# Nutrena Grass Balancer ingredients?



## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

PunksTank said:


> So I'm curious what the actual ingredients are in Nutrena Grass Balancer, I have it and use it, but it's not listed on the package. They broke down the vitamins, minerals and crude information, but not the actual ingredients? Does anyone know? I checked their website but couldn't find it there either.


And you won't find out either:-( I e-mailed them regarding the ingredients and they e-mailed me back a very nice answer full of fluff:think:

I was so angry, I deleted it but I haven't dumped my delete basket, so I can hunt for that very nice and thoughtful reply on Thursday, if you'd like.

It is the one thing I do not like about Nutrena and a couple other companies; they don't show the ingredients. I interpret that to mean they put whatever fillers are the cheapest into the mix, so long as it's "horse appropriate".

If someone has a list, I am all eyeballs


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## PunksTank (Jul 8, 2012)

very interesting, that is upsetting, almost makes me want to change brands... *goes to look up some alternatives*


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

Most of the feed companies won't tell. It's kinda like getting Aunt Matilda to give away her secret pie crust recipe.

You might be able to take an educated guess on the ingredients knowing the values on some of the vitamins and minerals. You've got starch and sugar listed at 8% and 6%. Rules out corn.

I've been feeding it now all summer and my horses look really good. I do have some reservations about the high protein but when you figure out how little they actually get it isn't so high. Nutrena actually answers the protein question in the reviews section on the feed. The pony is get 1/3 of a cup. The full sized horses a cup. Smells rather bland. Horses readily accept it without any additions.

The intense red color is also a concern. Needing to watch the iron on my old pony I do wonder about the coloring. Again my horses look great so it's a nagging suspicion.

One other observation that may or may not be anything... I have noticed where the mares pee the grass burns out like it's never done before. Summer was slightly drier than usual so maybe the grass just couldn't take that extra shock. It does come back from the roots after about 10 days. It's been raining every other day now for a few weeks and I'm not seeing new burn spots. Just an odd thing I've noticed. However excess protein = excess nitrogen = excreted ammonia. Nagging thought I can't really finger because in an open field there are just too many variables.

Poulin lists their ingredients in Equi Pro MVP. I've used this. Again the horses like it. Only reason I went with Nutrena was because Tractor Supply was on my way home from work. I do go to the Poulin dealer for my hay stretcher so I may switch. I'm waffling bad because that old pony looks 10 years younger. Little lower in protein, no red color on the MVP.

PunksTank, you are in Mass. right? Should be Poulin grain around. Made in VT. They answer emails quickly without fluff.

Walkin, I noticed you mentioned Safe Choice Special care somewhere. I wound up with 11 free bags of it. I still have 10 now expired coupons for a free bag in the truck. Just couldn't find a nutrena dealer that would carry it. I gave it to my walker while she was still gaining. It's got that suspicious red color to it like the balance. Not as intense but still iron red. Mine all ate it fine but none of mine are fussy or have any food allergy issues. Pony is a piggy point blank! I had to guard the walkers food while they ate all winter like a hawk. She may be small but she is in charge.


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## PunksTank (Jul 8, 2012)

Interesting I should look into the poulin, I go to agway and they have poulin grains so they probably have MVP, I'll ask but I jut bought another bag of nutrena. 
Thanks! you absolutely right about the red color, it smells like coconuts too which I find curious? That's what made me want to see the ingredients - but I'm also concerned about soy, which is a cheap source of protein, but also loaded in estrogen. I'm wondering if it has it because my mare has had more intense heat cycles once on this. It's hardly noticeable, but my mare went from having heat cycles you didn't even know where happening unless you really looked to being much more noticeable.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

I ruled Blue Seal out early on. Theirs comes in a bucket and has corn near the top of the ingredient list. Their hay stretcher is also really high carb and with the price of gas I'm taking all sort of things into consideration.

The actual ingredients are on the empower feed sack tag. I just went and grabbed it. Iron oxide is way down on the list. Not even sure how much is too much for an IR horse. All I know is they should have a lot less.

Tag reads Wheat Middlings, Dehulled soybean meal, Wheat red dog, ground flax and then onto the trace minerals and probiotics.

One the Poulin the first few are soybean meal, wheat middlings, soy hulls, alfalfa meal, (ripped tag) probably flax seed, because I can see omega 3 in parentheses, distillers grains, canola meal. Ferrous sulfate for iron near the bottom.

I think the jury is still out on phyto-estrogens being of any use to mammals. I do know they didn't make a bit of difference with myself. I was more scared of the funky stuff they grow the soy with than a few hot flashes. Round up scares me.

I haven't noticed any difference in heat cycles on the mares. Prior to the ration balancers they got Blue Seals trotter which is half hay itself.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

I never noticed the coconut smell. Can't smell it in the empty bag either. Poulins smells of apples. Just enough to make you hungry, but when you put your nose in the barrel you smell nondescript, plant based pellet. It's just a tantalizing hint that makes you want to bake a pie.


