feeding advice please :)

[tanya86]

hey after a bit of advice

i currently have 2 ponies that r living out full time. 1 is a 4yr old good doer and the other is a 2 yr old rescue pony that needs a bit of weight on but not a lot.

they r currently out in the field but grass is wearin thin now as they have turned it into a mud pit.

they both have some chaff and carrots and the 2yr old has a small amount of sugarbeet aswell. is there anything else i should or should not be feeding? they have a small amount of haylage out in the field aswell. just wondered if i need to add any suppliments etc....

any advise will be gladly accepted. thanx

 

[Nocturnal]

If there's not much grass I'd increase the haylage before adding more hard feed; if getting sufficient forage most ponies won't need much in the way of feed. You could add a broad spectrum vit/min supplement or a balancer to make sure they're getting the nutrients they need.

 

[Lu1]

When mine lived out, he always had plenty of sugarbeet to keep him warm. Can you give them more hay/haylage too? Maybe section 2 small paddocks, one for each, where you can put them in to eat their feeds and a haynet

 

[TGM]

Agree that it is best to increase the haylage before you increase the hardfeed. If the good doer is likely to get fat if you do this, then try and find a way of separating the poorer one at some point of the day to allow it an extra ration of haylage. This could be by putting the poor one into a stable or field shelter, or as suggested above, creating a separate pen or paddock with electric fencing.

 

[tanya86]

hey. Thanks for the help i will try to separate them as best as i can ( little fat one is an escape artist sometimes when she's on her own) re balancers etc... i havent got a clue about them. is there any in particular that would be best suited for them or 1 that would be ok for both?

we are havin stables built up the yard within the next 3 months so will be a great help next yr and in the spring but for now its just a field and the ponies with over hanging trees untill i get the field shelter up

 

[Nocturnal]

Baileys stud balancer or dodson & horrell suregrow are good choices for young horses.

 

[AmyMay]

You need to feed adlib haylage to both horses, and move them off the mud.

 

[forestfantasy]

I would be feeding ad lib forage too, ideally hay, soaked for the fatty one.

 

[JenHunt]

if you can give them ad lib hay or haylage in the field that will help more than any bucket feed - it'll keep them warm from the inside and that will help keep their weight on. If you are concerned about the 4yo putting on too much weight then feed hay rather than haylage.

if the 2yo still needs more weight putting on then you could give sugarbeet as a s starting point, and add something like outshine or copra or full fat soya meal as a high energy, non-heating feed. Make sure you give him a balancer or complete youngstock supplement as well, as he'll still be growing.

 

[tanya86]

thanx sooo much for the advise.

Im gona try sectioning them apart and see how that goes. give the 2yr old adlib and a suppliment in her feed and will give the 4yr old just haylage as she is worked quite a bit on a weekend and twice in the week.

i would love to get them off the mud but unfortunately for this winter it is a no go

thanx again x

 

[AmyMay]

thanx sooo much for the advise.

Im gona try sectioning them apart and see how that goes. give the 2yr old adlib and a suppliment in her feed and will give the 4yr old just haylage as she is worked quite a bit on a weekend and twice in the week.

i would love to get them off the mud but unfortunately for this winter it is a no go

thanx again x

So you propose to keep them on mud for the whole of the winter

 

[YasandCrystal]

If there's not much grass I'd increase the haylage before adding more hard feed; if getting sufficient forage most ponies won't need much in the way of feed. You could add a broad spectrum vit/min supplement or a balancer to make sure they're getting the nutrients they need.

^^ This or give adlib hay.

 

[tanya86]

they r now on ad lib haylage and ive managed to get the shelter sorted so they have somewhere to get out of the mud. unfortunately i cant afford stables atm so they will have to cope with the mud atm. it's not to bad atm we r in a very well drained field. they have their legs washed with warm water everyother day and dried before havin cream put on them as a barrier.

thanx for all the advise of the feeding though guys x