Why it pays to know feed consumption and horse feeding costs
Feed is the biggest regular expense with horses, and also the one owners have the least precise idea of. Hay is bought in bales every now and then, oats in bags, pellets according to the offer in the shop. At the end of the year you know it was “quite a lot”, but not how much — and certainly not how much of it which horse ate.
Yet without numbers it is hard to decide. Is it worth buying hay for the whole winter at once, while it is cheaper? How many bales should that be? How much should you charge for boarding so that you don’t lose money on feed? Can the budget carry another horse?
Feed consumption and horse feeding costs in iPalomino are not a calculator you have to type into. They are the result of what you already have in the app: the feedings in the calendar and the feeds in stock. The app merely adds them up — and does so again at every change.
How much feeding horses costs: try the calculation
The principle is simple: the daily ration times the number of horses times the price per unit times the number of days. Move the values and see how an inconspicuous daily sum turns into a yearly budget:
The demo calculates one feed. In the app the same calculation is done for each feed separately and the sums are added together — without you entering anything by hand.
Notice what a small change does. Half a kilo of concentrate more per horse per day is, with six horses, more than a tonne a year. That is exactly why it makes sense to see consumption over longer periods, not just for today.
What the app calculates consumption and costs from
The calculation rests on three pieces of data that you enter anyway:
- Feedings in the calendar — which feed, how much in total per feeding, for which animals and how often. Morning hay every day, oats every day, minerals every other day.
- Price per unit — you enter it with the feed in stock: per kilogram, bag, bale, litre or piece.
- Stock on hand — how much of the given feed you have right now.
The feedings give the plan: how much is to be fed per day and over 3, 6 and 12 months. The repeat is taken into account precisely — a feeding every other day counts as half the daily consumption, a feeding once a week as a seventh.
The price gives the costs. And the stock gives the answer to the question everyone cares about before winter: is what I have enough? For each feed you see a coverage bar and a sentence that says either “you have so much in stock — that’s enough”, or exactly how much needs to be bought.
You never enter daily consumption by hand. If you change a ration, add a horse or cancel the evening feeding, everything is recalculated by itself. How feedings are planned is described in the article horse feeding and feed stock.
The plan versus the feed actually fed
The plan is what should have happened. Reality is what did happen. In the consumption overview two columns stand side by side: the planned amount and the amount actually fed according to confirmed feedings.
Every confirmation of a feeding in the calendar deducts the ration from stock and adds it to actual consumption. If the groom doesn’t confirm a feeding, you will see it in the overview as a difference between plan and reality.
For confirming feedings you will use tasks for grooms and the team and the shared calendar — and when the stock will last only five more days, the feed gets the “Running low” label.
Who an overview of consumption and costs helps
Horse owners
At last you know how much feeding your horse really costs — per day and per year. When you are considering a change of feed or a second horse, you have numbers in front of you, not a feeling.
Farms and breeders
Before winter you see how many bales of hay and tonnes of concentrate you need for six months for the whole herd. You buy at once and at a better price, instead of topping up in January for whatever it costs.
Ranches and stables with a team
A stable with boarded horses needs to know the cost per horse in order to set the boarding price correctly. The consumption overview gives it a basis that also stands up in a conversation with a client.
Professionals: farrier, vet, trainer
A trainer or nutrition adviser sees the real daily ration of a client’s horse, not an estimate. An adjustment to the feed ration can be converted at once into consumption and money.
The most common mistakes when calculating feed costs
The question “how much does a horse cost per month” has many imprecise answers. They arise from these mistakes:
- Only concentrate is counted. Oats and pellets show on the shop receipt; hay doesn’t. Yet it is hay consumption per horse that makes up the largest volume.
- Last year’s price. The feed has gone up, the calculation hasn’t. Check the price per unit every time you add to stock.
- Mixed units. Bales, kilos and bags in one calculation. In the app every feed has its own unit and a price to go with it.
- A plan without confirmation. You know how much should have been fed, not how much was. Confirmed feedings show reality.
- Buying by feel. “We’ll take thirty bales, that should do.” A calculation for six months gives the exact number.
Horse feeding costs don’t have to be an estimate. It is enough for the feedings to be in the calendar and the feeds to have a price — the rest is arithmetic the app does for you.
How to start tracking feed consumption
- Add feeds to stockName, unit, quantity and price per unit. Hay in bales, oats in kilograms, oil in litres.
- Plan the feedingsIn the calendar you choose a new feeding: the feed, the amount per feeding, the animals and the repeat.
- Confirm the feedingsWith one tap in the calendar. The stock deducts itself.
- Open consumptionIn the feed stock you will find the Consumption section and switch the period: 1 day, 3, 6 or 12 months.
You see the first numbers right after planning the first feeding. The longer you confirm feedings, the more precise the comparison of plan and reality.
What to watch out for with prices
Enter the price for the same unit in which you store the feed. If you keep hay in bales, enter the price per bale and the ration in bales or parts of them. For kilograms and litres you can also enter the ration in grams and millilitres — which is handy for minerals and supplements.
When you buy more feed at a different price, you overwrite the price on adding it to stock and the calculation adapts. The costs in the overview are an indicative calculation for your planning, not an accounting document.
A ranch has eight horses. Each gets eight kilos of hay and two kilos of oats a day. In October the owner opens Consumption and switches to six months: the plan shows more than eleven tonnes of hay and just under three tonnes of oats.
He has seven tonnes of hay in stock. The app tells him straight away how much needs to be bought, and below it the sum the feed for the winter will cost. He orders the hay in October from a neighbour while it is still available — and in February, when the others are hunting for bales all over the district, he has peace of mind.
Frequently asked questions
How does the app calculate feed consumption?
From the feedings planned in the calendar: the amount per feeding and how often it repeats. You don’t enter daily consumption by hand.
For which periods are costs calculated?
For 1 day, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months. You switch the period with one tap.
Where do I enter the price of a feed?
With the feed in stock, as the price per the unit in which you store it — kilogram, bag, bale, litre or piece.
Will the app show me how much feed needs buying?
Yes. For each feed it compares the plan for the chosen period with the stock on hand and states whether the stock is enough or how much is missing.
Can I also see how much was actually fed?
Yes. Next to the plan is the amount fed according to the confirmed feedings in the calendar.
Related features of the iPalomino app
The consumption overview builds on these modules:
Your whole ranch in one pocket.
iPalomino is now on the App Store. Download the app and try it in your own stable. An Android version is in development.