Hygain Zero, Anyone here use it?

[cayuse]

Does anyone use Hygain Zero and do you like it? Is it palatable? I’m trying to find something besides hay, rice bran, and chopped hay to feed my 26 year old welsh pony who is metabolic and has several food allergies and sensitivities. This feed looks like something he “might” be able to eat as it is soy and beet pulp free although he may react to something else in it. It can be hit or miss with him, but I do know soy and beep are not good. And I’m also allergic to soy, so there’s that too.

Any other suggestions for any ration balancer/feed without soy and beet bulp would be appreciated. I should add pony is on Prascend and under the vets care for his numerous issues but every one is stumped as to what to feed him. Allergy testing (dermal and blood) was full of false positives and some false negatives and really did not help. Thanks.

[Sarah616]

Are you asking about HyGain Zero? If so, yes! We recently switched our entire barn to Hygain - show horses, lesson horses, etc - with all but two being on the Zero. You know how all feed brands like to promise “you’ll save money even though our grain is more expensive per bag because you’ll feed less!”? This is the first one that has actually lived up to that statement. Our horses all look fantastic and eat it well. The two who aren’t on the Zero are on the TruGain because they tend to the skinny side, and they both look better than they ever have.

I don’t know about all the specifics, but the Zero was recommended to us as the best for all types of horses - from the normal ones to the ones with metabolic issues. The rep also recommended it over the Senior grain that Hygain makes, even for the elderly lesson horses.

It is a little plain, so some of ours who were used to a sweet feed based grain turned their nose up at first, but now they like it fine.

[cayuse]

Thank you! I think I’m going to give it a try.

[rcy]

Interested to hear your feedback with regards to palatability … I have a super picky eater who can’t have soy, flax or oats, so finding something to go with rice bran that she likes has been a challenge. I always see this in the store but hate to spend that kind of money on something she will turn her nose up at.

[ladipus]

Yes …I feed Hygain Zero to most of my horses …they all willingly eat it …I like that it’s soy free which is a plus for my mare with allergies…and the low sugar /starch is great for the metabolic issues / GI & pssm type issues as well! I order it through chewy because nobody sells it out my way …they did just recently come out with a soy free /ultra low sugar balancer called Metasafe that should now be readily available

My only complaint is the price …at $36.50 for 44 lb bag it comes out to $2.59/day at that’s being fed at the absolute bare minimum of 3ish pounds per day which is about $77/horse /month which is steep when you have multiple horses on the flip side their new ultra low sugar /starch Meta Safe Balancer comes out to $1/day $43.50/bag 44lb bags

[ladipus]

@Sarah616 how much Zero are you generally feeding ?? I’ve got multiple horses so I’m trying to figure out the mist cost effective way to feed Hygain as its more money /bag …and the bags are smaller than most other feeds …44lbs Vs 50lbs

[Sarah616]

We use a 3 quart scoop and most of our horses get 1/2 - 3/4 of a scoop 3x/day, which works out to approximately 4-6 pounds per day. One or two horses have been on a full scoop 3x/day, but those get cut down pretty quickly

[ladipus]

@Sarah616 ok …how many do you have ?? Even at bare minimum 3lbs/day is $2.59/horse/day or $77 per horse per month …as much as I love Hygain it’s quite expensive …I’m having a hard time justifying paying that steep of a price

[Sarah616]

Well, we’re a full care training/boarding/lesson barn, so we can have upwards of 40 horses at a time. You’re right that it’s expensive. The reason it works for us is several fold.

1. all of the horses eat it well
2. all of the horses look fantastic on it
3. it is simple. In trying to find what is the best feeding program to keep all of the horses looking their best while not breaking the bank, we, at times, would be using 3 or 4 different grains, or soaked alfalfa for some, or adding beet pulp, etc. The ease of feeding one grain to all of the horses cuts down on feeding time and makes it worth the cost.
4. this is the first feed company that has promised “you’ll be able to feed less” that has actually been truthful. Even one of our elderly lesson horses who had been on 6+ quarts 3x/day of other feeds has been cut down to 3 quarts 3x/day because he was starting to look pregnant.

Now, I don’t know if you will be able to justify the cost for your program after seeing your other post with the different grains you are feeding. I wish the bags were bigger for the same cost as well.

[ladipus]

@Sarah616 yes I agree …just wish it was 50lb bags would make it a little easier to swallow…and also for simplicity sake it would be nice to have a 1 size fits all rather than soaking cubes and adding this and that and having several different feeds

[Sarah616]

Just in case anyone wants photographic proof of how good the horses we have on the Hygain Zero look, this is a picture of the elderly lesson horse I referenced above… he’s 26, this picture was taken yesterday. I really have never been one to advocate strongly for a certain feed type but boy I give will give Hygain any testimonial they want right now.

