Ad lib hay?

[tangosmum]

Trying to decide how much hay to give my youngster. I have calculated that he requires 10kg of feed per day....(8kg of hay/grass) and 2kg of hard feed.

He is in an out...spending most nights out in the field and most days inside. He is easily getting through 4 to 5 sections of hay during the day with feed as well...then he goes out and eats grass too. The field is well covered in grass though it is not long.

He needs a little more coverage on him...and he has plenty of growing to do.

Is what I am giving him ok? He seems to require more hay...people talk about ad lib hay. ....if he is standing in should I keep topping the hay up all day and not worry about the weight of it?

Or do you think that would be over feeding him?

 

[badgerdog]

You don't say how big or how old he is but I would be giving him ad-lib hay if he needs to put on weight. I assume you are keeping him in during the day for a good reason, otherwise I would be turning him out 24/7. You don't want to be keeping a youngster in for long periods of time without something to nibble at to detract from the boredom.
I wouldn't worry about overfeeding him if you think he looks like he needs a bit of covering and it's better to be doing this with fibre than hard feed.