Feeding youngsters

Stinkbomb

Stinkbomb

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 January 2007
Messages
3,974
Location
Cloud cookoo..
goldenoakmochachino.blogspot.com
My friend has a yearling ( section b colt ) who she feeds a small hard feed of stud mix, and a weighed amount of hay. She says the amount of hay he gets is about 2% of her youngsters bodyweight. After a few hours it eats all the hay and has nothing left. She says this is the way to feed them to avoid him having too much to eat. Now i have Inky whos a yearling too. He is also fed stud mix and i do weigh my hay. This is because i soak it and dont want to waste any. However i have now judged the amount he requires through the night and does have some left in the morning. Thus i suppose you would call it ad lib hay. Now Inky certainly has a good layer on him at the moment ( seems to put weight ion looking looking at feed!! ) My friend said this is because he is getting to much hay, thus too much fibre for his body to be able to break down. She says if i feed him 2% of his body weight, he will still receive enough fibre but not be overloaded, and loose some weight. This would leave him sometimes in the stable with no hay if he eats it all.

Who do you think is feeding the correct amount of hay??? Ad lib or "weighed??? And would reducing his hay help him loose some weight??? He is fed the recommended amount of hard feed from the manufacturers.
 
I would always want to see a growing youngster with adlib hay. Of course an hour here or there without anything won't hurt - but no more than that.

What breeding is your friends yearling?? All of youngstock on my yard are hunter types - so not pony types liable to get a little porky - so perhaps then management would be a little different..........
 
I always feed youngsters adlib forage - they might have an extra layer every so often but it gets burned off when they have a growth spurt.
 
If I were you I would reduce Inky's hard feed rather than reduce the hay - if he needs to lose a bit of weight, that is.

Ad-lib forage is much better for them and he shouldn't gain too much weight on this, providing he's getting enough exercise.
smile.gif
 
With a native type you could always feed something like oat straw, fibre but with little calories, at least they wont be left with nothing to eat.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If I were you I would reduce Inky's hard feed rather than reduce the hay - if he needs to lose a bit of weight, that is.

Ad-lib forage is much better for them and he shouldn't gain too much weight on this, providing he's getting enough exercise.
smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto! And even if he DOESN'T need to lose weight. Most feed-related problems in youngstock (some of which live with them forever like OCD or ulcers) are due to too much reliance on concentrate feeds - particularly stud mixes - which are fine for precocious TB yearlings being prepared for early sale and racing (although how many of THEM break down before they see the track!) but totally unsuitable for ponies, cobs, Irish Draughts and other similar good-doer type breeds.

My yearlings are out all winter with ad-lib haylage and Horselyx blocks - no concentrates. They continue on that until they are backed and working. As I have 2 x 2 year olds who are already 16.2 with 10" of bone, it doesn't seem to have hurt them. Youngsters should be 'well-covered' - but tend more to lean than to fat.

Here are 3 yearlings - no concentrates at all - 1 pure ID colt and 2 geldings by the RID stallion out of a TB and a TBxConnemara mare. They won't see anything out of a bag for another 2 years! They don't seem to be suffering - they're out of 2 x 15.2 mares and 1 x 16 hh mare and are on target to be 16.1 - 16.3.

3-boys.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top