Feed ideas- weight gain in TB agin!

McNally

McNally

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As some may know i am trying to put weight on a scrawny TB and have been feeding grass- he is out from 5/6pm til 8am when he comes in he gets fed and ad lib hay (good hay) then he is fed again before going out.
he gets 1 round scoop of alfalfa, a scoop of kwik beet and a scoop of Page and Allen Weight gain mix I also add a dollop of oil.
He is putting on weight and starting to look much better but he isnt a big eater and struggles with what turns out to be a huge bucket of feed. He eats his breakfast as its left in the stable all day but it takes all day! The hay he barely touches.
How can i get good feed/nutrients into very small portions? or do i just persevere with what is slowly working but i worry he's leaving some at each feed and not eating much hay at all.
 
i have the exact same problem but mine isnt particularly scrawny but am worried he will lose some...i guess its cause they're out on grass all night...but very frustrating i know! i give mine molasses on his feed to encourage him, can also try apple juice i think :)
but apart from that im not much help, sorry (:
 
Apple juice might be worth a try! Its such a pain isnt it! I'm so not used to this- my old TB is now in a starvation paddock at his new home- he is a TBx Labrador this one is TBx whippet!
I've only had him a month and he was in shocking condition so i really want him to be fat (or healthy looking)
I'm currently dreading winter!
 
If he will eat it then up the oil. They can have 100ml of oil per 100kg of body weight. That is alot but its pure calories and not adding to the amount they have to eat, it must taste pretty rank though so build up to it slowly! Another thing I give mine if they are running up a bit light is linseed. Simple systems do a good instant version if you cba with boiling it forever!!!

Also swap to haylage, more calories and tastier!
 
I've got a similar problem with my TB mare - she is a very fussy eater and it's really hard to actually get her to eat anything. Last week I started giving her ready mash extra - you have to soak it for five minutes, but a little goes a really long way....I mix it with chaff and I add a few carrots and in the last week she has started blooming.
 
Hiya about a month ago I started a thread about advise on feeding up my extremely skinny Dutch warmblood and after a massive response and some incredible advise by many many people about a feeding program for him, I settled on this:
1 scoop of Dobson & H conditioning mix,
1 scoop of Alpha A OIL (better than plain Alpha),
Pink Powder (to help with his poor digestive system)
1 generous tablespoon of Molases (purely because it made him eat the whole bowl of feed as he loved the taste of molases), and
half a cup of Mazola Corn Oil.....

4 weeks later, he is a changed man.... please see piccys on my profile - i think you'll be amazed at the difference is such a short period of time.

Good luck with it. let us know how it goes
 
OMEGA RICE! my tb cant have oil as it makes him hyper(well... even more so...) swear to god order some it is the only way forward i know its expensive but so woth it and can be used in faily short bursts... if you look in my Rosco album you will see the diffenece between when we first got him (grass eating picture) to 2 months later competing... makes a world of difference!
 
Could you change to haylage? I find this is the best thing for putting on weight. Large hard feeds have never worked for me.
 
I have the problem of maintaining condition as cereals fizz my TB up. Allen and Page feed is fantastic and I really rate it. I use both calm and condition and ride and relax and my boy has never looked so good. I always use one course of pink powder going into the winter and its great stuff. This winter I am going to try a veteran supplement as he is 19 this year!!!
 
Haylage...... much tastier!!!

I feed my TB on Dengie ALFA A (1 scoop) and D&H Ultimate Balancer and that is it, twice a day, and he is looking fab for it!

Do you have to bring in and stable all day? Can he not stay out 24/7?
 
My tb keeps weight on in winter with:
twice daily
half scoop allan and page calm and condition
Scoop chaff
large blob of mazola corn oil
ad lib haylage at night.
I ensure he's well rugged too.

He always looks good all winter on this and in the summer he gets half a scoop of happy hoof and pink powder and is out on grass 24/7.
 
Have a look on Coolstance - is high in fibre and energy dense so you only need relatively small quantities and can mix it in with a chaff. Has kept the condition on 2 TB's here all winter (one is 30) and is mow being used to get the condition on a ribby ex racer and a whizzy SJing pony - is fab stuff as mow cereals so now fizz and at approx £15 a sack good value for money. It can be fed as often as needed and in whatever quantity needed - the oil it contains also gives them a lovely shine:)
 
Another vote for Coolstance Copra and most seem to love it as it's coconut.
Plus linseed is really good for condition and is generally good for them. Get the micronised stuff from Charnwood and it works out fairly cheap.
 
I use Thuderbrook Equestrian's Pure Essentials Base Mix and Alfa A Oil twice a day. I tried for almost a year to put weight on mine with different feeds without much success, but within 2 weeks of being on this combination, the change was amazing and now he's even getting a belly!
 
I think fibre is the key to weight and as much of it as possible, haylage is great.

Also equijewel is a really good at putting weight on, just a couple mugs morning and night with some chaff, small feed but very high in calories!

I'm not a fan of massive bowls of food, especially rich conditioning mixes ect. I think it overwhelms their system and they can't process it properly.

My friend got a very underweight TB a few weeks ago and she's been feeding mollichaff show shine and fibre nuts plus hay and grass and he's put on weight safely and he's looking much better!

My TB in the winter gets up to a scoop of chaff, mug of balancer and 1/2 scoop fibre nuts x 2 per day and as much haylage as I can stuff in and he does really well. He came a poor doer and now he's a good doer!

Now it's summer he's a bit of a fatty and just has balancer mixed with a handful of chaff.

I would start with fibre and small but regular fibre based hard feed meals. If he needs more then equijewel really is an amazing high fat feed supplement fed in small quantities, much more effective then silly amounts of conditioning mix/cubes!
 
He is putting on weight and starting to look much better but he isnt a big eater and struggles with what turns out to be a huge bucket of feed.
Click to expand...

You'll do much better by splitting his ration in to four - much more beneficial to him.

I would also have him in overnight and lightly rugged, rather than out at night.

And certainly haylage, rather than hay will be tastier. And of course good old Dr Green.
 
The reason he comes in during the day is that he had a sarcoid banded and its left a nasty area which i need to keep as fly free as possible- when the flies are on it he bites at the area. Since coming in during the day its healing much better.
Also yard rules state no 24hr t/o so he either gets a long time out over night or less time in the day.
I have given my notice and got him a fab field full of grass where hopefully he will be out all the time as the wound should have healed by then.

I was talking to livery owners today and they think i should not be too worried he has been on decent grass all night and is just not hungry- he is however slowly gaining weight anyway which is the main thing i suppose!

As for haylage, I would give it a go but tbh i was laid off work with no notice as of Monday morning so am struggling right now and cant really afford it until i find work.

Thank you all!
 
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