Feed/Supp/pick up for yearling.

[Twinkletoes]

Also in NL - Since we purchased him in Nov he's come on leaps and bounds, but he could do with having some more weight and condition to him. He is well into a worming programme, flu/tet up to date, seen our vet, and is on good grazing. He has one feed a day, two scoops hifi and one and a half scoops Spillers M&Y Mix. We are adding soya oil from tomorrow, but wondered what else you can recommend. Their haylage is good, and he will always choose this over grass, he is the slowest eater in the world, and due to his start in life is a born worrier. His field companion is the same age, and looks smashing now.
We do know he was taken off his mother early, and we have had him gelded so expected him to drop a bit after that, but would like your advice feed/supp/pick-up wise.

 

[teddyt]

I personally wouldnt feed a cereal mix to any youngster but specifically one that was weaned early and is stressy. That is because that type of horse is likely to suffer frm stomach ulcers and cereals are not the best feed for this, they make them worse.
I personally would feed alfalfa and unmollassed sugar beet with a vitamin/mineral supplement designed specifically for youngsters. The alfalfa will provide protein and in conjunction with the beet will be reasonable calories but from fibre, which is much better for the horses digestive system than cereals.
To give enough oil for weight gain (compared to for the coat/skin) you need to feed quite a bit and would then need to supplement with vitamin e. It also takes upto ten weeks for a horse to adapt to utilising oil as an energy source. I personally would then be worrying about an unbalanced diet. Much safer for a growing youngster to have a vitamin supplement and provide calories from fibre.

 

[air78]

I really rate baileys stud balancer fed with alfa a and speedi beet. It's a simple fibre based diet and takes them ages to eat.

My youngsters have all looked fantastic on it, been calm to deal with and had no growth problems