Anyone else's going off their hard feed?

[Spyda]

My rising 4 year old filly (4 on 8th May) has suddenly gone off her hard feed. She's having 1 stubbs scoop of Pasture Mix and Happy Hoof chaff and normally gobbles it up with gusto. Now she's very unenthusiastic about it.

She wickers for her food but then goes over to her corner manager when I put it in, picks at a few bits off the top, then leaves it to munch her hay instead. Next morning at least half of it (and last night, even more) is left.

I don't think it's a dodgy bag of Pasture mix as we're almost at the bottom of the sack now and she was eating the first half quite happily.

She's out for 6 hours during the day on normal winter grazing, so could it be the spring grass dampening her appetite? But that said, she's wickering for her food when I'm prep'ing it and is eating every scrap of hay (plus her straw bed!) during the night. She's not quidding when she eats... although I'm going to call the vet this morning to arrange a teeth check and enquire about having a marble inserted as she's very hormonal during her seasons.

She's never done this before in the spring and usually has a good appetite regardless of the grass - even when it's at its lushest. Any ideas what could be up?

 

[TGM]

Have you tried giving her the mix and Happy Hoof separately, so you can work out whether it is a particular feed that she has a problem with? Is it possible that the feed has started to go off a little bit?

 

[Spyda]

Have you tried giving her the mix and Happy Hoof separately, so you can work out whether it is a particular feed that she has a problem with? Is it possible that the feed has started to go off a little bit?

The feed wont be 'off' as it's well within date and a bag only lasts 9 to 10 days once opened.

Have tried just giving her just the Pasture mix on its own; her ABSOLUTE favourite feed [normally] and although she looks keen when it arrives - she's just picking up weeny, tiny bits with her lips - sifting through it, then looses interest within a minute or two. She's eating hay like there's no tomorrow though.

Her hard feed is kept in its original sack inside a large, secure dustbin so I don't think it could have become contaminated with rat droppings or anything. I do have another sack I could open and try.... maybe I'll do that later and see how she reacts?

I've the vet coming out at 2.30 this afternoon to check her teeth and insert a uterine marble, so hopefully any dental issues will be picked up then.

DOES ANYONE NOTICE THEIR MARE GO OFF ITS FEED DURING HER SEASONS?

 

[TGM]

I have had loads of mares and never had one go off its feed whilst in season! Will she eat the Happy Hoof on its own? If so, it would definitely seem that the mix is the root of the problem.

Another thought - have you tried feeding her in another bowl just in case there is something about the corner manger that is putting her off (whether that is the position, a stable cat urinating on it, rats in the adjoining wall, an aggressive horse in the next stable etc).

Other thoughts are that the feed sack could have become contaminated before it got to you, perhaps by an animal urinating on the paper sack, with the result that some of the mix is tainted.

 

[Spyda]

Thanks, I'm going to experiment this afternoon with a new sack of mix and see if that helps.