[cayuse]

Handsome fella!

[george]

Yes, I fed it to my 26 year old retired Swedish Warmblood with cushings. He loved it and the protein level really helped him. I had him on Haygain Zero, Tripple Crown chopped hay Safe starch, Speedy- Beet, and unlimited free choice low NSC hay. I have since recommended the Haygain Zero to several students and all the horses on it seem to love it.

[JB]

The cost to feed a certain feed, based on at least the minimum requirement, only has real value if you’re comparing to the cost to feed the current diet. If a 40lb bag of feed is actually 2x more on a per-pound basis than the current 50lb bag of feed, but you can get the same results (or better) with half the amount fed (3lb vs 6lb), then it’s the same cost to feed. And for SURE that’s how it works sometimes. Unfortunately the only to find that out, is to make the switch and give is a reasonable amount of time.

@ladipus have you looked into Tribute Seniority Low NSC? It’s 10% NSC, and while it does have soy (so wouldn’t work for your mare), it doesn’t have molasses, so may work for the other horses. Wholesome Blends Senior is soy-free, though 16.5% NSC, so may work for your mare if she’s not also metabolic. The whole Wholesome Blends line, including a ration balancer, is soy-free.

[Alterration]

I feed Showtorque, Zero, Tru Care and now Tru Gain to horses at my barn.

I have tweaked feeds forever, and never felt truly happy with any of them. And then I started to use Showtorque and expanded from there.

I have a really difficult to put weight on 16.3h Senior TB who has bloomed on Tru Care. I have two cushionoids on Zero. I have a few performance horses who got fizzy on other feeds, do absolutely fantastic on Showtorque.

The senior is the one I’m the happiest with. I had to feed him 12 lbs per day of Triple Crown senior plus 12 lb alfalfa pellets (plus unlimited grass hay, which he can still chew) and a cup of oil and he still had no topline. Switched to the Tru Care and within a week I’m cutting back on the oil and pellets. He loves the feed, and doesn’t go off it every few days like he did with the normal senior feeds. I’m sold.

[lenapesadie]

The Hygain feeds have recently become available to me through a local retailer. I am toying with the idea of trying them. Is the Tru Care “sticky” or more of a dry pellet?

[Alterration]

Tru Care is a dry pellet. Reminds me of Kix cereal Oh, and I should add - it soaks up really nice and mushy very quick for those who need it.

[LilDunFilly]

Put me down for another Hygain supporter. A friend of mine recommended the brand several years ago; I started feeding it once my mare started training. While the bags are expensive, I do find that I am able to feed less of it. I compared multiple feeds on a cost-per-pound basis in relation to what I needed to feed. My mare needed less than a pound per day based on the recommended feeding chart on their website (this was for their ration balancer) so one 44 lb bag was good for 73 feedings, aka 2.5 months.

My mare is now at a barn that feeds Hygain as the barn grain. She’s on Balanced + Tru-Gain (and potentially a bit of something else). She and every other horse on the property look great!

[Pookah]

I’ve been really happy with it for metabolic horses. I was previously feeding them soaked hay cubes with a vitamin mix, and none of them were very happy with it (not surprisingly). I have since switched to Meta Safe since it has an even lower feeding rate, and a lot of mine need a very small amount of calories. I wouldn’t say either are the MOST palatable feeds, but all of mine seem to like either option better than getting hay cubes mixed with vitamin powder. And the horses look terrific on it. I have actually been less thrilled with the Senior and am looking to switch over some of those.

[ladipus]

@JB yes ! I did just stumble across Tributes Seniority Low NSC 10% …so being that there is soy i don’t thing I’d want that for my mare …however I might want to switch my new Friesian to that because my vet was just out to do spring vaccines and commented that he thought he was a touch heavier than he would like to see- he said he’s approximately 1300lbs and a body score of 6.5-7…he’s currently getting 6lbs Tribute Kalm N EZ pellets , 1 cup Tribute K Finish, as well as 5 pumps of Equine Total Gold oil(soy&fish oil) , 2 scoops per day MVP Mag 5000 as per recommended by the Friesian people I bought him from (I’m told fats are very important for the Friesian diet) …do you think that would be better for him ? It would still be 6lbs for the minimum as he’s in light work but slightly lower fat percentage 6% vs 8% in the Kalm N EZ but also lower nsc -10% vs 13.5%

Or again …the Hygain Zero I could feed him about 4ish lbs …that has the lowest nsc but also much lower fat too …I think only 4%

I’m feeding this guy what was sent to you him and also they highly recommended it …said they haven’t any any issues or colic in over 11yrs feeding it …apparently Friesians can be quite sensitive and have various health issues …colic being one of them …so I’m scared to switch to something different…although I feel more comfortable knowing they’re eating something lower nsc …ugh …please help…your advice and perspective much appreciated