Best feed for a yearling?

[PolaroidPony]

Was just looking for some good solid advice on the best feed for my little youngster. He was barn kept and fed on sheep pellets for the first year of his life (apart from being with mum obviously). I was wondering what the right feed for him is?
At the moment I have him on D&H suregrow, D&H Alfalfa, Ready mash with barley rings added to it, D&H kwikbeet with some soya oil. I know it sounds a lot but it's all in correct proportion.

 

[tallyho!]

It does sound a lot. As long as you have calculated the right calcium: phosphorous ratio that's all thats needed plus a bit extra which the suregrow will provide. What breed?

 

[Casey76]

Why do you feel he needs the extra? D&H suregrow is a great balancer for youngstock and should provide all of the vits and mins for a growing body. Other than that is there a particular reason why your yearling is not just eating grass/hay? I certainly wouldn't want a yearling eating cereals.

 

[PolaroidPony]

He is eating the grass however grass alone does not contain all the necessary nutrients and mins he needs , he doesn't have haylage or hay as he lives out 24/7 with my mare and another pony and neither of those two have haylage. The reason he is on hard feed is because of his condition and weight etc. I got him and he was basically wild, he was extremely underweight and his condition was beyond shocking. I jusy want to know the best thing to be feeding him.

 

[tallyho!]

He is eating the grass however grass alone does not contain all the necessary nutrients and mins he needs , he doesn't have haylage or hay as he lives out 24/7 with my mare and another pony and neither of those two have haylage. The reason he is on hard feed is because of his condition and weight etc. I got him and he was basically wild, he was extremely underweight and his condition was beyond shocking. I jusy want to know the best thing to be feeding him.

Hi polaroid pony...

You didn't say what breed but beware feeding too much to underweight young horses of any breed. Especially cereals. I think with what you have just described, 24/7 is ideal and optimum along with the suregrow. Make sure he gains condition (not weight) over time as his system will already be quite stressed if he has been malnourished or has had a worm burden. A sudden surge in glucose is proven to cause joint damage and digestive disorders later. Too many minerals is also a key issue in growing horses.

Just make sure he is free of worms and parasites, up to date with jabs, keep adding the suregrow and if you think you need any sort of grain for condition, use dampened oats at a low ratio to begin with as it has a higher digestible fibre content and will be digested slower, without any fizz (contrary to popular belief) whatsoever. Switch the soya oil to micronised linseed as it has more Omega oils and almost exactly in the same ratio as high quality grass.

Less is more at this age and if you push on too much you risk OCD/DJD or other joint problems as he grows. That's why the general advice from Kentucky Equine Research (you can google OCD and KER) and is to not overfeed a young horse especially high starch. Also, the research into racehorses does show increased risk of DJD and OCD and also ulcers to grain fed youngstock.
http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/aaep/2001/91010100322.pdf

I did quite a lot research with my yearling and I hardly fed her at all apart from the suregrow. She did lose weight at one point and I just gave her sprouted oats but not for long. Only until she got back to a good weight again. Now she is four and a good do-er! Still out 24/7 but I keep up a low iron supplement through the summer.

 

[Doormouse]

Grass is your friend here, Doctor Green is what he needs I'm afraid. If your current field is short of grass you need to look at finding some grass livery for him that has enough, preferably in a herd of other youngstock. Summer is the time to gradually increase his condition and grass is by far the best way.

Feeding a lot of cereals as the other posters have said can cause problems not just now but later on in life. A balancer will supply all the vitamins and minerals he needs but the barley rings etc will simply produce fat which actually you don't want on a young horse.

 

[tallyho!]

I second doormouse.. grass grass and grass! (With a sprinkling of balancer)

 

[PolaroidPony]

He is currently on good rye grass.
I don't want to over feed him and make him fat but at the same time I don't want him going hungry. Never really had a youngster his age before so unsure as to what is best for him. He is a new forest, but a rather fine set one (if that's possible). He has put some condition on and isn't looking as poor, he was fed on sheep pellets for a long time (not by me!) and was very wormy. He has been wormed with Equest- Pramox for small encysted red worm.
I am just trying to balance out his feed correctly to give him the best start in life.
What exactly would you guys suggest and how much etc?

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Was just looking for some good solid advice on the best feed for my little youngster. He was barn kept and fed on sheep pellets for the first year of his life (apart from being with mum obviously). I was wondering what the right feed for him is?
At the moment I have him on D&H suregrow, D&H Alfalfa, Ready mash with barley rings added to it, D&H kwikbeet with some soya oil. I know it sounds a lot but it's all in correct proportion.

