What's that strange sound coming from the barn? It sounds like heavy machinery!In Germany people like to grind their own oats. I've only been to a few barns here, but they both did it, every night, they crank on this amazingly loud antique and start pouring grain in. What comes out goes into the horses' dishes. Interesting.
But why? Is it to keep the oats fresh longer? Keep them whole as long as possible in storage and then crush/roll them? Are there any Europeans reading this who know the answer? Why has this not leaked into America? I'm pretty sure nobody back home has a huge oat crushing machine in their barn. Weird.
But then, I like my coffee ground fresh right before brewing, so I think the horses like their oats just-ground too: )
More strange German horse feeding practices to come!
.jpg)
.JPG)
7 comments:
When I looked into rolled oats I read that they don't retain their nutritional value as long as whole oats. Perhaps that's why?
wow- that is interesting!
Maybe we should all have one for our Quaker oatmeal in the mornings.
Wow, I think that is too cool.
My sister always told me that if you wanted to get more from the oats you could crush them DAILY so..ya who has time for this?? YOUR STABLE!!
Hi, you came over to my Blog and I just noticed as I was looking for anothers address that I lost while updating my blog spaces.
Yes gravel footing is tricky, I have found. You do need the Geo textile under.
If you have level ground it'll work fine. But if you have incline( I have now found) it will slide unless you have either rougher gravel under it, or a heavy, wood, buried, boarder that the underlayment is secured by staples under it.
Pea gravel rolls around alot so you do need level areas and boarders forsure...I have to rake mine back into place a lot.
"Fines" are gravel very fine and that will work too witht he underlayment..it will lock into place better.
BUT> if you already have mud..all of this is tricky and I don't know if you can do it now.
Hope this was helpful..and lets talk more..I am going to link to you so I know when you post.
KK
CDN - Your guesses are always inline with mine, aren't they? I think you've nailed it.
FV - mmmm instant oatmeal. Does Not Exist in Germany. *sigh*
AllHorseStuff - I was drawn to your blog by the name. Does she truly only write about horses, and NOTHING ELSE? No husbands, dogs, kids? *giggle* Thanks for the tips. I am actually going to print out the photos from your blog (public domain right? hehee) and add them to my paddock design docs. Borders, pegs/stakes, good to know!
The area I want to gravel is on an incline, which I've heard is very important for drainage. But I'll be taking your advice and making sure there's a big frame down there. There is no mud - it's just grass cuz no animals live there now. I think it's OK to lay Geotextile right on grass....
Unfortunately where I keep my horse now it's just a private place, not a riding stable, so there is no oat grinder. I wish we had one though. It just seems so right, ya know?
Thanks for reading!
~lytha
The Scoop on Oats...
cdncowgirl is correct, oats retain their nutrition better in whole form. Now the reason for grinding... When you open the hull, the horse is better able to use those nutrients since the hull is basically empty fiber.
I feed LOTS of oats; but I feed them whole. Maybe someday I'll buy myself a grinder! ;)
At a barn I used to go to he rolls his oats every morn and eve befor feeing, when I worked in the feed industry I learned that there is only 3% difference between whole and rolled oats, whole because they dont digest as well, rolled because ounce they are broke open they lose nutrients fairly quickly, so fresh rolling them is the best of both worlds.
Also, I gather that commercial rolling can reduce the nutritional value of the grain if the rollers in the machine heat up wth continued use. So doing small quantities at a time gives a better result. From a European perspective, probably it's fair to say that Germans do like to do things properly too, not as cheaply as possible as one sees all too often in Britain.
Post a Comment