Blog and Nutrition Hub

Welcome to the T&R Blog and nutrition hub

The T&R Blog and Nutrition Hub features a great range of articles and blog posts covering topics like animal nutrition, health and management for horses, chickens, ruminants and more! We also post regular updates from our sponsored riders with tips and training advice. 

Have a scroll through our great library, or use the menu to the left to sort by your area (or animal) of interest.

"They say that if you’re working on a problem that can be solved within your lifetime, you’re not thinking big enough."
Dr Andrew McLean is always thinking big and he is forever curious. It makes dinner table conversation diverse and always very interesting, and made for some great discussion when on the first morning of his latest trip to Perth we took delivery of two hives of bees! Of course as well as being a world renowned expert in equine behaviour, it turns out he has also co-authored a paper on bee cognition, amongst other things. There is always so much to learn.
"If there’s one thing that I’ve learnt over the past few years of feeding a team of show jumping performance horses, it’s this: keep it simple, stupid (KISS)! Don’t get me wrong - equine nutrition is an extremely broad topic that involves complex bodily processes... However, as we all know, horses have evolved to survive and thrive on a natural diet; the more that we can adhere to this, the better."
Table and kitchen scraps can be a terrific addition to the diets of your chickens. Being omnivores, they will eat just about anything; however, care must be taken on just what (and how much) is given in the way of scraps. Remember that the bulk of what you should be feeding your birds is a specially formulated chicken feed – this will provide them with the correct amount of protein and nutrients. However, as a supplement to this everyday feed, some scraps can be given to provide variety (and reduce your own table scraps!). We will outline some of the common foods that should, and shouldn’t, be fed to chickens.
Campdrafting is a unique Australian equestrian sport in which horse and rider combinations select a bullock from a herd and drive it round a set course. The riding style is similar to American Western Riding, and the event is similar to stock horse events such as cutting and team penning.  
As much as we may not want to accept it, time does eventually catch up with our beloved horses and ponies.
As they become older, issues such as arthritis, stiffness, weaker immune systems, hormonal changes and more can take a heavy toll on their quality of life. Fortunately, we are better equipped than ever to deal with such issues, with management information and products being widely available. 
Liz Tollarzo is a dressage coach and rider based in Western Australia. Having ridden at the FEI level at the Australian Dressage Championships, she knows what it takes to keep horses looking and feeling their best to compete. “What do I feed my horses.... I see more and more posts regarding feeding and thought I would do my own post on the subject. 
So much is written on feeding practices, with different names for grains, pellets and hay, and everyone has a different idea. Many sources of information available are not applicable to Australian conditions, or even remotely similar to what is grown and sold here. It is often a matter of trial and error, availability, convenience, seasonal and personal choice. We all have our own likes and dislikes, as I'm sure our rabbits do. What works for one pet owner or breeder, won't necessarily suit or work for another. 
Keeping chickens can be both rewarding and fun, and doesn't have to be restricted to commercial farmers. We have developed a range of feeds for chickens throughout different stages of the lifecycle to make providing the correct nutrition easy. With a direct correlation between nutrition and egg output, it's important to provide your chickens with balanced, fresh feed that contains quality ingredients; this way, you know your chicken will be getting the right nutrients they need to thrive.  
Are you confused about what to feed your sport or leisure horse? We find that the best way to think of feeding is to ‘keep it simple’; if you follow general feeding principles and use common sense, you should be on the right track.
Buy Local. Buy Natural. Buy Fresh: Three reasons to support Thompson & Redwood, your local stock feed manufacturer With the volume of nutritional information available on the internet and across social media, it’s not unusual to see horse and livestock owners getting swept up in the latest “fad product craze”. The problem is, often the latest trends don’t take into account how purchasing stockfeed made right here in Western Australia not only benefits your animals, but also local farmers, the environment and everyone involved within the horse and livestock industries.
It’s hard to believe that I’m already talking about the 2017 show jumping season in the past tense; this year has literally flown by! In saying that, a lot has happened with my horses and it has certainly been a busy year.
Racehorses are usually fed high energy and roughage diets for maximum power and endurance. These feeds are made up of high levels of grain concentrates. When retiring the horse, it may not need as much energy, depending on the amount of work you will be doing. You can adjust their feed by dropping the amount of grain and increasing the amount of roughage, but monitor regularly according to what your horse looks like and how it is performing. The most suitable feeds are the Hi-Performance Muesli, Oat-Free Muesli and Claytons Pellets.
Jess Keeble-Jenkins and her horse Hard Target, otherwise known as ‘Alvin’, have been a successful partnership for many years. Having won and placed in some of the most prestigious events in Western Australia, they are a formidable pair in the eventing circuit. In this blog post, Jess shares the story of Alvin and how they came to form such a great partnership!
Feeding lambs the correct diet early on is extremely important for their long-term growth, health and feed conversion efficiency. Lambs are born with a digestive tract incapable of utilising pasture or other roughage. This is understandable because they initially consume only milk; their digestive tract has to undergo at least 3-4 weeks adaptation to develop the fore-stomachs that ultimately ferment solid feeds.

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