Feed help again please?

Ranyhyn

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 November 2008
Messages
21,273
Location
Funny farm
Visit site
My boy is beginning to drop a little weight, probably due to the lack of grazing in his field. He lives out 24/7 as this is his preference.

He is currently being fed two scoops of High Fibre Alfalfa and a full haynet every evening.

Currently hacking out at weekends with a little canter. Moving up to ridden every day as daylight improves.

I am going to start feeding him a feed at lunch time. And hopefully he will be moving to another field in which he will be provided with hay all day.

Is there anything I can do with his feed to proivde a little more condition for him? I started him off on a very low energy feed just to get to know him, now I am happy he isn't out to kill me I can happily upgrade him.

For anyone that doesn't know 16.2hh ISH 12YO.
 
I would stick to giving him the extra feed at lunchtime especially if he is moving to a new paddock. The extra chaff maybe enough to help him keep warm and his weight up especially if he is getting more grass and hay all day. Spring grass is not that far away so any little he has lost will soon be made up.
 
He is currently in a lw rug with another lw full neck over. He is unclipped - so I hope he's warm enough
smile.gif
 
You have various options - you could swap the high fibre alfalfa for a higher calorie chaff, such as Alfa A Oil (which contains 12.5 MJDE/kg which is similar to some conditioning cubes) and/or add some unmolassed beet (which again is usually about 12.4 MJDE/kg). You could also consider feeding a balancer alongside these fibre feeds.

Alternatively, you could go for a conditioning cube of some type.
 
I was thinking about the Alfa A Oil myself. I haven't been able to find Equibites anywhere so now thinking along the lines of Topspec?

I had good results with Baileys No 4 conditioning cubes, alfa a oil and pink powder - is this worth a whirl? Split into two feeds?
 
You are only feeding Hi Fi so I'd feed a conditioning mix instead. There are loads on the market. The ones which I've used are Dodson and Horrell build up, Winergy Equilibrium and bailey's.
maybe a heavier rug too would help.
 
Top