HOW TO: Weigh Your Horse's Feed

Feeding by weight, rather than volume, is essential to ensuring your horse is getting the nutrition they need. Once you have weighed out your feed, you can equate these values to volume - ie, marking that 2 QTs of dry beet pulp is 0.5 kg.

The easiest way to weigh your feed, whether it's hay or commercial rations, is to use a hanging scale. Fish hanging scales are inexpensive, often waterproof and drop resistant, and can hold up to 50 kg!

You will need:

• A hanging scale.

• The scoop you use normally to portion out your horse's feed.

• A clean vessel to hold the feed.

How to Weigh Your Feedstuffs

Find a vessel to hold your feedstuffs. Use a mid-sized, clean bucket to weigh your concentrates. You can use a bucket to weigh your hay as well, but using a hay net to hold loose hay or binder twine to secure flakes of hay might be easier.

Tare the vessel first - this removes the weight of the vessel from the measurement.

Put the amount of that feed that you would feed - this can be per day or per meal, but ensure all the weights are recorded and specify accordingly.

Note, if your horse is on ad lib hay (ie, on round bales outside), voluntary DMI is usually around 2.0-2.4% BW on a DM basis, but varies based on horse. It is still worthwhile to weigh the hay that they are fed while inside to give an idea of how much hay they consume in a span of time.

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