Nutrena changes in feed content

[Bopper]

I have fed Nutrena Maintenance to my QH gelding for about 3 years. He is an easy keeper and has done well on it previously. In the last 3-4 months I noticed some changes. My farrier has been concerned because the horse’s hooves are not growing as they have previously. (The horse is on a hoof supplement that he has been on for 5 years.)

I noticed that he still has not shed out his winter coat. This horse does not grow a thick coat even in the winter but in the summer he slicks out with a nice, short coat. Not this year.

He is now on 2 hoof supplements and a coat supplement. I have heard other local horse people mention that Nutrena feed seems to have gone down in quality. They contacted Nutrena and after detailed questioning the feed company stated that the formulation for some or maybe all feeds had changed. I assume due to increase ingredient prices.

Has anyone else experienced something like this?

I am changing to another brand of feed but I wanted to get some input.

[WildGooseChase]

Have you contacted Nutrena yourself? I bet they would speak with you! Here’s some questions that I would be ready to answer when you speak with them.

1. Is your horse getting the recommended weight of the feed daily?
2. Is the feed stored properly both at the store you purchase from, and after purchase?
3. Have you noticed any changes to the feed itself? Texture, smell, feel etc
4. Have you noticed any anorexia or refusal to eat?
5. Changes in eating habits? (IE a horse who bolts their feed suddenly picks at feed)
6. Changes in routine?
7. Changes in spent calories? (IE is it cold? Workload increase? Intensity of workload increase?)
8. Are all horses on this particular formula experiencing the same or a degree of the same symptoms, or it is just one horse?

I feed Tribute and Buckeye. I’ve been through this with Tribute once before. They put too much salt in a batch of feed, and I had some horses refusing to eat, some picking at it, and some eating normally. Huge increase in water intake, and excessive urination for those that ate it, and weight/condition loss for those that picked/refused to eat (well duh lol). Tribute was WONDERFUL about the entire ordeal, and sent us a free pallet of feed for the trouble. No horses were worse for wear and went back to normal when the feed was replaced. I’m wondering if this is more of a QC issue, or something went wrong when the feed was manufactured… I wouldn’t rule that out just yet.

A side note though, not shedding out, & slow/poor quality hoof growth (lamella keratinocytes need a lot of glucose!), would have me wanting to test for PPID. I’d rather rule it out and know for sure, than possibly spending tons of $$ on other feeds and care.

[Bopper]

Nothing else in the horse’s routine has changed and his eating behavior is the same. I talked to my vet about it when I brought him in for an unrelated issue and she did not suggest any other testing. She suggested other feeds to try first.

The feed is from the same vendor. It does smell different from previous batches, not bad just different.

[Calvincrowe]

How old is your horse? Honestly,this sounds like PPID to me. I’m rather surprised your vet was so dismissive unless your horse is young. My 22 year old Paint first presented with non-shedding (like your boy, not a ton of coat normally) and hoof changes noticed by my farrier. Lots of good advice about feed questions here,too.

[JB]

Ditto Calvin - test for PPID first. It’s highly unlikely that a change in a formula is what’s causing the coat shedding issue, but it’s very likely that PPID is.

But also, in a lot of place, Spring was cold and wet, and some horses held (are holding) onto coats a bit longer than normal.

“seems to have gone down in quality” is much too subjective. You can’t go by that.

What MORE likely happened is that Nutrena updated, as in improved, some nutritional content. Purina has done something like that, Triple Crown did that recently, Blue Seal has done some of that, Tribute as well.

Vet first. Rule out metabolic issues.

[tabula_rashah]

I’m going to third the check out metabolic issues first. This does not sound like a feed problem

[FjordBCRF]

Another vote for ruling out anything metabolic. That was the first thing that came to my mind when I was reading the initial post.

[Bopper]

The horse is 10 years old. Vet did not think he was a candidate for metabolic issues. I had a horse with metabolic issues previously so I am familiar with symptoms and this is different.

I am in the South and we have had warm weather for several weeks now. Our Spring arrives in February and March. We are already in summer weather.

The actually started shedding yesterday after a few weeks on additional supplements.

[Scribbler]

@Bopper

I have fed Nutrena Maintenance to my QH gelding for about 3 years. He is an easy keeper and has done well on it previously. In the last 3-4 months I noticed some changes. My farrier has been concerned because the horse’s hooves are not growing as they have previously. (The horse is on a hoof supplement that he has been on for 5 years.)

I noticed that he still has not shed out his winter coat. This horse does not grow a thick coat even in the winter but in the summer he slicks out with a nice, short coat. Not this year.

He is now on 2 hoof supplements and a coat supplement. I have heard other local horse people mention that Nutrena feed seems to have gone down in quality. They contacted Nutrena and after detailed questioning the feed company stated that the formulation for some or maybe all feeds had changed. I assume due to increase ingredient prices.

Has anyone else experienced something like this?

I am changing to another brand of feed but I wanted to get some input.

If you don’t know what the numbers were on the old and new version of the feed then you can’t possibly pinpoint what was changed, and whether that was something that could create these changes. You also don’t know if a new feed will be better or worse than Nutrena. Because you don’t know what’s in Nutrena. This is one of those cases where you need to do your own research and crunch your own numbers.

I would in particular crunch the numbers on vitamins and minerals and make sure those are good.

Is your horse at a boarding barn? Then it’s possible this year’s hay is crap or that the staff are not feeding enough grain to get all the VM he needs. Most hoof supplements are way below useful amounts.

I have had good luck with very good hay plus a VMS in a small beet pulp and alfalfa cube mash. Plus salt and flax. I like Mad Barn Omniety. Better coverage of VM than any feed or ration balancer in my market, and minimal extra calories or carbs in the mash.

I would also consider metabolic issues.

[luvmyhackney]

Test him anyway. It’s not that expensive and gives you a baseline if he doesn’t have it.

Plus bloodwork can rule out a bunch of stuff. My guess is either he is PPID or his hay quality went way downhill.

[WNT]

Yep, hay quality can have a huge effect on horses. Even if (hypothetical 1000 lb horse) they’re getting 5-6 lbs a day of feed, they’re probably eating at least 15 lbs of hay and the nutritional value of that hay can play a lot more than what’s in the feed.

[FjordBCRF]

@Bopper

The horse is 10 years old.

It’s not at all unheard of for a 10 year old to have metabolic issues. I started testing my fjord as a 5 year old, granted he is higher risk for it than some other breeds. It’s nothing that breaks the bank and is something I 100% want to be on top of.

[SusanO]

If you are having hoof issues and slow to shed out - that screams Cushings to me and not necessarily feed changes. No matter the age of the horse I would check that out first. Flax and supplements might improve the hair coat but I don’t think it would make the horse shed earlier in the year.

[WildGooseChase]

Agreed. A simple test can rule it out and give peace of mind. That’s exactly why I brought it up. Some DVM’s can be dismissive in this way, so it’s important that we advocate for our horse’s care.