats and a v/m supplement? Honestly, just curious.

[echodecker]

Mine are all on beet pulp and alfalfa cubes in addition to their hay and pasture, then were getting TC30 and UF for vitamins, minerals and fat. I tried out CA specifically for my hard keeper TB with the skin issues as I was happy with how the 4 mares were doing. He was the only one who needed to improve and so I only switched him over for 2 months. I was super happy with his results so I did the math and realized that if I could actually cut the combined TC30 and UF weight in half, I would be saving a lot of money, seeing good results and feeding something that I liked (whole food, real ingredients, etc).

So I tried switching everyone over and was so happy after the first month that I never went back.

Eta: even just addressing your first question, I was paying 39 or 40 for 50 pounds od TC30 and CA is 42 for 50 lbs…so almost a 50% savings on a per bag basis. That adds up with 5 horses over the year …

[tazycat]

[QUOTE=JLR1;8735868]
If you do a search you will find some interesting threads about this feed.

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?440099-Crypto-Aero-Horse-Feed&highlight=crypto+aero[/QUOTE]

After reading this,would never pay 40 dollars for a bag of feed,that is lacking in Vit/Mins to boot. I’d feed crimped oats or rolled oats but whole oats are just pooped out.

And i’v checked the manure and oats in it are still whole hull and the meat inside them,so as i said before waste of money. There’s nothing wrong with my horses chewing either.

Was paying 9.50 a fifty pound bag of oats,my money is better spent on a senior feed that’s fortified.

[HarnessOutrider]

Thanks!

As I stated in my original post : I had already read the train wreck threads in entirety .

I was specifically looking for input from people that had already made the switch or tried CA.

I’m aware 9-10 lbs of grain for horses in heavy work isn’t too much…and as I stated, I wanted to be grain free it just wasn’t possible at this time with my horses work load.

My vet says steer clear of beet pulp, so that’s a no go for me!

I understand the basics of equine nutrition, I have thought about making my own feed with oats and alfalfa pellets but found I wanted to add the sunflower, peas, and papaya as well as the other ingredients CA offers and it really wasn’t cost effective.

I have found CA in my area for $36/bag

Thank you everyone for your input

I will be trying it out, thanks!

[tazycat]

Even at 36 dollars a bag thats high priced for feed that lacks vit/mins. I buy at least 8 bags of feed at a time,about a 2 week supply. For the senior i buy it 111.60$ for those 8 bags.

To buy 8 bags of this CA feed your looking at 288$, i can get 16 bags of the senior that fortified for 223.20$. Sorry i could never justify that cost for a feed,that lacks vit/mins at that.

For 16 bags of CA 576$ :eek:

[yourcolorfuladdictio]

[QUOTE=HarnessOutrider;8736007]
My vet says steer clear of beet pulp, so that’s a no go for me![/QUOTE]

How old is your vet!?!

Beet pulp is one of the BEST fiber options for a horse. It feeds the hind gut flora and provides quiet energy with practically no NSC.

[JB]

@HarnessOutrider;8736007

I’m aware 9-10 lbs of grain for horses in heavy work isn’t too much…and as I stated, I wanted to be grain free it just wasn’t possible at this time with my horses work load.

You can be grain-free and feed a commercially fortified feed, as there are quite a lot of good ones now.

My vet says steer clear of beet pulp, so that’s a no go for me!

Steer clear in general, or specifically for your horse? If the former, then why? It’s a well-studied, beneficial feed product for horses. Some horses don’t do well on it, but most do, and there’s a good reason it’s a large part of many quality commercial feeds.

I understand the basics of equine nutrition, I have thought about making my own feed with oats and alfalfa pellets but found I wanted to add the sunflower, peas, and papaya as well as the other ingredients CA offers and it really wasn’t cost effective.

I nearly guarantee it’s more cost effective for you to make the mix yourself, but only if you’re willing and able to do some bulk buying

I hope this does the magic tricks you hope it will. Really

[DoodlesMom]

My best friend feeds CA, and she loves it. Her gelding has flourished on it. Last I heard, her mare was going nutty with all the oats, but the gelding was good - looked and felt great.

After reading the previous thread, I don’t think I’ll ever use CA. I would prefer to make my own mix, honestly. My older gelding can’t eat it anyway (Cushings), but yeah… her responses in that thread really turned me off. But my friend swears by it, so there is probably some benefit. She is in Central VA and says it can be hard to get though.

[HarnessOutrider]

I’m new to the forum so don’t quite have any clue how to quote anything. Lol.

But for the questions as to why I don’t feed beet pulp and why my vet said not to: look up some of the research universities have done on the popular brands of beer pulp sold in feed stores…beer pulp is a by-product of the beet industry, they use tons of chemicals on the beets themselves to strip the roots and fibers off…which becomes the beet pulp we feed our horses. No thanks!

Also lots of studies out with horses being fed beet pulp to have very weak hind ends, also beets retain a lot of arsenic and that’s usually concentrated in the roots, which is what we feed horses.

I guess if good quality alfalfa isn’t readily available and you need it for the added calories it’s a great idea for you…I have excellent hay available and don’t have any need for it.

I fed beet pulp for years, but after hearing about the research on it…I’ve since stopped and went to alfalfa.

Again, I am pretty competent with equine nutrition but there is always more to learn.

Also, my vet is about 36

I am going to be pricing creating my own feed, thanks all!

[JB]

@HarnessOutrider;8736594

But for the questions as to why I don’t feed beet pulp and why my vet said not to: look up some of the research universities have done on the popular brands of beer pulp sold in feed stores…beer pulp is a by-product of the beet industry, they use tons of chemicals on the beets themselves to strip the roots and fibers off…which becomes the beet pulp we feed our horses. No thanks!

Actually, no. The beets are cut into thin slices first, then hot water is used to leach out the sugar, then the soaked slices are squeezed to extract what’s left, and then you have the pulp remaining. Even the leaves and roots left are removed by mechanical means, no chemicals.

Also lots of studies out with horses being fed beet pulp to have very weak hind ends,

That argument (which I know you are just repeating) is old and tired and has no merit. The explanation given by those who think bp causes “weak hind ends” has to do with the high calcium, but those same people have no problem feeding alfalfa, which has MORE calcium than beet pulp.

also beets retain a lot of arsenic and that’s usually concentrated in the roots, which is what we feed horses.

Do you eat anything with sugar in it? Do you understand that comes from sugar beets? Are you, or horses, dying from arsenic poisoning? Do you know how many horses have been eating beet pulp in some amount - which is usually pretty small compared to the total food intake - for decades, without health issues? Do you avoid all rice and rice bran grown in the US? That has arsenic in it too.

I fed beet pulp for years, but after hearing about the research on it…I’ve since stopped and went to alfalfa.

The thing is, there isn’t any research on what you/your vet claim are problems with beet pulp. Not in relation to any issues anyway. Your knowledge of how the beet pulp is created isn’t even true.

Yes, it contains some (low) level of arsenic. So do a lot of things. Absolutely no valid research points to consuming that level, in reasonable amounts of beet pulp fed, has any health consequences other than beneficial. Not from arsenic, not from calcium.

Note that I’m not trying to convince you (or anyone) to feed beet pulp. But to state you aren’t because of these “I heard it so it must be true” things is silly.