Feeding for weight gain

Missy drpped alot of weight when she had her bout of cellulitis just before christmas and she's never really regained it and now she's gradually looking poorer and poorer. She's generally well in herself, still all happ and springy ad has a lovely coat on her but she just looks very lean
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What can I feed that will be effective and beef her up again? She was on Allen & Page Calm and Condition for a while which didn't really make much difference.
 
Daisy11

Daisy11

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weight gain mix ,sugarbeet and corn oil everything with a high energy intake, and possible three meals aday once spring grass comes that will make a difference
 
there is one particular mix it is called weight gain mix this is what i used to beef my shire up when he was underweight from being ill treated
 
Yes, Tesco sell it - the 3ltr jugs of "Vegetable oil" are mostly corn oil blended with a little rapeseed & Sunflower. It works fine and is cheap
 
Top Spec. Sarah has tried everything known to mankind on Spot and the only thing that has made any sort of difference has been Top Spec.
 
I use alpha with oil speedi beet and d and h build up.My horse put on 150 over 6 mths all muscle he was very poor when I bought him and he kept sane on build up.
 
TopSpec is fab stuff too - expensive though! TopSpec conditionign flakes may be worth a go too
 
Im feeding my mare winergy equilibruim growth, which is a complete feed it has a high oil content and is high in fibre which means it takes them longer to eat it.

It helps gain weight without the fizz.

I tried my mare on "build up" but it has 20% starch which was far too much for her and sent her daft. Equilibrium has 5% starch. My mare has never looked so good since being on Equilibrium Growth, she also concentrates more when schooling her.
 
Firstly, you need to check teeth are OK and worming is up to date (which I'm sure you have!)

Then make sure horse is having as much hay or haylage as it can possibly eat. If stabled overnight then there should be a little hay/haylage left in the morning. Any time the horse is stabled there should be hay/haylage available, and if grazing is poor then preferably there should be hay/haylage in the field as well (although I realise that is not always possible in a livery situation).

Try and feed three bucket feeds a day, if possible. There are many possible feeding solutions, but will try and simplify.

1) If you wish to feed straights and avoid cereals, then you can base your feed on fibre and oil, alongside a broad spectrum vit/min supplement or balancer. Fibre sources include alfafa, grass products and beet, so things like alfafa chaffs (such as Alfa A), alfafa/beet combinations (such as Fibrebeet and AlfaBeet), beet products such as Speedibeet (unmolassed) and standard molassed sugar beet, and grass products such as grass nuts and dried grass products such as Graze-on. Oil can be in the form of straight vegetable oils, commercial oil rich feeds such as Outshine (handy for those that dislike straight oil), or oil-rich seeds such as linseed and sunflower seeds. Another alternative is oil enhanced chaffs, such as Alfa A Oil and Spillers Conditioning Fibre. (Oil is very dense in calories, so a little can go a long way in boosting condition).

2) If you have no aversion to cereals, then you can feed the above ration together with straight cereals such as oats or barley. Personally, I have found micronized barley (which is heat-treated to improve digestibility) to be a really good, relatively cheap way to keep weight on my veteran mare. However, it does not necessarily agree with all horses.

3) Feed the recommended amount of a commercial conditioning feed. If you are worried about fizziness then check the starch levels - interestingly Calm & Condition is 19% starch, which is only 1% less than normal conditioning feeds such as Spillers Conditioning Cubes! If you are looking for weight gain, then it is important that the conditioning feed is fed to recommended levels, a handful is not going to make much difference to overall calorie levels.

I've tried to give an overview of how to feed a horse that lacks condition, rather than recommend specific products. Hope you find this helpful.
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I always recommend boiled barley, sugarbeet and a few tablespoons of oil. But boiling the barley might be a problem for you
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So I've got Flo on...
1 scoop of soaked oats
1 scoop of Speedibeet
1 scoop of Alfa-A Oil

and it's working fantastically. She's a very poor doer in the winter.
 
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