Cob with loose dropping- also in New Lounge

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Marilyn

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Hello- in order to helpmy cob gain condition, I have been feeding her sugar beet in the hope it will help- but she's been loose for a while now and I think that he being loose is probably causing her to lose condition rather than gain it. She gets Alfa A, Hifi Lite, Sugar Beet, Hay, general purpose supplement, salt and oil so I am thinking of changing teh quantities of it all- upping the alfa and reducing Hifi and Sugarbeet. Has anyone had the same experience? What did you do/what do you suggest.

thanks
 
Check her working is up to date, then I would remove any feed that she wasn't on before she became loose. Then add them one at a time to see which don't suit her. My mare can't tollerate any mollases, sugarbeet or haylage. I would also start her on NAF Pink Powder.
 
Thank you- she was wormed with Equest Pramox in September and had a worm count in the summer and had not adverse reaction/no worms were seen in her count. I think it might be the beet...thank you.
 
It might be worth putting your mare on a pre/probiotic as it could be just her system is upset by adding a new feed and the micro organisms in her gut just need a bit of help to adjust, as mentioned above Pink powder is good or there are many more on the market.

Changing feeds can upset the stability of the gut micro-organisms and they take a while to settle.

Hope you get it sorted as there is nothing worse than sloppy poo!!
 
Firstly are the teeth ok? as problematic teeth can cause digestion probs.

Could be any number of things- how "sloppy" are you making the sugar beet? sometimes sugar/mollasses in feeds can have an effect too. Is the worming up to date? amount of exercise? if they are standing around not keeping their gut ticking over like normal they can get loose droppings.

I'd be wary of changing the diet/amounts too much, sometimes increasing the fibre can help, and with a horse than has loose droppings it can be really helpful to feed a probiotic- if it's really bad Protexin Bio Premium is very good, other than that Pink Powder is very very good or if you are on a budget then plain live yoghurt!

Sometimes as well it can also be caused by wet weather conditions- I had a mare who used to suffer from loose droppings in flood conditions and get a bacterial infection and the vet at the time used to give her Baytril antibiotic which cleared it up.

I'm sure by making small changes you can get it sorted but if it gets worse maybe you can consult with your vet for further advice if it continues- it's a really horrible problem!
 
I would be inclined to put her on alfa beet rather than sugar beet, this helped my cob gain weight last year he has never looked better.
 
Thanks everyone for your help- her teeth were done in July and they are done every year as per our equine dentist's recommendation. I have had a chat with dengie this morning and I'm going to take her off sugar beet and see if she improves. I'm also going to drop her hi fi and change it to full alfa for a bit. I hadn't thought about her lack of movement contributing to the problem- she lives out 24/7 but the weather isn't making it easy for her to move around- also, as there's no grass available, she doesn't have the incentive. Thanks all- most appreciated.
 
My cob can't have anything high sugar in otherwise he scours like mad!!! He's on in the winter Calm & Condition (2kg a day split in 2 meals) with lo-cal chaff and Brewer's Yeast which is FAB for firming up those droppings! And in the summer/spring he's changed to Fast Fibre instead of the Calm & Condition. Since moving him to this diet he only now scours if the haylage is too rich.
 
Marilyn, did any of the suggested ideas work? My horse is loose, though the dropping aren't too loose but he gets awful runny liquid down his legs (not poo though!) I have tried him on pink powder but it didn't have much affect, nor did taking him off sugar beet! He is fed Alfa A and wormed regularly. He is on haylage and stabled at night! Any idea??? Anyone used NAF Thrive or Haylage Balancer??
 
where we are the grass is coming through and contributing to runny poo.

Horsey4 it could be the haylage making your horse loose. Perhaps if he has not got an allergy to hay try hay for a bit
 
If any of your horses are getting much less fibre than usual thanks to all the grass being under snow, this drop in fibre could be a reason for loose droppings. Even when they are fed adlib haylage when turned out there can still be a lack of fibre. Adding some high fibre cubes into the diet may help.
 
Supplements will take at least 3/4 weeks to show any effect. I would replace haylage with hay if you can, split half and half if necessary and give the supplements a chance to work. Global Herbs diareeze is excellent for helping firm things up fairly quickly but no supplement will work overnight. ;)
 
Hi there- please to say that the cob's loose droppings have stopped since I removed the sugar beet. I spoke to the people at Dengie and they suggested removing it and upping her alfa a- and it's worked. How are you getting on?
 
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