Southern States makes my TC feed and if they have a winter formula, it sure doesn’t help! During the cooler months I find that Complete, Senior, and Growth all tend to be bricks. It drives me nuts!! I drop bags on the floor before opening them then I have what is essentially an ice pick that I use to break up clumps…
Even during warmer months there will be bags that tend to ‘hold their shape’ and have big hard-to-break clumps when they’re dumped. I just deal with it <sigh>
Well, I can’t get it anymore–around here it was made at a Kent mill and is gone with the switch to Cargill. Anyway, the short answer is “yes” and we always dropped it on the concrete before opening the bag and dumping it in the feed bin (aka garbage can).
In the winter it was worse and we wacked it with a crowbar a couple times before scooping.
In 1995-96 I fed TC Sr. and had to use a hammer and a screw driver to break it up throughout the winter. Last winter it was loose. Now it is back to being a brick. Perhaps Cargill went back to the original formula? I think I will take a leaf out of one of the other posters book and keep a maul by the bag this time. Thanks! 
Timely thread. I’ve just started using it this summer and also found it to be like a brick. Mine is made by Southern States. I guess I’ll have to get an ice pick or something to keep in the feed room for the winter, as my guys are thriving on the stuff, so I’ll have to find a way to deal with it.
We do dump ours into a trashcan, so I’ll have to suggest to the DH that he rough up the bags a little befor dumping them.
This. I cannot believe more people don’t know about this little trick. It’s so easy.
I posted in post 17 about my conversation with tc. There is a difference in the way the molasses and oil are added between cargil and blue seal.
this only affects those of us in the northeast. Tc is aware of the problem and working on it.
I never had a problem with my tc being hard or a solid brick before the switch in manufacturers, but I also bought it and it was only a few days old, where now it is mostly at least a month old.
So between the staleness and the problem with it bricking, I switched to another product.
A pick ax only breaks it into clumps, then I took a potato masher, and then I said after doing that to 6 bags from various dealers and all the same, I said forget it.
it is a great product, no doubt, but we got really burnt with the switch.
Aha! I was wondering why my bag of TC Complete was so hard and compacted. I thought we got an old bag or something. I haven’t fed it in a couple of years and just started feeding it again. Good to know.
I like the compact brick for transport & storage!
I keep it in bags during the summer because I feel it keeps better. I’m planning on dumping the whole supply loose in the bin for the winter months only because I already dread having to break it all up.
In the winter, when I have the most trouble with it, I just keep a hammer in the feed bin and break it up with the claw end.
My barn feeds both TC Senior and Fibergized Omega, which both are textured and contain vegetable oil and molasses. Both brick up, and the trick of putting it on edge and kneeling on it takes less than a minute to break it up. If it’s really tough, kneel on one side then flip it over, kneel on the other side. Put it upright and give it a good squash and you should be set.
[QUOTE=fivehorses;5160896]
I never had a problem with my tc being hard or a solid brick before the switch in manufacturers, but I also bought it and it was only a few days old, where now it is mostly at least a month old.[/QUOTE]
I did when I fed it years ago. I switched back this summer and have been dreading feeding it this winter again. Plus it just went up a dollar. Yay.
We want to respond to our Triple Crown customers that are currently experiencing bricking issues with our textured beet pulp based feeds, especially our Senior formula. While we can on occasion see this occur in cooler weather, we are seeing it unusually early and are working very hard to get it addressed at the manufacturing mills. We expect you will see your more familiar TC Senior very soon. All of the Triple Crown formulations are fixed formulas and have not changed. We have long looked at ways of permanently eliminating this bricking issue but it alters the formulation too much and many horses are very dependant on it as it is, due to the importance of the high fiber content. It is true that there are some slight changes to the textured beet pulp based feeds from the warmer summer months to the cooler winter months and this typically alleviates much of the issue. We appreciate your patience as well as your loyalty to our feeds and always invite you to call us with any feeding questions or concerns you may have in regards to feeding our products. 1-800-451-9916
^That would explain why the bag I have now is like a brick. I live in SoCal, the weather is not that cold but the TC Senior I have now is super hard and clumps together every day. I just take a sweat scraper (long plastic ones) and break it all up before feeding.
My TC Senior is like a brick and this is way early. I’ve also noticed that my horse is loosing weight on it. I didn’t mind spending the extra because it was great at keeping him looking good. Ever since the change over, the grain is not only like a brick even in warmer weather…it’s not keeping the weight on my guy anymore. I’m switching…just haven’t decided to what???
My most recent bag had several softball size clumps of lighter colored feed. I’m guessing from the appearance maybe it was the beet pulp shreds that clumped together? I’ve been feeding TC senior feed for almost two years without any of these issues.
hi tcn horsefeed!
j/w why the sr. is lower in nsc% than the low starch. molasses is the 5th item in sr. , and the ls has no molasses.
mammadoc- Because molasses are not the only cause for sugar/starch, just like a diabetic has to pay attention to all carbs not just sugar, but carbs from pasta, corn, and grains. I am guessing the dried distillers grains are adding to the NSC as well as the wheat middlings. Although TC sr also has the wheat middlings. That would be my guess though. Just because something has molasses in it doesn’t make it bad what else is in it also matters. Which if you look at the chart for NSC TC has you will see that the starch is higher in the low starch so after doing a little research of starch vs sugar it looks like the NSC value of the Low starch is mostly coming from starch vs sugar. I hope that helps, it was kinda interesting to google actually. Just important to remember that it isn’t just molasses that raise the NSC. Just like a diabetic can still have problems even if they cut out things that have sugar in them but don’t find a way to monitor other carbs.
The low starch is great for many horses though that have allergies as it doesn’t have corn or alfalfa and that can be pretty hard to find.
My TC Senior is (AFAIK) made by Southern States. It can be pretty “brick-like” in the bag. But once I dump it in the feed bin it crumbles pretty quickly.
thanks whbar! makes sense.
The difference in the NSC values of Senior and Low starch is really just a matter of the ingredients and their abundance in these feeds. Even though Senior has molasses in the ingredient list it is only a small amount. TC Senior is very beet pulp based which is a low NSC ingredient and contrary to popular belief, alfalfa can also be low in NSC, alfalfa on average can be lower in NSC than many grass hays. These first two ingredients make up a large portion of the Senior. “Soybean hulls” are also an ingredient that are low in NSC. When you look at the Low starch, wheat middlings is first on the ingredient list making it most abundant in the low starch (this ingredient is a bit higher in NSC) the next ingredients that follow are soybean hulls, beet pulp and distiller dried grains. The additional 4% fat in the Senior with no additional carbs is another contributing factor. Again a difference in the make up of the Senior and Low Starch explains why Senior is lower in NSC than the low starch.
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