I would recommend a nutritional like D&H advice. they are brilliant and very helpful, as on here you will get conflicting advice. ( no offense)

 

[PolaroidPony]

If I call D&H will i be able to speak to a nutritional expert?
Like all forums there's conflicting advice etc, but I deffo don't want to be feeding him something which will cause further issues later on in life.
A lot of warmblood lovers and horsie lovers will be telling me off for feeding a little new forest hard feed anyway!
I shall give D&H a ring

 

[Cortez]

If you phone D&H they will of course recommend that you feed.....D&H; that is their job after all. You don't say if your pony is currently underweight, if he's now in good-ish body condition then good grass is really all he needs, and you can give him a balancer if you're worried. Yearlings/two/three year olds should be showing a rib anyway.

 

[PolaroidPony]

Ah it's not that he's ribby as thats expected of babies.
he's very tucked up, his coat is very dull.
He just doesn't look as he should.
He is on good grass and is up to date with wormers etc.
Will give them a call and see what they suggest

 

[ester]

I'd wonder if there was something else going on then tbh. Grass and vit/mins (ie the suregrow alone) should be all a yearling needs surely- and feeding too much can cause issues further on.

 

[tallyho!]

Ah it's not that he's ribby as thats expected of babies.
he's very tucked up, his coat is very dull.
He just doesn't look as he should.
He is on good grass and is up to date with wormers etc.
Will give them a call and see what they suggest

Give him time. It's only June and if he's allowed grass 24/7 and the D&H Suregrow he will do very well. It's tempting to look out and see a poor looking youngster and think you need to pump him full of starch. Hopefully D&H will give you some solid advice.


p.s. I don't think there is a shred of conflicting advice here. We have all said basically the exact same thing.

 

[PolaroidPony]

tallyho! I didn't mean your advice is conflicting, I just mean if other people come on and say stuff that contradicts what you guys have been saying.
That's the problem I don't want to over feed him or pump him full of starch, I just want what ever is best for my little man whatever it takes.

 

[Buddy'sMum]

OP, I know you've said that he's up to date with wormers but have you been following a worming plan specifically for a youngster? Tucked up and dull coat sounds like a potential worm problem to me.
I'm another who would recommend grass/good quality hay and D&H Suregrow.

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

If he's on good grass and has worming programme (have you had a faecal egg count done?) in place I would just give him time to recover. Most natives are good doers and therefore need little "hard" food. It may also be worth having a blood test to ascertain if there are any underlying problems.

Fibre foods are best as they contain little/no sugar. Fast fibre by Allan & Page is good. Most of my ponies at the moment get a token handful of mollases free chaff with micronised linseed.

 

[TPO]

Hi PolaroidPony

If you look at my album of Chip on my profile page you'll see I've been through a very similar thing.

Chip is a quarter horse and was 2yrs old when I bought him directly from the stud and, well, you can see the pictures...

I too am of the opinion not to over feed youngsters but he too arrived needing "something" so that scuppered my usual plans for feeding youngsters.

I asked on here for advice too and ended up feeding Spillers balancer Gro n Win as recommended by Spring Feather http://www.spillers-feeds.com/products/stud-feeds/gro-n-win/

Chip was fed that with alfabeet, micronised linseed and unmolassed chop.

He was also worm counted, wormed and checked over by EDT (as his teeth had been worn beneath the gum line and all moved. I'm presuming due to eating bark high up off trees as that would tie in with the overdeveloped muscles under his neck).

In total I think I just used two bags of that to give him a "pick me up" before gradually switching him over to my planned feed of Pro Balance, linseed and chop. In winter he also got Speedibeet and Coolstance as he mainly lived out with adlib hay.

Hopefully the pictures show how well he looks now on really a simple regime and tiny bucket feed to get his minerals.

Best of luck with yours

 

[Doormouse]

Ah it's not that he's ribby as thats expected of babies.
he's very tucked up, his coat is very dull.
He just doesn't look as he should.
He is on good grass and is up to date with wormers etc.
Will give them a call and see what they suggest

I would second getting a worm count done and maybe a blood test to just check that nothing else sinister is going on. At least that way you will have peace of mind.

 

[Carrots&Mints]

I fed my yearling suregrow for about a year, then took him off it and then slowly moved onto more grown up food haha! However, i do still feed mine afla a pellets which are full of protien

 

[Englishcowgirl91]

In re to the worms, egg count doesn't show the ones encysted so bloods are a good way to evaluate any burden. My yearling was underweight and poor looking. I got the vet out did all the blood work and egg counts and he was burdened with encysted. we wormed twice and now he is looking amazing and much happier in himself. Never go on the egg count alone. If he is eating and not gaining then the worms are taking the nutrients.

 

[Arzada]

In re to the worms, egg count doesn't show the ones encysted so bloods are a good way to evaluate any burden. My yearling was underweight and poor looking. I got the vet out did all the blood work and egg counts and he was burdened with encysted. we wormed twice and now he is looking amazing and much happier in himself. Never go on the egg count alone. If he is eating and not gaining then the worms are taking the nutrients.

The once upon a time yearling is now 10 years old