Anyone fed whey protein?

[Fat_Pony]

My youngster is on a restricted diet. He gets very late cut hay which is then soaked. He has zero grass over winter as I have a winter turnout area. He has a tiny blob of fast fibre for his vits&mins. I want to add whey protein (not powder as don't want lactose obviously) to help with muscle development. Only source I can find is forage plus, who's postage is expensive. Does anyone know any other sources that will work out cheaper? FP is 26.49 plus £8.50 p&p for 2.5kg

 

[popsdosh]

Why not feed him a normal diet ? How will whey protein help muscle development if the other requirements are not met.I suspect if you feel the need for muscle development its because he is losing it due to under supply of nutrients ! There is very little nutritionally in late cut hay and if you are soaking it I assume theres a quality issue with it.Horses are not designed to digest the likes of whey P their stomachs work best with a forage based diet.Ad lib quality forage and a balancer (Sure Grow) for all my youngsters.

 

[Fat_Pony]

Because he is a good doer and even at 4 is slightly overweight. He has ad lib good quality hay - we specifically cut it very late to be suitable for my good doers, but even then he would put on weight if I didn't soak it. But soaking takes all the nutrients out of it so he gets a good quality supplement, but it lacks protein. I will not feed a pelleted balancer as they are full of cereal by products. So looking for alternative protein sources - he has just been backed and isn't losing any muscle, but as with all youngsters could do with gaining some. It'll come with work, but his diet lacks protein. Whey protein is what I'm looking to feed (purely the proteins) not whey powder, which contains the protein plus everything else. Horses can digest the isolate with no problem since it is about 90% protein

 

[WelshD]

Have messaged you with something that may be worth a look at

 

[JillA]

Why not get lysine or methionine from Forageplus, to target the proteins he might possibly be lacking? Rowan Barbary Sumo has whey protein but along with milk powder and is fed to a lot of horses - is he lactose intolerant?

 

[cremedemonthe]

How much do you have to feed him?
I make ricotta cheese now and again and the waste product is about 4-5 pints of whey protein, is that what you need?
I feed the whey to my chickens and dogs in their dinners. It's very cheap to make compared to what you seem to be paying and you get lovely fresh ricotta out of it too!
All is it is citric acid (buy from wine making shop) and whole milk. I use 8 pints and a little citric acid to make it.
Oz

 

[rowan666]

L-Lysine is a good alternative for muscle development, its just a supliment so could be added to a bit of plain soaked chaff. I buy it from progresive earth on ebay