Am I feeding enough?

Z

zangels

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 March 2009
Messages
311
Visit site
My mare is not losing weight as such but neither is she gaining any and she does need a bit more on her.
So she 16.2 Cleveland bay x Irish TB.
She has (unsoaked weight)
1kg unmollased beet
1kg grass nuts
200g micronised linseed
500g topspec senior balancer
Split between 3 feeds a day.
Out on grass for usually 10 hour
Adlib haylage at night and in field.
She rarely eats the haylage in field though will have the odd nibble.
Haylage at night is two Leighs feed bags full divided between haybar and two nets. She usualy leaves around a quarter of it.
She is in the process of getting fit but with no arena and bad weather this is usually twice a week for around 15 mins mainly walk just started introducing small amount of trot.
Is it I am simply not giving enough food to her or do you think she is having enough and there is a medical reason why she is not gaining weight?
 
Just to add she is aprox 18 and its not teeth related. They were done byvthe vet in October and checked by the Equine dentistlast week as I was wondering if this was the problem,who said they were fine.
 
There are a Lot of horses this winter that have either lost or not gained any weight. We have had a bad winter regarding feeding and weight. We all need the spring grass and better weather to mak every one feel better.

You could add a conditioning feed to the others you are feeding.
 
I keep thinking that the spring grass will soon put the weight on. I have had since September so all through the bad winter, and she did come to me thinner than she is now. I just feel like somtimes I am making up excuses like bad winter, soon be spring etc when maybe I shoild be giving her more feed perhaps. But then I dont want to just give her more if whst Im feeding is more than enough and its becsuse if somthing else if you know what I mean?
I was thinking off a chaff or chopped grass to give herca bucket of through the night along with her haylage as shecwont physically eat more haylage? Do you think this would be a goid idea?
 
What condition score is she? Can you see her ribs? Are you sure she is lacking weight or could she be lacking muscle due to limited work?
 
She is mainly lacking muscle at her back end, but you can see her ribs. Her spine isnt prominent, last time I weight taped her she was 500kg.
 
You could certainly try giving some grass chaff or soaked grass nuts alongside her haylage ration to encourage her to eat more forage. However the emerging grass should do the job more cheaply for you if you are on decent pasture and it doesn't get blanketed in snow!
 
Thank you, I hope so. We are due snow tomorrow and over the weekend unfortunately.
So does the amount she is having seem like it should be enough then or is there something obviously missing from what I am feeding to explain her not gaining?
Could any one recommend a chaff that is low in sugar/starch but has oil or is still reasonably high calories? I'm not sure how she would be with alfa so if there is a alternative maybe?
I think she also already having quite a lot of protein withthegass nuts and micronised linseed.
 
Without knowing the weight of haylage she is eating and how much grass she eats during the day, it is difficult to say whether your feed regime is 'enough'! Although it does sound that her being picky about her haylage may be the root of the problem.

How is she generally? Is she bright-eyed, with good coat and feet, and enough energy for her work? Is she on a good worming programme and has she been wormed for tapeworm and encysted red worm this winter?
 
Yes, she is bright eyed and does have a glossy coat. Her mane and tail are very thin and don't seem to grow though?
She was wormed with equvalan duo in September then with equestrian in December. I am going to get the vet to do a worm count in April when they come for her jabs.
Grass is virtually bare at the moment or frozen or snow covered.
She has plenty of energy when hacking, a bit less when schooling.
I think I will look into a chaff or chopped grass to top her up. Or would it be best just to give more of what she already has?
 
I would just give her extra grass nuts, you know she is ok on them and rather than introducing something new that may not suit her it would make sense to start there, possibly just soak an extra 1kg and leave either overnight or in the field if she is alone, she may prefer them to haylage.
 
I will give that a try. She shares a field with my daughter fatty welsh, there opposite ends or the spectrum. I do give her a feed in the field currently and give the pony a tiny handfull or unmolassed beet so she dosnt feel left out. My mare is the boss and the little pony won't go near her food when she is eating but would come and finish whatever she may leave. Her bucket in the field is currently 2 scoops unmolassed beet and 1 scoop grass pelletts. should I make this feed bigger or give straight after her feed when she comes in? The feed she currently comes into is 1 scoop of unmollased beet, half scoop grass nuts (Stubbs scoop) cup of micronised linseed and 250g of balancer. Would it be ok to give her the bucket of soaked grass nuts straight after this or will it push the linseed and balancer through her system too quickly?
 
I have a 15.2 tb ( ex racer )who sounds similar. All things checked, followed lots of threads on here about micronised linseed etc. He can't tolerate mixes or loads of sugar and starch. He is on ad lib hay/haylage, just cant get him to eat enough.

I have now got some weight on him in the last 2.5 weeks. He is on 3 meals a day which consist of 1 scoop of Hi-fi, 1 scoop and a half of soaked fast fibre ( he loves it) a cup of m. linseed and 1 scoop of Top spec cool conditioning cubes. The top spec has made a huge difference but fits in with his tolerance of feeds. Fab stuff. I have added it slowly to the 1 scoop per feed.

Can't wait for the grass as I too think this will help him:D
 
Are your scoops stubbs size? I never know what to go by with soaked feeds. You read not to feed more than 2kg in one feed and also not more than 2 stubbs scoops or rugby ball size. But with soaked feeds 2kg dry weight is way more than 2 Stubbs scoops once soaked?
I've also read they process foods such as unmollased beet in the same part of the gut as hay so you can feed larger amounts, but then what if you also mix balancer and linseed with it?
I find feeding a bit of a minefield with what amounts.
 
zangels said:
Are your scoops stubbs size? I never know what to go by with soaked feeds. You read not to feed more than 2kg in one feed and also not more than 2 stubbs scoops or rugby ball size. But with soaked feeds 2kg dry weight is way more than 2 Stubbs scoops once soaked?
I've also read they process foods such as unmollased beet in the same part of the gut as hay so you can feed larger amounts, but then what if you also mix balancer and linseed with it?
I find feeding a bit of a minefield with what amounts.
Click to expand...

Me too I hate feeds and bits lol. I did a fair amount of research and even an online nutrition course to try and help. The fast fibre is a stubbs scoop ( I mix 2 of them but feed 5 in differing amounts per feed ) the other feeds are the smaller rectangular squarish ones and he has 1.5 of these scoops of FF.

There was a fab post on here with regard to why horses do/don't put on weight. Will try and locate it:rolleyes: But seriously have a look at the top spec COOL conditiong cubes.
 
This was the article hope I can do this not very bright to anything techy :


!http://www.ker.com/library/advances/312.pdf

This is a good read

If the horse has started to become emaciated you need a vet / nutritionist to assist they require different feeding regimes than a horse that has lost weight but isn't consuming muscle.

The slow steady path is the best.

In my experience I brough a skinny horse and tried everything under the sun with average results.

I went back to what I had always done and simplified things to Oats, lucerne, yeast, good multi vitamin / mineral and the esults were pretty instant I hadn't even finished tranisitioning and he was improving.

He had feet, teeth, chiro, massge when I first got him to address those issues. There are pics in my album
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top