I think he is an addict

[Terri]

Last november at equine affaire I bought 4 buckets filled with a hard molasses block that has feed, minerals and other stuff solidified into it. Each bucket is supposed to last about month for 2 horses. They lick at it a while, but because it is rough they supposedly quite after a few minutes. I figured come January it would give the herd something to do in between hay feeds and keep the cribbers from totally eating the fence.

Well, it is January and I put them out. So far it seems to be working. Horses will lick at them a while (5-10 minutes) then go eat some hay, then take a nap, then lick. Except one horse. I think he is an addict. He ignores the hay and goes from bucket to bucket hoping each one will be easier than the last. He tries to eat it by scraping his teeth along it.

So do you think the novality will wear off? His teeth will fall out? Should I take them away? But the others are using them appropriately. I just put them out yesterday.

[Linda Y]

We used to use something that sounds similar...Feed in a Barrel. Our horses did just like yours...some lived at it, some occasionally licked it. One was addicted to it and would stay licking until it was gone. It never seemed to hurt anyone. But if you have IR or Cushings horses like I do now, the molasses is a bad idea.

[Terri]

Nay, they are all young healthy horses. This was taken last summer when I first tried one out. Safety tip - don't use in the summer. The molassas gets stuck on their muzzles, they bite at flies - it isn't pretty
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/micomyhorse/Buddies1.jpg

[Monty]

:lol: I bought one mineral block with molasses binder for each pen(3 pens) - 2 horses in each pen - they had them gone in 2 to 3 days !
Can't afford to do that very often - They were about $7 to $8 a piece ! :shock:
I went back to normal mineral - no molasses blocks - They eat those but at a normal rate :roll:

[dana]

Where do you guys get these and how heavy are they in molasses? Inquiring minds, ya know ;-)

[Terri]

They are VERY heavy. 40-50lbs! Penny I don' think you bought the same ones I have. These cost $17 a piece. But I've had 6 horses going at four of them all day and they don't look like they have made a dent. But their muzzles are all sticky and very little cribbing has gone on.