Bulk Horse Food

When you own horses, you have to continually purchase hay and grain to make sure the horses are properly fed. While horse food can be purchased in small quantities, you can also buy it in bulk. This means fewer trips to the feed store and usually a discounted price. If you're considering buying bulk horse food, it's important to know all the benefits and considerations.

Bulk horse food refers to buying typical foods such as grain, feed pellets and hay in large bulk quantities. For example, rather than purchasing pellets in standard 50-pound bags, a bulk purchaser might by two to four tons of food. Rather than buying a few hale bales, someone buying in bulk might purchase hundreds or might buy hay in large, heavy round bales.

There are two main benefits to purchasing bulk horse food. The first is that buying in bulk often results in significant savings. For example, one feed store in Missouri sells horse pellets in 50-pound bags for $8.23 per bag for people who buy up to 199 bags. Those who purchase 200 to 399 bags pay $7.73, while 400-799 bags cost $7.48, and orders of 800 bags or more cost $7.23 per bag. This means a savings of up to one dollar per bag for the biggest purchasers, which works out at a savings of $800 or more at the highest level. The second benefit is being able to feed a large number of horses without repeatedly having to buy more feed. Commercial boarding and training barns and other large facilities can have dozens of horses on site. They need large quantities of grain and hay to be able to feed the horses for a reasonable period of time before reordering. In areas where hay can be scarce in certain seasons, one additional benefit to buying horse food in bulk is that it protects the purchaser from shortages and the higher prices that often result.

Bulk horse food must be stored properly to keep it fresh and clean before it's given to the horses. If you plan to purchase bulk horse food, you will need a dry storage area that can be secured against intrusion by mice, rats and other pests. Otherwise, rodents or insects can get into the food and render it unusable. If the food is exposed to rain or other moisture, it can become contaminated with mold and become unusable.

When you purchase bulk horse food, you shouldn't buy so much that it will last for more than a year. Grains can get stale, and hay progressively dries out and loses more nutrients over time. If you keep the bulk food for too long, your horse might refuse to eat it or might not get full nutrients.

Feeding moldy food to horses can be harmful or even fatal because they can have an adverse reaction to mold toxins. If your bulk horse food gets wet or you notice that it is getting moldly, dispose of it immediately. Even a small amount can cause serious illness, such as colic, in an equine.