Changing the feed program

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SCMSL

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Hi everybody!

My horse is currently on the most complicated feeding program I've ever seen. She is ulcer-prone and even when she's scoped clean, she is still fussy about food and slightly underweight.

She is currently having a bunch of stuff:
- 1 kg beetpulp
- 1 kg wheat bran
- 2,5 kg alpha a oil
- 1 kg main ring gold
- 1 kg pavo condition
- 1 kg pavo daily plus
- 2 pastes of alfalfa hay
- add lib grass hay
- 250 mL linseed oil

I wanted to simplify it to Saracen Re-leve, Saracen Equi-Jewel, beetpulp and Alpha A oil (plus a lot of good hay). This current feeding program adds up to almost 150€ monthly, without the hay.

Has anyone had any success with a diet similar to this one?
 
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Best thing I did for my guy was simpifying the diet he is on

Lucerne Chaff
Oats
Vit / Min that balances his feed / situation
Salt
Yeast

I add in hay and sugarbeet / copra over winter. Best he has ever looked and he loves his little oat grains. I won't use processed feeds agin I don't think they deliver as well as whole feeds and a seperate supplement, regardless of what the advertising says.

My horse had similar issues to yours.
 
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:eek:

How big is the horse? That's 7.5 kg of hard feed, not including the alfalfa 'pastes' (what's that?) That's almost as much feed in weight as a 400kg horse would eat including forage. Horses have evolved to eat forage, not hard feed - this is particularly crucial for ulcer prone horses. She is likely underweight because horses haven't evolved to eat all that crap - her system is probably starving due to being unable to absorb nutrients from the feed she's getting.

Switch to ad lib hay (ditch the alfalfa, all that calcium will likely be causing havoc) with a kg of re-leve and the equijewel. Add yea-sacc to help her poor overburdened gut.
 
Actually I had a really simple system consisting only of 3 kg of pavo condition, 1 kg of pavo gold e and add lib oat hay (only one available at the time). She kept loosing weight at an alarming speed.

This diet was recommended by my vet and although it has many flaws (starch levels through the roof, calcium:phosphorous ratio all wrong so having to supplement), for the first time since I got her, she's actually gaining weight.

She should weigh around 620kg for her size. She is currently at 550.

I am now considering the following:
3 kg Pavo Condition
1 kg Saracen Equi-Jewel
5 kg Beet pulp, unmolassed
5,5 kg Alfalfa Pellets (is there any difference between them and Alpha A?)
3 kg Wheat bran

After many attempts, this feeding program is the best I could come up with. It is 14,96% starch, 11 MJ/kg, 13,1% Protein. Calcium is 2,2:1 phosphorous.

I'm not too concerned about the protein, she seems to do best with feeding programs containing more protein than average.

She would of course also get ad lib hay.
 
I strongly recommend you do some serious research on the horse's digestive system op. there's a free course on equine nutrition starting soon on coursera which may help you understand why feeding so much crap is a bad idea. 3kg of wheat bran is insane... 15% starch may not sound loads (it's way more than I'd consider feeding) but you have to think about how much feed you're giving. 15% of 1kg is hugely different from 15% of 7kg.

Your proposed feed plan is utterly insane. Almost as nuts as your original one. I think I'd better step away from this thread before my head explodes.
 
You do know most feeds out there have wheat feed listed. And I'm sure you are also aware wheat feed is just another name for wheat bran.

But you are right, 14% of 1 kg isn't the same as 14% of 7kg.

Her current diet vs new diet is:
- 199,15 MJ vs 191,80MJ ED
- 234,10 MJ vs 229,20g Protein
- 231 g vs 352,5g NDF (digestible fiber)
- 48,75g vs 55,75g fat
- 624,25g vs 261,75g starch

Current diet: 19kg
New diet: 17,50kg

The protein is also good quality, which is more important than quantity. As we all know, alfalfa is rich in lysine and methionine, two limiting amino-acids for horses.

So as you can see, it is a lot of food, a lot of DE and a lot of protein, but aparently thats what she needs. As I've stated before, she has only started putting on weight since the vet recommended feeding her this.

I would very much appreciate any suggestions totaling the same amount of protein and DE, but with lower starch levels.
 
what about adding oil and reducing some of the hard feed?

Spliting whatever you feed in to multiple small feeds will also help with weight gain
 
She is currently fed 6 times a day - 3 hard feed + 3 mash.

She is having Alpha A oil and eats eat mixed with the beetpulp and bran, but if I top that up with more oil she won't eat it, unfortunately.
 
Mallee1989 said:
maccahic do you by any chance feed Equilibrium as your vitamin and mineral supplement? The LexveT I feed is manufactured in Australia, when I emailed them about a feeding program they said that the product is branded under Equilibrium in Australia and New Zealand. Was just wondering as what you are feeding is very similar to what they recommend.
Click to expand...

Hi no I feed Fortevite Extra I couldn't get the Equilibrium to balance any of the diets I played with, with fortevite all I need to add is iodise salt and he is getting everything he needs.

Wish I had before and after pics as the change in him since I started to transition over to Oats happened so quick before he had even finished transitioning.
 
SCMSL said:
You do know most feeds out there have wheat feed listed. And I'm sure you are also aware wheat feed is just another name for wheat bran.
Click to expand...

Yes I do, though irrc wheetfeed is less nutritious than proper bran, and it's one of the many reasons I won't touch processed feeds with a bargepole. Floorsweepings and wheatfeed. Vile.
 
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