Feeding advice please

ForestGump

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Apr 9, 2008
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Forest has dropped weight recently again.

Hes not looking terrible but needs more weight.:)

At the moment he is fed:

Speedi beet (just under a scoop dry, but its soaked before he gets it!;))
1/2 a scoop of cherry chaff

1 and 1/2 scoops of calm and condition (again thats dry but its soaked before he gets it)
1 huge scoop of cherry chaff
Conditioning supplement

And thats over 2 feeds.

I will be worming him in March as thats when hes due but my YM has recommended bio yogurt for 2 days to make sure his gut bacteria is alright.

And hes also fed haylage (ad lib and turned out during the day) and rugged well.:)

Does anyone else have any suggestions. :confused:
I can't change his chaff BTW as its the only chaff he will eat!;)
 
have you tried baileys no4 conditioning cubes? they have a slightly higher digestible energy level than the allen&page.. they worked well for my horse. Id speak to baileys help line tho to make sure you are feeding the correct amounts. It does sound as if you are feeding a lot in one feed- thats a LOT of speedi beet. Each feed shouldnt be over 4lb (including chaff) - if its over that its probably being pushed too quick though his system and he wont be making best use of it/digesting it properly; so id also split into 3 feeds if poss.

will he eat alfa a?
 
up the amounts of chaff, beet and corn- could you give three feeds a day?

how about adding oil?
have you tried barley rings, they put weight on- but they might make him silly.

:)
 
have you tried baileys no4 conditioning cubes? they have a slightly higher digestible energy level than the allen&page.. they worked well for my horse. Id speak to baileys help line tho to make sure you are feeding the correct amounts. It does sound as if you are feeding a lot in one feed- thats a LOT of speedi beet. Each feed shouldnt be over 4lb (including chaff) - if its over that its probably being pushed too quick though his system and he wont be making best use of it/digesting it properly; so id also split into 3 feeds if poss.

will he eat alfa a?

No he won't eat anything other then the cherry chaff unfortuantly.

up the amounts of chaff, beet and corn- could you give three feeds a day?

how about adding oil?
have you tried barley rings, they put weight on- but they might make him silly.

:)

I tried barley rings last year and they did nothing for him, I have some oil to add and will start that again tomorow (I forgot to buy more after I ran out last time! :eek:)

I'm trying to start giving 3 meals a day, I just need to work out times to give him another one :)
 
umm oats?

we used to use boiled linseed to put condition on for showing inhand- best done in an old pressure cooker, or a pan you dont love any more because its messy stuff though.
make sure you dont feed it raw its poisonous if its not cooked :)

quite appetising though (apparently :p)
 
- just a thought, could you still use your cherry chaff, but add alfa a as well & mix it? or would he just leave it?

from what you're saying i think smaller more frequent feeds will really help, as i said; he probably isnt able to make use of all the calories in his current feed due to it being too big an amount in one go...

....id also advise calling one fo the nutritional helplines, ive found them very good...
 
oats dont fizz ours up (supposed to be snorty welshies aswell lol)

how about thirds (or sharps or wheatfeed)?

its a bit like bran, but more powdery- its a by-product of the flour industry.
 
- just a thought, could you still use your cherry chaff, but add alfa a as well & mix it? or would he just leave it?

from what you're saying i think smaller more frequent feeds will really help, as i said; he probably isnt able to make use of all the calories in his current feed due to it being too big an amount in one go...

....id also advise calling one fo the nutritional helplines, ive found them very good...

Unfortuantly I have tried mixing the chaff, but he either ignores the feed or picks at it for hours trying to avoid the other chaff. :rolleyes:

I'm going to try and get him a lunch time feed if I can, or a late night feed if I can get to the yard.

Would cutting both of his current feeds in half and then mixing that together be ok for the third feed? So he is still getting the same amount just over 3 feeds?:confused:
 
oats dont fizz ours up (supposed to be snorty welshies aswell lol)

how about thirds (or sharps or wheatfeed)?

its a bit like bran, but more powdery- its a by-product of the flour industry.

