feeding question - weight gain

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millyspaniel

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Hi, my 4yr TB mare is recovering from a bout of colic and a very painful injury which bought the colic on. Basically its a huge swelling underneath her stomache area all on one side, i think she must have caught it on the posts that we use for electric tape, anyway it has made her quite poorly and really took it out of her. She is on anti-biotics and bute, she has lost what little weight she had on so now looks like a happa case
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shes much much better tonight, banging the stable door for her feed, whinnying when she saw me etc...........
She is going to be kept in from now on with just a few hours turn out during the day, she did loose weight being out 24/7. She is having ad-lib hay in the stable.
She is currently fed twice per day and has (in each feed)

baileys conditioning cubes - 1 large scoop
baileys outshine - 1 and half mugs

Am looking for her to gain weight and condition. She is rugged up and is nice and toasty and has an extra rug on of a night time.
Now the vet recommended i up her feed, shall i give her an extra feed at lunch time consisting of the above or split the 2 feeds she has into 3 or introduce sugarbeet and a bit of alfa a for her lunch time feed?
Baileys nutritionists recommened the feed she currently has now as previously they said there was too much feed in her bucket.
Any ideas?
Thanks
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Alfa A oil is very good for putting on weight. I never feed more than 3.4 to 4 lbs (sorry if you are young and work in KGs) in any one feed otherwise it over loads the horses stomach.

My mare is TB and she has in each feed (twice a day) 1lb of alfa a oil 1lb Top Spec super condition flakes and 1lb of Baileys No 17 with a beaker of Outshine and a scoop of Pink Powder and plenty of hay. She is looking really well, she is also well rugged up day and night.

I hope your mare recovers quickly, colic is any horse owners worst nightmare.
 
In light of the colic if you can give a 3rd feed then in principle that's probably a good idea.

Sugar beet good for putting on condition, high in fibre (and contrary to popular belief has no more sugar than good grass), big heaped scoop of soaked beet in every feed and see how she goes, but build up to it over a few days.

I don't bother with alfa-oil - ordinary alfa-a and add oil, think it's cheaper and you can adjust the amount of oil you feed - a good quarter pint per day, split into 3 feeds wouldn't be excessive.
 
i think baileys are right in what they are saying, that you need to be carefull how much bucket feed you have as horses are designed to have little and often, i would give her a lunch time feed aswell, just make sure your feeds arnt to big, give the recomended amount on the bag. there is also a supplement that encorouges weight gain. ad lib hay and keep her warm like you are doing. i always like abit of hay left over so i know hes had as much as he wants. you just need to be carefull of how much hard feed she has due to her just having colic.
 
Am going to introduce the extra feed in the next few days - give her time to settle a bit. Its a big change for her at the mo as shes away from her friends (even though there in the next field) and shes normally out 24/7 - not that shes been complaining!
 
Try this....
http://www.rideaway.co.uk/event-250ml/default.aspx

I don't know the in's and out's of this product, but saw the end result in my friends WB mare! She had colic for 3 weeks.... turned out interferring YO was taking it upon herself to feed the mare maize even though my friend didn't want her horse on it - best part was - it was a DIY yard we were at!!! Turned out the mare was allergic to maize!
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Anyway, 3 weeks of having constant colic symptoms, the mare who had been over weight fat WB, was a skeleton. The vet recommended my friend used that product on the mare, and the results were amazing! Perhaps ask your vet about it? I'd be anxious after your problems with the colic it might not be a wise move to introduce new hard feed into her system just yet? xx
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ETA: just Googled it and found further info on it:-
http://www.ifield-park.co.uk/en-gb/specialoffers.htm
 
3 feeds for definate, sometimes its too much fibre and doesn't do them any good when its just 2 large feeds, give her a 3rd feed. Basically what your doing, I just fed some sort of chaff, a conditioning cube and sugarbeet, also try readigrass, I used to feed 3 scoops at bed time
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Apparently linseed is brilliant for underweight TB's. Good luck hunny x
 
If she has been on antibiotics then it might be worth giving her a prebiotic or probiotic to help reestablish the good bacteria in the gut. Probably best to ring your vet for advice on that as she has just had colic as well.

I would definitely split your feeds into three a day, and as recommended above, sugar beet is a good, cheap source of fibre-based calories - you can choose from unmolassed (5% sugar) or molassed (20% sugar). Again, might be wise to run any proposed changes in feed past your vet, as obviously I don't know exactly what type of colic she has had.
 
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