Advice needed please on feeding yearling............

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mandk

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Sorry posted this in wrong area before...........

What is the best feed for yearlings (11month old)?

I am planning to feed Alfa A and haylage - but not sure what cudes/mix/balancer to go for..........
can not afford Blue Chip as about £30 bag or something..... but want baby to grow big as we hope (know most is down to genetics and wont over feed etc) but we want to do our bit the best we can!

He is 11 months old.
Breeding is:
Sire (Miley) TB X TBxID
Dam (European papered - by Pouchka) Selle Francais x Warmblood

He is quite skinny looking - prob just his age (fully wormed etc) so def want him to gain rather than loose weight.

Please advise - what is best and until what age?
And if a feed balancer is best - should I add alfa a to it too?

(sorry, I have not had a foal/yearling for 8years now - I really want to make sure I get it right for him.)

Thanks in advance
 
Hi, my almost-3-year-old was 10 months old when I bought him. I found the helpline staff at Baileys to be very helpful, so it might be worth giving them a call, or one of the other main feed companies?
I think you would be better off with a chaff such as Alfa-A or Mollichop, and Baileys Yearling Cubes or another brand's equivilant. I also fed a youngstock vitamin/mineral supplement although I'm not sure this was strictly necessary, I was just concerned I didn't miss anything out of his diet and very possibly over-compensated with this. He has had steady growth, and has never gone through different states of condition, but has remained in good condition since I got him (although he was a scrawny thing and needed feeding up when I first got him, so for his first year he was also fed Speedi-Beet). He is currently on Mollichop and Baileys Stud Balancer. My understanding is that normal feed balancers are better fed to older animals, not necessarily something as young as a yearling. I think most of the packaging for them states this if you look closely.
Hope this helps?
 
If he's ID x then he needs to grow slowly but surely to make sure he doesn't get too big too quickly which will weaken his system so a good youngstock balancer should be all he needs along with good quality hay or haylage.
I would think about D & H Suregrow which you can feed as long as you like or Baileys Stud Balancer. They both will do the job well as they're formulated especially for youngsters with their specific requirements. Suregrow is about £12 a bag, Balancer a bit more I think but both helplines are very good and will give you far better advice (more detailed!) than me, they'd be well worth a ring or email.
 
I think I answered this in NL at the time but I'd go with Suregrow, chaff and sugar beet
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I always feed, Alfa Oil, Sugar beet and Suregrow to all my youngsters - they grow big and strong but not too fast which is key when to come a nice correct horse
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The stud won't have fed him anything, so if you must feed concentrates introduce slowly

You cannot feed for height, although you can overfeed to ruin joints! Youngsters are not on the whole supposed to be carrying too many reserves.

Plenty of good forage and a mineral lick is all he really needs. I am lucky that I have a similar set up to studs with a huge cattle barn the herd live in during winter, so its warm with plenty of space for exercise (being chased!) and ad lib hay (they are bedded on it!)
 
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