Definalty no oats! ;)

I've never heard of wheatfeed? Do they sell it at feed merchants or would I need to get it else where? :confused:
 
Barley rings are good but if oats fire him up they probably will too. Fibrebeet by British Horse Foods is conditioning, doesn't cause silliness as far as I'm aware and a great way of make sure his fibre intake is high. Linseed oil is good too.
 
Barley rings are good but if oats fire him up they probably will too. Fibrebeet by British Horse Foods is conditioning, doesn't cause silliness as far as I'm aware and a great way of make sure his fibre intake is high. Linseed oil is good too.

Barley rings did nothing for him, and I had him on fibrebeet but changed him to speedibeet to get some more weight on him. :)
 
I share a 13'2 arab x welsh pony. Shes 23 and shes really really really hard to put weight on. She burns it off as soon as she puts any on anyway. And shes a fussy eater about chaff. After a lot of reasearch I found something that puts weight on:
One thing that might work is:

Hifi origonal chaff (however many scoops you think is requried for his age/size and build.
I know you said he dosent eat chaff, but you can get that sugarbeet with the parsnips and vegatables in it, he might eat that with it?
And if he dosent like eating it still, then you can put mint in his feed, fenugreek seeds are excellent for appetizing horses. Molasses (even though it will make him wild).

And after that, mix or pony cubes (good quality), and again give him however much you think he needs according to his age and size and build etc etc etc.

Sugarbeet/ Speedibeet/ that other stuff with the vegatables in it.

Cider Vinegar or cod liver oil (cod liver oil is good for condition and weight)

And if you want then you can add a tablespoon of clear honey to your horses regular feed. Its excellent, has a good balancing effect on horses.

Oh and dont forget the goodies :p
 
hey, yeah, id split his current feeds into 3 smaller ones :) Also try adding an oil.

id also make sure you are feeding the correct amount of the calm&condition, either weigh tape him & go by what it says on the bag or ring them up... its just, if you arent, then he wont be getting all the vits&mins he needs.
 
I wonder how he'd feel about spearmint?

I know he's a fussy eater which complicates things for you but if he like spearmint then adding this to his less favoured feeds may make him more inclined to eat it. Kitnocks sell it where they make up bags of it like the seaweed.

Might be worth trying if you haven't already?
 
they are all the same thing (sharps/thirds/wheatfeed)

its common in most feeds :)

your feed shop should have it or atleast should be able to order some in.
 
hey, yeah, id split his current feeds into 3 smaller ones :) Also try adding an oil.

id also make sure you are feeding the correct amount of the calm&condition, either weigh tape him & go by what it says on the bag or ring them up... its just, if you arent, then he wont be getting all the vits&mins he needs.

I think I am feeding the correct amount but I will check the back of the pack later! ;)

I wonder how he'd feel about spearmint?

I know he's a fussy eater which complicates things for you but if he like spearmint then adding this to his less favoured feeds may make him more inclined to eat it. Kitnocks sell it where they make up bags of it like the seaweed.

Might be worth trying if you haven't already?

I think spearmint would be one of those things that works for about a day and then he realises again. He when he was on sugar beet he tried to pick as much alpha a out as he could :rolleyes:

they are all the same thing (sharps/thirds/wheatfeed)

its common in most feeds :)

your feed shop should have it or atleast should be able to order some in.

Thanks I'll look into that, do I need to boil it or anything or just feed it straight?:confused:

how about alfa beet ?(dengie)
I find it far better for condition than speedi beet, and my old poor doer has come through the winter in great condition on it.
oil will def' help

He goes back on oil today and will have his first session of bio yogurt (I have been advised to give 2 days of it to see if it will help)
I did look into alpha beet but for some reason decided against it, it might have had too much sugar, I can't remember but I'll look again thanks. :)
 
Righty ho, I've just read up on oats aswell and think I might give them a try, if they fizz him up excessively then I will stop but I'll see what happens with his weight aswell.

If I can't get his weight to improve even a little bit in a couple of weeks (only want to see slight improvement in 2 weeks really) then I'll call the vet for blood tests.

But as I said, I'm worming and bio yogurting, then added oats and oil and splitting into 3 feeds. ;)
Then if all of that fails I'll call the vet to have a look and see what she thinks. :)
 
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