done to death but-tasty,calorific,clean feed?

[Hallo2012]

Pony has been on Allen & Page Soothe & Gain for 4 months and over winter ate it up nicely and maintained weight well. It wouldn't be my first choice of food but its what he was eating in prev home and he's done well on it...............however now my grass is growing he will not eat it! (he had far less turnout before so ate it year round no issues)

Despite being a native he runs up light and does need a bucket feed, he is eating his hay well and shows zero signs of ulcers or digestive issues just not tempted by that feed now the yummy grass is here!

He ate up a kind donation of grass nuts, and will eat any chaff but turned nose up at copra.

i have linseed donation coming to try, he will eat oils in feed as currently adding corn oil to up calories.

He is quite hot by nature so loathe to use anything with alfalfa/soya/peas/maize etc which cuts out the likes of Equerry, Saracen,Baileys.

my next port of call is grass nuts, linseed and oats (as never had those heat anything up) but if he WONT eat it/loses weight/goes insane.......where do i go for something calorific but *clean* and tasty?

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

What about Equijewel great for weight gain and you don't need to feed loads of it, have used it on Arab's and warmblood types in the past and can't say it made them silly.

 

[ycbm]

Sharing your pain. Currently seeking very quick soaking, tasty enough to get him to eat it instead of the haylage, no alfalfa, no linseed. I've got a bag of Rowen and Barbary "mash extra" in the van to take tomorrow. Sadly it won't suit you as it's got soya, maize and barley in it. Grass nuts are taking too long to soak.

Baileys no 1 is cooked cereals but no barley now, I think?

 

[IrishMilo]

Linseed meal has been a god send for my TB. I tried all sorts of high sugar, high starch mixes for months on end with no luck, and tbh was getting quite worried about him. I was pumping so much food into him and yet he wasn't picking up at all and was genuinely about to send off for bloods.

I then switched him to a quarter of a Stubbs scoop linseed twice a day (this is much more than what you'll need!) along with 2x scoops Dengie Cool and Condition chaff. There's 3 weeks between these two photos...

 

[Hallo2012]

What about Equijewel great for weight gain and you don't need to feed loads of it, have used it on Arab's and warmblood types in the past and can't say it made them silly.

generally palatable?

 

[Hallo2012]

Linseed meal has been a god send for my TB. I tried all sorts of high sugar, high starch mixes for months on end with no luck, and tbh was getting quite worried about him. I was pumping so much food into him and yet he wasn't picking up at all and was genuinely about to send off for bloods.

I then switched him to a quarter of a Stubbs scoop linseed twice a day (this is much more than what you'll need!) along with 2x scoops Dengie Cool and Condition chaff. There's 3 weeks between these two photos...

thanks, hopefully he will eat it.....

 

[milliepops]

my fussy one wouldn't eat linseed meal, and i wanted him to get the nutrients in it so fed omega rice which is pelleted rice bran with linseed. that went down the hatch nicely. that said, if you have grass and he wants to eat the grass, can he not just have more grass if he drops off? good grass can have DE comparable to competition mix.

 

[Michen]

Equerry conditioning mash is great for mine.

 

[AandK]

My fussy but needs calories TB was eating Agrobs Musli well until the grass came through last spring and then he decided no thanks. I've had to go back to re-leve, not ideal as its not that clean but it's the only thing he seems to be happy to eat all year round, he is hot too but it doesn't seem to make any difference to him luckily. He also has some grass chaff, linseed and non-molassed beet.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Have a look at the various Veteran feeds?
They are not for everyone but I've had a good deal of success in the past by using them on much younger animals requiring weight without e numbers etc x
Eg, the Pure Veteran really helped B Fuzzy get more covered even when the grass came through 3 yrs ago.

 

[teddy_]

I found the Dodson & Horrell Barley Rings really worked to 'furnish'. My horse gobbled them up.

ETA: they did not heat him up either.

 

[dorsetladette]

Linseed lozenges worked well on my welsh cob. You only need a handful included in his normal feed to increase the calories significantly so you could almost give them as a treat rather than a bucket feed.

Or barley is a easy, cheap weight gain feed which shouldn't make him go loopy.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

generally palatable?

Never known one not to eat it maybe Saracen will send you a sample or you can buy the rice bran that milliepops uses its virtually the same I think, I don't know if it's cheaper than the Equijewel which is fairly expensive but you don't feed loads of it so for a pony would probably not work out too bad.

 

[Roxylola]

Outshine?

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

My fussy one will eat micronised linseed but he often leaves the husks at the bottom of the bowl, how he manages to sort through it like that who knows but his always done it.

 

[milliepops]

Outshine?

has soya

 

[Hallo2012]

my fussy one wouldn't eat linseed meal, and i wanted him to get the nutrients in it so fed omega rice which is pelleted rice bran with linseed. that went down the hatch nicely. that said, if you have grass and he wants to eat the grass, can he not just have more grass if he drops off? good grass can have DE comparable to competition mix.

thanks i think my feed shop can get that will ask.....he's not piggy enough to survive off the grass, don't get me wrong he's calm and eating in the field but he eats/dozes/eats/watches farmer/eats/dozes etc.....he's not a scoffer!

 

[milliepops]

i bought Omega rice mail order direct as couldn't get it round here. just in case

 

[Hallo2012]

by way of an update:

graze on grass pellets plus equijewel are being scoffed down, even in the field so now it just remains to be seen if this keeps his weight up sufficiently

 

[Leandy]

I'd expect grass alone to be enough for a native at this time of year unless grazing is seriously restricted (like non-existent and small area). So Doctor Green is your friend. Can you not obtain better grazing for him?

 

[NinjaPony]

Slightly off topic but it’s usually quite difficult to ‘obtain better grazing’ at short notice, especially if you keep your horses at home. Grass is usually the best remedy (unless yours is laminitic like mine, in which case the less the better, even if he needs weight on!), which is probably why the OP is using grass pellets.

 

[Leandy]

Slightly off topic but it’s usually quite difficult to ‘obtain better grazing’ at short notice, especially if you keep your horses at home. Grass is usually the best remedy (unless yours is laminitic like mine, in which case the less the better, even if he needs weight on!), which is probably why the OP is using grass pellets.

Yes and no, where there is a will there is a way and one can always think about the possibility of moving a horse even if temporarily. Finding better grazing for say a month would both help with increased intake for the horse and giving the existing grazing time to recover. Its just a suggestion. Whether it is practical or not is up to the OP but there is nothing better for weight gain than fresh spring grass. Other grass derivatives aren't as effective otherwise one would just say feed more hay.

 

[rextherobber]

Depending on area, I think it could be nigh on impossible to get better grazing. In the south, we have a desperate shortage of grass, as we've had no rain for weeks and weeks. I'm still giving them hay, which was bought up from the West Country apparently...Not looking good for the hay crop this year.

 

[Hallo2012]

I'd expect grass alone to be enough for a native at this time of year unless grazing is seriously restricted (like non-existent and small area). So Doctor Green is your friend. Can you not obtain better grazing for him?

he is on decent grazing and i couldnt/wouldnt move him elsewhere-they are at home, no better grazing available anyway, and in any case he is a stallion so no livery would take him if i even wanted to move him!

he is young and growing and is a hot character just needing a bit more grub, nothing unusual in that. He eats up his hay well but just daydreams a bit in the field rather than pigging out.

ETA before anyone says it, he isn't stressing in the field, is very settled just a moocher...eats a bit, sleeps a bit, watches the farmer a bit etc