[dominiquer60]

These are the best points yet, but isn’t this proposal dead for now?

[dominiquer60]

Good points Geoff,

If cooking cracks the grain isn’t sprouting similar in the sense that the grain cracks its self in order to sprout? That seed coat has to crack in order for the root to elongate and the cotyledons to start to unfold, right? It seems to me like soaking grain to sprout it is the method of cracking the seed coat that is the most passive and requires the least amount of energy (no heat or machines, but does require time) to get it to crack. I know that my friend that feeds cooked barley and flax to her performance horses does not find barley in their manure, sometimes flax though. The guy feeding sprouted barley to cattle and goats doesn’t seem to have a problem either. So it appears to be another way to skin a cat.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

That is interesting because here in the states oats have been an important staple of equine diets. I was taught that processed oats are the safest concentrate to feed due to the good Ca:P ratio. If you start with a good forage and need a little more energy you can use oats safely without additional supplements or worries about too much Phosphorous. Both schools that I went to stress the simplicity of oats, but their word is not the end all and be all. Despite what GB and France feel are faults with oats, they have worked well for many a horse owner here. I know that there is no perfect food they all have flaws, but that is why diets should be diverse, to over come imperfections. Why are oats taboo over there?

Oil is an easy enough supplement to add, I know a few people that add oil to many a ration already. I had the feeling that the sprout should be short to feed livestock (0.5cm) compared to the old trick of sprouting oats for chickens, it took 7 to 10 days for a mat of green sprouts.

[dominiquer60]

The punchline is hilarious, but on the serious side I am glad that you missed that rock because its great having you around here.

[dominiquer60]

NY requires that horses (and all other livestock) traveling to shows and fairs have proof of rabies vaccination. In the past during the great rabies epidemics there have been cases of horses with rabies, however it is rare today given the effectiveness of our anti rabies efforts. I can see wanting proof of vaccination to show, though it is less important than in the 1980s and 1990s, however this license thing has got to be stopped. Lumping these things all together makes too many layers to deal with. If you had to comprimise, I would say let them require proof of rabies vac to show, and that is it, the precedent has already been set in other states and it seems the least harmful to people making a living with horses. I was looking at the NH Dept of Agriculture animal division and all it was was a list of licenses, not much else, sad really, I know NH prides its self on no income taxes, but you need a license to do anything and that comes at a price I assume. This really makes me think that the motto should be “Live income tax free (tax everything else that moves) or die”.
Erika

[dominiquer60]

I am so excited for you, good work finding an experienced horse and mentors. I like the picture of the mules watching you go down the road, they are beautiful.

[dominiquer60]

I can tell you when blanketing is too much.
Last night it got down to 42 degrees here in south Florida. All the horses here have a complete body clip, no questions asked. Most horses had a sheet or two or a light blanket on. Poor Milltown, I found him dripping with sweat just standing in his stall. he had on a sheet a baker blanket, a wool whitney blanket and a well insulated heavy turnout rug. The bottom two layers were soaked and the whitney was wicking moisture into the rug. Some people just don’t understand that horses are large BTU producing animals that prefer cooler temps. I can understand keeping the chill off a bit so their coat doesn’t grow in too fast, but this was way to much clothing for one animal. I ended up taking off 2 layers and let him cool down while I braided him, and gave him the 2 driest layers for the rest of the night. I hate taking the liberty to change what my customer wanted for their horse, but I couldn’t let this one go.

[dominiquer60]

Ha ha, Timber must have been impressed. It is too bad that you only managed to kill one bird with that stone, on the other hand biodiversity was on your side that day.

[dominiquer60]

Just from my experience of making sprouts for my table, twice should suffice.

More detail, most seeds/grains for sprouting should be soaked for 6 to 48 hours in initially warm water 100 degrees F or less. Sprouts should be kept moist at 60 to 75 degrees F. The Lippincotts Farm Manual; Productive Poultry Husbandry suggests sprinkling the oats a few times a day, but they also recommend using formalin in the soaking water to prevent mold. So perhaps treat them like people sprouts and give them a quick rinse 2x a day instead of relying on formalin to control microbes. I haven’t looked it up online yet there could be some good info out there, I have no real experience sprouting livestock feed, so you will have to experiment, if it looks questionable just feed the sprouts to the chickens, they have iron stomachs.

[dominiquer60]

It is my understanding that cooking or sprouting barley has a few advantages over dry. It is more palatable, easier to chew, and easier to digest in this more succulent form. Dry barley is very dense and hard, it takes a lot of moisture and digestive fluids to break it down in this form. Cooking/soaking gives digestion a head start, and it is chewed better to begin with, giving more surface area for digestive enzymes to do their job.

As far a oats go, 80 years ago it was common practice to sprout whole oats in trays for 7 days to feed chickens as green/fresh feed. I don’t think that it could hurt to try a little with the mule, they say that sprout water can be recycled by using it to water plants, they can benefit from the few nutrients that are in the water. Just remember to rinse well and often, and don’t hang on to any extra, make just what you need to use.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I would not put it past them to have a hidden agenda like animal Id and a little extra for the general fund. An excuse like “dealing with unwanted horses” is just candy coating it for the majority of the population that has their eyes closed to agriculture and need a “feel good” reason to support it, or at least to not rally against it. I see no use for this legislation, the money taken in will barely be enough to enforce it let alone help unwanted horses. They should bring back Horse Slaughter and make it and transportation more humane, I am sure that Temple Gradin would be up to the task.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

The most sexually aggressive male will get his job done, the mild mannered ones can become too timid to be reproductively successful. Save the one that you like best, if you can keep two cockerels than it is a good idea to have a spare. If you can’t manage to keep two give your second favorite to a friend that would lend him back to you in case something happens to #1.

[dominiquer60]

Fight it tooth and nail, I won’t even license my dog, they don’t need to bother with our lives that much. If they want to deal with unwanted horses, they should do it without putting a burden on the wanted ones. Of course you could switch to working and riding cattle 🙂 Just thought I would bring a little humor to a subject that always makes me want to cry. In NY you have the option of getting a Photo ID card for a coggins test. It has a photo of your horse on it and can be used anywhere you would have to show your coggins. The only set back is that by choosing this option over the standard piece of paper, you automatically get registered with NYS as a livestock operation and get put into the NY Animal ID program and they may even “volunteer” your info to the USDA too. I can picture NY wanting a horse tax too especially once they make their fancy coggins ID card mandatory.

[dominiquer60]

Robert,

I brought a new white bantam hen to the market a couple of times. Of course everyone wanted to know her name, so I came up with a naming contest on the spot for a free dozen eggs to the person that came up with the best name.
Princess Pearl went home with a new name and some lucky little girl went home with a dozen eggs that she insisted were Princess Pearl’s eggs 🙂

[dominiquer60]

I have used Mylar bits on saddle horses with great success. A little retraining and the right bit can go a long way. They are better shaped to fit in a horses mouth and often have independent leverage action on each side. I know that the 6 up show hitch at my college swore by them, I know that they can make a big difference with some individual animals, not all. They are very pricey, I used to buy any that I found at garage sales, tack sales, ebay for a fair price knowing that I could easily find them homes among my saddle horse friends. Keep yours eyes peeled for a used one, or a sale of some sort. Before you buy one I do recommend you try them first, they come in all shapes and sizes, leveraged and not. I have seen them priced at $44 to $180, and just learned today that there are people that think nothing of buying a custom show bit for $300+, but they don’t do honest work like us for a living.

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