Enough fibre?

[Jericho]

Would grazing on very short sparse pasture 24/7 be enough fibre going through the gut?

My 2 are out on about 2 acres of mossy weedy grass and I don't want to feed hay as they are both chubby and could lose some weight. I guess I could soak some hay to feed but this seems a little uneconomical when they have access to poor short grazing all the time ( I know the risks of sugars/ short grass / lami). It's difficult to know how much fibre is right?

They have one very small feed of fast fibre and hi fi lite to mix vitmin supplement in the morning and I have started bringing them off the grass for a few hours and giving them a slice of hay in the afternoon. I would feed straw if I could get hold of it easily but I can't.

I hate this time of year for managin weight / lami....

 

[AngieandBen]

Don't be fooled into thinking the grass is sparse, short grass is just eaten down grass! they will be eating as fast as it is growing and 2 acres this time of year is a lot for two especially if they are already overweight.

I have two native ponies, one 12.3hh and one 14.1hh both getting on a bit but very fit and healthy, they are on a track system which runs around quarter of an acre, then into another quarter of an acre ( so a figure of 8 ), both are strip grazed one at a time.

So half an acre lasts my two through to October without feeding any hay. Like you I feed FF, so I would stick to that, but try and split your field up into at least three sections.


TBH You're better of bringing them off the grass in the morning and letting them back out late afternoon

Good luck, I know its hard, but honestly they will be getting plenty of fibre.