Comparing feeds for weight gain...

JackDaniels1

JackDaniels1

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When comparing feeds (to encourage weight gain) what am i looking for? ie, am i looking for a higher fibre or oil or protein percentage?

Is it the forage that puts on weight with the hard feed more as a 'supplement' to the forage?

Thanks.
 
You really need to look for the 'calorie count' which for horses is expressed as megajoules of digestible energy per kilogram (MJDE/kg). This should be either on the bag or on the manufacturer's website. Obviously, the higher the MJDE/kg, the more calorific the feed. For example, high fibre cubes might be 8.5 MJDE/kg whereas a conditioning cube would be about 12 MJDE/kg or higher. You would therefore need to feed a greater quantity of high fibre cubes than conditioning cubes to get the same weight gain effect.

Forage is the most important part of the diet and is usually a much more cost effective form of calories than any bucket feed, so it makes sense to give the animal as much good quality hay or haylage as it can possibly eat, and then top up with bucket feed as required.
 
I replied in new lounge, copied here-

To put on weight you need to feed ad lib forage. The horses digestive system is designed to digest fibre and it needs it to work properly.

It is the overall energy level (DE) of the diet that will determine weight- expressed in MJ/KG. If you feed less energy than the horse needs to live it will lose weight, if you feed more it will gain weight. Some horses need more energy than can be provided by forage in order to gain weight- either because they are working hard or because they are poor do-ers, for example.

To compare hard feeds look for the DE level. Under 9 mj/kg is low, above 12 is high.

Beyond that there are different sources of energy, i.e. fibre, oil, cereals. Fibre and oil are safer (physically and mentally) for horses compared to cereals. Oil contains approx 2.5x more energy per kg than cereals, so its also good for keeping meal sizes small.

Hard feed should always be seen as a suplement to forage and you should look for as low a starch and sugar as possible, to minimise digestive problems. So to gain weight i would suggest ad lib forage, plenty of grass and supplementary hard feed that is fibre and oil based with a 12+ mj/kg energy level but with a low starch and sugar level.

Protein is for muscle growth and repair- not fat.
 
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