Dengie Good Doer

yaffsimone1

yaffsimone1

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I feed my boy Dengie Good Doer, however, i seem to have to feed a lot of it to keep his weight on.

He has a scoop for dinner and one for breakfast and large hay net at night (this clearly wasnt enough), ive up'd it to 1.5 scoops dinner and 1.5 breakfast as he was losing weight, also up'd his hay.

Can i feed a mix along side Good Doer? or is it best to go onto HiFi Original and mix??

I chose Good Doer as it is a complete feed but i dont mind changing
 
Good doer is designed for weight loss, it is basically just oat straw with a small amount of alfalfa and a vit/min added.

To keep weight on you'd be better going for Hi Fi or Alfa a oil. I'd also increase hay to add lib and possibly add some sugar beet rather than a mix.

Spring grass will soon be through which should make a difference, so I wouldn't overfeed either.
 
touchstone said:
Good doer is designed for weight loss, it is basically just oat straw with a small amount of alfalfa and a vit/min added.

To keep weight on you'd be better going for Hi Fi or Alfa a oil. I'd also increase hay to add lib and possibly add some sugar beet rather than a mix.

Spring grass will soon be through which should make a difference, so I wouldn't overfeed either.
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Your right about the spring grass, we are out of winter so i'm not too worried he will soon put the weight on.

He used to be fed on Hi Fi Original and Balancer. I have a fear about sugarbeet, he doesnt need anymore fizz! do they do a low energy sugar beet?

I will give the Alfa A Oil a go, what low calorie mix can be recommended?
 
Give Tracey Hammond at Dengie a call. She's their nutritionist and is really knowledgable, approachable and helpful
 
Speedi beet is low energy,as it has no molasses. I would probably switch to hi fi, and add speedi beet, but the people at dengie ar pretty helpful
 
Speedibeet/Kwikbeet are non molassed so shouldn't make your horse fizzy, although I do have a mare who gets fizzed up on speedibeet.

If you are feeding Alfa A instead of good doer I wouldn't bother with a mix and just see how he goes after a few weeks on it; you can always add extras later if they are needed. I'd try to keep the diet mostly fibre with added oil for calories if needed rather than introduce cereals.
 
I feed my pony good doer it is designed for good doers eg those who have trouble keeping the weight off hence the reason if your horse is not a good doer might not be suitable.

If you were successfuly feeding hi fite original and the vitamins supplement why not go back to this or you could try the mollasses free plus the vitamins.
 
SO1 said:
I feed my pony good doer it is designed for good doers eg those who have trouble keeping the weight off hence the reason if your horse is not a good doer might not be suitable.

If you were successfuly feeding hi fite original and the vitamins supplement why not go back to this or you could try the mollasses free plus the vitamins.
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I think my understanding of good doer is all wrong:o

That horse can live on carrots and hay alone and not lose or gain a pound, though he will gain weight easily on the spring grass.

I started feeding him chaff and low cal balancer, then eventaully good doer over the winter because i thought it would be better for him. Carrots and hay isnt really a suitable diet...or is it??

He has lost weight since i changed the feed so i have got it horribly wrong
 
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He came to me with a winter diet of simply, as many carrots as he could eat for breakfast and a bit of fruit, 1 scoop of chaff and mix for dinner and as much hay as he could eat.

A more experienced person on the yard told me carrots alone for breakfast wasnt enough (even though he got as many as he wanted) and they are loaded with sugar therefore he should be having the same for breakfast as what he got for dinner. Someone else suggested the complete good doer feed.

Was his original diet of carrots and chaff really that bad, it seemed to suit him?
 
yaffsimone1 said:
He came to me with a winter diet of simply, as many carrots as he could eat for breakfast and a bit of fruit, 1 scoop of chaff and mix for dinner and as much hay as he could eat.

A more experienced person on the yard told me carrots alone for breakfast wasnt enough (even though he got as many as he wanted) and they are loaded with sugar therefore he should be having the same for breakfast as what he got for dinner. Someone else suggested the complete good doer feed.

Was his original diet of carrots and chaff really that bad, it seemed to suit him?
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Carrots are full of sugar and not ideal as a sole feed, they will provide some vits and moisture to the diet, but if your horse has access to grazing they aren't essential. I don't understand the reasoning behind him having to have them for dinner because he's had them for breakfast:confused: Edit:_ (I see that the person meant that he should be having a feed rather than carrots now.)

What does he weigh and how much hay is he getting? Often just increasing fibre will be sufficient for many horses. It sounds as if yours is a good doer so I'd be wary of feeding any weight gain products at this time of year.

Is he actually underweight or just a bit lighter? They are often better off going in to Spring slightly lighter if he puts weight on on grass.

If you are worried about him getting all his vits/mins then a balancer on its own or general supplement in a small amount of chaff can be given.
 
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yaffsimone1 said:
I think my understanding of good doer is all wrong:o
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I think it is! :) Good doers are your natives/cob etc which look at food and get fat! I would switch the alpha a oil, but then some horses have been known to fizz up on it. Speedibeet is wonderful stuff and perhaps a topline cub rather than mix?
 
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