A lot of people here recommend TC products. More the pro force fuel and the ultium line. Is there a big reason for that? Looking at the feeding recommendations on each company website it looks like TC is the least amount of feed by about a 2 lb or less a day.
Proforce fuel is 6-9 lbs, ultium competition is 5 3/4 lbs and TC complete is 5 lbs.
Itās at least partially that TC products are likely the most widely available premium feed line in the US. (Someone fact check me, please!) Itās a pretty safe internet forum recommendation.
But, as a former BM and TC Sr devotee, it made my life simple. I always had a ration balancer and TC Sr in the feed room. Metabolic? TC Sr is one of the lowest-carb feeds on the market. Sketchy teeth? TC Sr. Needs a splash more than just ration balancer? Add a little TC Sr. Need to hide powdered bute for a week? TC Sr. Itās super versatile.
Depending on the horses in the barn, I often had a third feed. When I was on a hard keeper kick it was Ultium. For me, thatās a feed with a pretty specific job. But when you need crazy calorie density, it does the job quite well.
7 Likes
In general, without any other deciding info, Iāll always suggest TC over P or N. I prefer to not feed corn, and TC has no corn in any formula, while P and N use it in most everything.
TC also has lower NSC options than P or N.
TC and P are made in ionophore-free mills. A particular N feed may or may not be, you have to call to find out if the feed your store gets is, or isnāt.
Those are my reasons for choosing TC over P or N, if those are the only 3 options. But that doesnāt mean a particular feed of P or N isnāt a good choice.
And yes Ultium has the lowest feeding amount by a little.
2 Likes
This is where defining āpremiumā gets tricky. As a whole, TC is more āpremiumā for me because they donāt have a cheap junk line of feeds, like P and N do.
But assuming someone isnāt looking for the cheap way out, then the higher end lines of all 3 are what I would consider āpremiumā
All 3 are available at almost all Tractor Supply stores, and from what I hear, most Rural Kings and Farm & Fleets as well, which covers an enormous amount of territory. But even with TSC, there are more Purina and Nutrena options. TSC tends to only carry TC Sr and Complete, with the Balancer available on request in many of them.
In the past boarding in CA , I have had horses stalled 24/7 for years and fed a sweet feed( COB) at the same time and never had ulcers. I have come to believe like anything else, some are just predisposed to have certain conditions. Kind of like us humans.
We need to feed wisely and try and make life as stress free and as normal ( for them) as possible if we can. Just for their overall mental / physical well being.
I donāt think anyone can be 100% certain why any horse gets ulcers? Of course many will disagree with my thinking . I expect that.
2 Likes
There is definitely no 100% on why all ulcers happen. The fact that horses āat leisureā in a nice grass pasture, the same Dr Green that can help CURE ulcers, who still have ulcers, proves that we donāt know all the causes. You can do all the Best Practices management, and still end up with ulcers.
3 Likes
Totally agree.
I posed that question as my understanding that the portion of ulcer risk related to grain was the simple carbs in grain and not so much that 5 lbs is āriskierā than 3 lbs.
Iād love to be told Iām wrong in this understanding bc I have a persnickety hard keeping old TB with a sensitive tummy. It would be both cheaper and less volume for horse to eat Ultium vs his current TCS Gold. I havenāt tried the Ultium for him yet though bc I believe the higher sugars present more risk (ulcers plus old horse metabolic concerns) than Iām willing to gamble on.
Again Iād love to be proven wrong.
youād need to do the math on the pounds per serving of Ultium with whatever the % of starch is, vs the pounds of TC Gold, and see whatās more. Iād choose the feed that provides the total lower amount.
1 Like
Iād likely need to figure out the calories per lbs to figure equivalent servings as well. And then the Cu/Zn. And then gosh knows what else Iāll worry myself over. More iron in one than the other. Pro/pre bios. The whole lot. I guess Iāll add it to my list of horse things to be researched.
1 Like
Update
Ultium Competition- 1900 kcal per lb 10% starch
TCS Gold - 1800 kcal per lb 3.6% starch
No need for further research. Will be sticking to TCS Gold.
5 Likes
If budget is at all a concern I would skip TC senior. I had to feed so much of it and my horses still lost weight. I donāt feed much grain but when they need a little weight I like nutrena proforce senior or purina strategy healthy edge. You only have to feed like 3lbs of the healthy edge. Proforce has higher feeding rates so you might need a vit/min supplement.
Math helps! It doesnāt mean math rules the horseās body, of course, but it definitely gives you an objective starting point when you donāt know which option to start with.
But that doesnāt mean the next horse will. It works very very well for my 32yo who eats 8lb a day (because he can still eat enough hay). Could I use a cheaper feed for the same results? Maybe. But I donāt have an option of a cheaper feed with the same-ish NSC level, so Iām not going to try.
And with that, itās not a lot of calories, so for many horses who need sheer calories, youāre going to have to either feed the high end, or add another source.
And a good v/m to make up a deficit of feeding, say, 1/2 the recommended rate, isnāt cheap, so you might as well feed the recommended amount if they need the calories. Or add a 1/2 serving (1/2-1lb or so) of a ration balancer if they donāt need the extra calories.
Remember, minimal feeding rates are based on nutritional needs, not calorie needs
1 Like
I was fairly confident in the TCS Gold but am always open to the possibility of better options. Hopefully someone else may make use of the quick figures I posted above too as it can be a little overwhelming trying to compare feeds.
All you can do is try the Gold, give it a few months, take pictures and measurements for an objective evaluation, and go from there.
Oh! Heās been on the Gold for months. Was on plain TC Senior prior. Sorry for the confusion. Heās done real well on it so far. Cleared up his loose manure issue and heās holding his weight on 6 lbs daily.
I got all wrapped up in discussing with another poster about Ultium and well here we are!!
2 Likes
That is correct! I have a very limited options for TC products. I get the balancer from Big R which has most of the line except the Gold line. I really wanted to use the Perform Gold for him because of the whey protein and high calories but they do not have that which is why I was looking at the ultium competition feed which is regularly carried at TSC.
Since I assume they are an individually owned store, you could ask them if they will order the Perform Gold with a given shipment of TC products in general. There may have to be some up front work to get them added to the list of Gold dealers, through TC, but that should be easy, at least if Big R is willing to do that.
Oh no they are a chain. Mostly CO, KS and now OK. I might ask them if they can because they carry most of the line anyways
A true chain, like Tractor Supply? Or a āchainā like Southern States but where each is independently owned? If the former, they will not be able to get the Gold line. If the latter, they can potentially get it.
