Feeding shire foal

[Ian&ju]

Hi all having recently got our self's a 8 month old shire . He is out with our 2 other boys (cobs) they are on hayladgeBay and hard fed once a day , the question I have is the shire takes an age to eat his food the other 2 will have finished and it can take him another 20 mins to finish he just eats so slow he is not loosing any condition and does eat it all. Have cut the amount down to see if it makes a difference. .nope still as slow am considering getting a dentist out .does anyone know if this is normal for shires to eat so slowe

Ian&ju

 

[be positive]

What are you feeding him? if you are giving chaff he may struggle to chew it with baby teeth I would cut it out if you are feeding it and just give something soaked to carry any supplement so he can eat more easily, it may be worth getting his mouth checked but it is likely he is just not really used to hard feed and taking his time chewing which is better than bolting it, the main thing he requires is the forage and grass as long as he is eating that ok he should be fine.

 

[PorkChop]

Everything Be Positive said

 

[Ian&ju]

He is on mare and young stock and a handful of molassed fine chopped oat straw. We are going to check his weight tomorrow too

 

[be positive]

The straw will be causing him problems chewing, it is fine for older horses to slow them down but not ideal for a baby, it serves no purpose so cut it out and you should see him eating more happily.
He will be growing rapidly at the moment so weight will appear to fluctuate as he goes up, a weightape will give you a guide but is not a reliable way to check how he is doing, stand back and really learn to look at him, feel him all over regularly and be critical as to how he looks and feels, it will be an easier way for you to judge although you may find it tricky while he is in his winter coat which is why taking a hands on approach is best at this time of year.

 

[Ian&ju]

Cheers for that feeling less worried now will get him off the chaff

 

[scrat]

We have an 8 month old shire colt too. He is having the same feed as the breeders started him on which is a handful of Alpha A and chopped carrots. We have introduced Baileys stud balancer, just a mug twice a day (he is fed twice). He has shed loads of haylage and must be 15 hands already. I think compaired to cobs shires do eat more slowly. We have a shire mare that is in no hurry to finish her food when our cob hardly comes up for air and finishes way before her.

 

[Ian&ju]

Hi he is approx 15 hands too , they have a big round bale of haylage to munch at when they want . It is looking like I was getting worried unnecessarily. He is just a slow muncher