Always check your grain

[Minimor]

Always check your grain before you dump it into your bin and especially before you give it to your horses! Always!

I picked up 4 bags of oats a little over a week ago--put it in the shed, used one bag which was real nice oats. Opened the 2nd bag on Saturday--and believe me I do look at each bag as I open it, just in case--even though I have never had any real problem...even if I open a bag in the dark I check with a flashlight--but I know some people are less careful. They may assume since the first bag was good, they are all the same. Never, ever make that assumption!!!

My second bag--was not right. It was oats, but there was also crushed corn and heavy molasses. And pellets, perhaps two kinds of pellets. I don't know what those pellets are, I wasn't offering to the horses. I tied up the bag and put it back in my truck. I returned it today and asked for a replacement bag (I checked bags 3 and 4 and both are good oats). The flow looked at it and said the pellets are beet pulp, then looked closer and said no, that looks like Show Arite Cruiser for cattle. I asked if that contains monensin and he said yes. So--if I would have not noticed and gave the stuff to my ponies, I would have killed 2 minis and 7 of my best ponies--or if not killed them, left them with permanent debilitating heart damage. I Am not real impressed!

When I opened it the bag was not labelled; it's possible the label tore off when I unloaded the bags--there was a label on the ground by the truck but I cannot say it came from that bag. It was a regular oats label. The bag was the same as my oat bags--and I thought the Cruiser was packaged differently. I do know that when I picked up the oats, there was one bag that looked like it had been taken off and then tossed back onto the skid--I imagine it was that bag, someone tossed it onto the wrong pile.

So just a caution-- always check!!!!.

 

[Helicopter]

Scary stuff!

 

[secuono]

I check them in the store right after buying them or while waiting in line. I once bought a new bag, brought it home and opened it right up, since I mix several grains together in a 35gal bin. The bag had mold in it, it was late in the day and store was closed. Brought the bag back the next morning w/receipt and they refused to replace or refund me. So yea, I check in the store now and if they complain about it, they can just kiss my, well, you know the rest, lol.

 

[Minimor]

Wow--next day And they wouldn't refund your money? That's really bad! I bought this grain week before last and had no doubt they would exchange it for me. I check it as I use it, but do try to make sure I open one bag before the last one runs out--so I don't get stuck without any grain to feed.

 

[amysue]

I agree you should always inspect feed before serving it. You never know what can make it in the bag off of the production line. Feed companies make so many products on the same machinery that often you will get cross contamination. They have grains coming off rail cars from so many sources which in itself leads to inconsistencies. I worked for a purina dealer for years, so often a bag would have chunks of molasses in the shape of pipe elbows that had been gummed up in the works and then came loose into the feed. I've found plastic teeth from the extruder, molasses covered mummified rats, small rocks in whole grains and even as others have reported: the wrong product in a mislabeled bag. After each production run they are supposed to run the machines clean, but often dont and thats how this happens. Also you need to pay attention to color and smell of feed. If the guaranteed nutritional analysis is off, the companies will alter the formula slightly to make up for it. In horses with dietary restrictions this can be serious. I remember when purina bought a nutrena mill in new york. The quality of feed suffered at this plant and our dealership lost a lot of customers because of it.