Feed Help needed

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LadyRascasse

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Bear with me this could be a long one!

Right my lad is 24yr old and is looking good for the time of year and his age, not a rib in sight, however he has gotten very finicky as he has gotten older. He is currently feed AP Veteran Vitality which he enjoys, he gets 3.5kg of this at night in a huge tubtrug and he picks at it over night. he used to get feed twice a day but about november time he just refused to eat his breakfast so i gave up as it was just a waste. Now he is currently undergoing a bute trial (well danalon) as he has a mystery illness and the vet wants him feed twice a day. I don't want to feed him the Veteran vitality in the morning as he has gone off so many feeds i don't want him to go off this (this is the only thing keeping his weight on as he hardly eat any haylage) I got a bag of winergy low as i know he has enjoyed this in the past. he has eaten this for 2 days and now won't touch it. I have borrowed some badminton high fibre nuggets and have made them into a mash to see if he will eat this. my question is there any super tasty feeds i can try him on, it only for 2 weeks so i don't mind if its a bit expensive if he will eat it but at the same time i don't want to waste money if he is unlikely to. to give you and idea here is the list of feeds he has gone off in the past year.

hi fi senior
hi fi original
topspec conditioning flakes
AP fast fibre
AP old faithfuls
maintenance mix
Mollichaff showshine
ready mash (he is allergic to this brings him up in lumps)
winergy low
might be more but i can't remember at the moment

the vet said I can syringe it to him but that would be a last resort as he is very difficult to syringe things. (takes about half hour to worm him and i just don't have this sort of time before work in the morning)

Oh I have taken to putting his feed in his field with him so there is no pressure for him to eat it quickly, as he won't eat in the stable as he wants to be out.

Blimey that was long, thank you for reading my waffle!
 
A & P calm and condition? My 24yo mare loves it and has done wonders for her this winter. Use warm water to soak it and add some chaff (mine has mixed m-chaff and alpha a oil) It smells minty :D
 
I have in the past for fussy eaters resorted to:

Grated carrots and apples really well mixed in.
Mint - dried
Boiled barley - very messy to make, need a good slow cooker for this one
Warm food
Very little and often
Not getting in a panic. Whenever I have a fussy eater and I am desperate to get something down it I worry and I am pretty sure this passes to the horse who then refuses to eat on principle.
 
The things I have used to get meds in over the years are:
Sugarbeet - the proper old fashioned stuff.
Warm bran mash with huge dollop of molasses
Stud mix - due to the smaller bits making it palatable.
TBH if he were mine he'd be twitched and syringed....
 
he gets haylage, i need a hard feed to put his medicine in for the morning. speedibeet is an option though in the past he has been quite loose on it. i think 16+ is very similar to old faithfuls. off to look up molli extra to see how different it is to showshine. i am cautious about sugar levels as he seems a bit sensitive to it (as in he gets loose droppings not goes nuts) and fibrebeet. thanks for the ideas keep them coming
 
Doormouse said:
I have in the past for fussy eaters resorted to:

Grated carrots and apples really well mixed in.
Mint - dried
Boiled barley - very messy to make, need a good slow cooker for this one
Warm food
Very little and often
Not getting in a panic. Whenever I have a fussy eater and I am desperate to get something down it I worry and I am pretty sure this passes to the horse who then refuses to eat on principle.
Click to expand...

I have NAF mint and garlic, so will give that a go and i will try it warm as well. thanks for that. i'm not panicky about him eating it i give it to him in the field with a handful of haylage and leave him to it. just a pain as this trail won't work well if he isn't getting the right amount of bute. *sigh* these old horses are such a pain bless him, gotta love him for managing to get his hoof in my life and slowly taking it over and making it all about him :D
 
Mix a feed with apple juice instead of water. That's what I would do for my old horse when she needed bute in her feed, she wouldn't touch it otherwise. Prob not good long term as sugary but may work for a couple of weeks? Nice a cheap to try as well :)

Otherwise spillers do a tasty mix especially for fussy eaters called meadow herb mix or something.. again might be an option for his breakfast for a couple of weeks :)
 
now why didn't i think of that? i have some in the car for when i go to shows as one horse i used to take refused to drink and apple juice in his water was the only way to get him to drink!
 
quick update, Joe scoffed the badminton high fibre nuggets soaked into a mash with some naf mint and garlic. thank you for all the advice and i will bear them all in mind should he go off this.
 
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