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## PunksTank (Jul 8, 2012)

Lol sue thats exactly the smell! I open up my grain bin and get this wiff of coconut and it just smells so good, but if i stick my nose in it it just smells like horse food
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

SueNH said:


> Walkin, I noticed you mentioned Safe Choice Special care somewhere. I wound up with 11 free bags of it. I still have 10 now expired coupons for a free bag in the truck. Just couldn't find a nutrena dealer that would carry it. I gave it to my walker while she was still gaining. It's got that suspicious red color to it like the balance. Not as intense but still iron red. Mine all ate it fine but none of mine are fussy or have any food allergy issues. Pony is a piggy point blank! I had to guard the walkers food while they ate all winter like a hawk. She may be small but she is in charge.


<sigh>:--( "iron red" :--(

My pastures are high in iron; hay is grown only five miles away, so also high in iron. That means copper and zinc deficient; not good but really not good when two of my horses have metabolic issues.

Somewhere on this forum I did mention that I had asked TSC to order me in two bags of Nutrena's Safe Choice "Special Care". I hope they forget and that is because of my soy-intolerant horse whom I forgot just how intolerant that psycho really is:-|

McCauley Feeds has recently rolled out a "10 Balancer" that is soy free. The closest feed dealer that carries McCauleys is 38 miles away (more BIG sighing). The only good part about that is I have to pass the road where Arrington Vineyards is; that is the same AV that Kix Brooks of the ex-Brooks and Dunn is part owner

Here's the link to McCauley's 10%; it might be worth looking into if it's within anybody's driving parameter:?

McCauley's® M10 Balancer

I have called Bonnie's and she is ordering in 50 lbs for me to try on my soy intolerant horse that I thought I should shoot the other day but has since calmed down:shock:

She is able to buy soy-free EquiPride again but she has to charge over $60/bag and I'm not paying that; especially when four horses are involved. I have been driving 92 miles to buy EP at $43/bag but I just can't do that anymore.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

I'm pretty sure it isn't the red wheat that's staining the feed dishes. My saving grace is the soils up here are low iron, low anything that is readily water soluble.

I've got a few old bed sheets here that were around long enough for my husbands old auntie to patch several times over and they are still bright white. I have to add iron and other minerals to my fish tank water because it's nearly distilled. Nice drinking water. Not so nice for plants and stuff.

I rooted around the barn to see if I could find an old special care tag but it's been too long. If you google "soy free, horse" a few different things come up. 

agway makes a beet pulp based feed called respond. I'd want to see the tag first. No ingredients listed on the net. It's actually a variation of an old, old feed. I used Respond in sweetfeed form back when I was a kid. It was gooey!

http://www.applesnoats.com/soyinsulin.pdf
now there's another thought. I'm going to just stop looking and rake some poop.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

The fixed, published-on-the-internet ingredients list is one of the first things that got me interested in Triple Crown- they also publish their NSC (in detail) and omega-3 & 6 levels, to boot! There's only one store that carries Triple Crown 30% Supplement in my area, so I consider Nutrena Empower Balance as my back-up plan, but I'd much rather have the TC30


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## PunksTank (Jul 8, 2012)

So for anyone interested i found the ingredients!! Ironically it's stapled onto the bottom of the bag  couldnt see it when my bag was in the grain bin!

Out of respect for the company i wont post the whole list, but here's what caught my eye and made me like/dislike it.
There is in fact soy bean meal in it, which makes me want to change personally. But the rest of the list looks quality, there's wheat middlings and ground flax seed and every sort of vitamin and mineral you could think of. There's also molasses which i think makes that red coloring  there is iron oxide in it which could contribute to the color, but i dont think there's a huge amount as it's later in the list. Also there is copper in it, which is good to know for me as i was going to add a coat supplement with copper, but i don't want to overdo that, but it's also good to know for people who have sheep not to use this in their reach. 
I feed my horse about 3.5 cups a day split up of course - i also supplement with magnesium and b1 in her calming supplement, i add brewer's yeast but afer reading the ingredients i'll stop doing that - can horses have too much of the B vitamins? I also give her smart omega. 

So thats what i've got! If you wanna read the whole thing it's on a little card stapled to the bottom of the bag 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

Soy is a very hard ingredient to avoid in horse feed. Every ration balancer that I've seen publish their ingredient list online has included soybean meal, almost always in the top 3 ingredients because it's the major source of protein in the feed. The only exception I can think of off hand is McCauley's M10 Balancer, which doesn't publish the ingredient list online, but does state that it is soy-free. Their higher protein ration balancer, M30, does not make the same claim.

B1 is a water soluble vitamin, so any excess just gets passed out with the urine.


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## PunksTank (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks Verona! I personally don't like soy for my mares as it tends to make their heat cycles worse, but my mare's has always been so unnoticeable I may not bother with taking her off it. I know soy is an excellent source of protein, but so is Alfalfa, soy is just cheaper. 
Thanks about the B1!


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

PunksTank said:


> Thanks Verona! I personally don't like soy for my mares as it tends to make their heat cycles worse, but my mare's has always been so unnoticeable I may not bother with taking her off it. I know soy is an excellent source of protein, but so is Alfalfa, soy is just cheaper.
> Thanks about the B1!


When you're creating a feed that's 30% protein, alfalfa (15-20% protein) isn't enough. Soybean meal is 45-55% protein, which I believe is why you'll almost always find it in "high protein" ration balancers.

Now I'm interested to go see how many of the 'regular' grains have soy in them...


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