Pellets for FFWS - how long to soak?

[stryder]

Looking for experiences here, please. Friend and I are moving our horses end of this month. Our current BO takes excellent care of our geldings, will gladly soak mashes, hay … whatever’s needed. But she’s retiring and barn is for sale.

We’re moving to a larger facility, also full care but I don’t think obsessively so. Both our geldings have struggled with FFWS - Free Fecal Water Syndrome. What put them both in the clean-butt club is pellets soaked in a lot of water. Friend’s horse also gets a few additional supplements, including ProTek after spending 2 months on Gastrogard. It’s a couple cups of supplements. My horse also gets supplements, but much less volume.

Here’s my question: Our current barn adds water probably 3 different times, including just as horses come in, then stirred. It’s similar to pea soup. We don’t think new barn owner is going to be that obsessive about it.

My question: For those who feed pellets to help with FFWS, how much water are you adding?
FWIW, both horses have great teeth and can chew whatever they need to.

TIA.

[trubandloki]

To clarify, in this situation FFWS is fecal water syndrome?

[stryder]

yup

[GraceLikeRain]

@stryder

Our current barn adds water probably 3 different times, including just as horses come in, then stirred. It’s similar to pea soup. We don’t think new barn owner is going to be that obsessive about it.

At the new barn are buckets soaked for the 12 hours between feedings? If so, could you tell the new barn to fill the bucket to x level and then it just needs water once? Grain soaked for half a day is mush and if you add enough water you have automatic soup.

If supplements can’t soak it may be possible to ask for the next meal to be soaked but supplements added just before feeding.

[stryder]

We concerned new barn doesn’t want to do mashes, at least not on the regular. We’ll ask, but I’m hoping to gain more information from you-all.

The Standlee website says soak for 20-30 mins, and cold water is fine. If that’s all it is, that might be OK with new barn. If it soaks too long, or the water is too warm at the start, I understand there’s a risk of fermentation.

[trubandloki]

@stryder

We concerned new barn doesn’t want to do mashes, at least not on the regular. We’ll ask, but I’m hoping to gain more information from you-all.

The Standlee website says soak for 20-30 mins, and cold water is fine. If that’s all it is, that might be OK with new barn. If it soaks too long, or the water is too warm at the start, I understand there’s a risk of fermentation.

Are you more asking what others do when they can’t soak their pelleted hay product?

I feel alfalfa pellets unsoaked.
They are the same size pellet as most horse feed pellets and nothing I feed has a problem eating them unsoaked.

[stryder]

That’s partly it, yes. Thanks for the clarifying question. I seem to be lost in my own head.

The ProTek that friend’s horse gets is the consistency of powdered sugar. We don’t know how palatable it is, but think feeding it as part of a mash will make sure it all goes down.

The other part is, it seems getting more water into them helps keep them in the clean-butt club.

I’m wondering if we could ask the new barn owner to add supplements to pellets, dump in about a gallon of water, stir and feed. Does anybody do that?

[trubandloki]

I think it is best to ask these questions before you move in.

Lots of places will feed mash. Lots of places will not feed mash.

[stryder]

yes, thanks. We’re a couple of over-thinkers. We’ve been at our current barn over 10 years. Trying to learn more about the outside world before we get there.

[clanter]

@stryder

I understand there’s a risk of fermentation.

yes that can occur easily in this heat

never really checked to see what was a recommend soak time but from doing it 20 minutes is what I had found to ideal

[colorfan]

I don’t know what your temps are but I put my beet pellets to soak at the last feeding. So my morning pellets soak from last night when I fed, evening feed pellets soak from morning. I have done it this way for 10+years. Pellets are in a tack room, out of the light, always slightly cooler in there than outside. I put the goodies in the pellets just before feeding.

[stryder]

Thanks. We’ll talk to the BO this week. Find out how much tolerance she has for this. My friend and I are going to try @clanter’s method and see if that gets us close enough.

[Demerara_Stables]

It depends on the pellets too - I have 4 on soaked pellets and a few types take 5+ minutes to soak (those I would soak at previous feeding), but one type soaks up the water and is almost solid by the time I get to the other end of my small barn.

If your horses will eat soup it doesn’t matter when the water is added but if they’re picky they might need them to be soaked for a while.

Depending on the size of the barn, soaking for 10+ minutes might be a hassle. If there are not a lot of horses, everyone else might get fed and your horses will be sitting there waiting to eat while their feed soaks. Maybe they get hay before grain and that doesn’t matter. For sure talk to new BO, but if someone wouldn’t add water to feed right before feeding it I’d be concerned about what other things they won’t do.

[SusanO]

I don’t know how hot it is where you are but stuff sours really fast in the summer. I can thoroughly soak pellets in ten or 15 minutes with hot water. I would not want anything soaking for more than an hour, preferably 30 minutes unless in fridge. Maybe a little longer in a room with AC.