Feeding Youngsters

Blaise

Blaise

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I'm just about to buy my 1st youngster (not the 1st i've cared for, just the 1st i've actually brought) and was wondering whats the best thing to feed? She's 2 1/2 so not a baby but definitley still growing!! She's approx 14.2hh at the moment. The only thing is she's quite underweight and i dont want to pump feed into her to get weight on & cause more problems by overloading her system or growing too quickly. She was a rescue horse who my friends been looking after for the past few weeks and she has put on a fair bit of weight but she's still not up to what i think should be ideal. She's currently on herbal mollichaff, 2/3 feds per day, 2 big haynets overnight and out during the day. I want to start adding some mix/cubes into her feeds but was wondering what's best for growing youngsters? I've tried giving haylage and adding small amounts of sugar beet into feed a little at a time but it makes her scour. Before my friend had her i dont think she'd ever had hard feed before, just out at grass 24/7. I dont think it's worms causing the scouring either, we've wormed her and had egg count done & she's clear.

Well done to anyone getting this far!!
 
To be honest I'd just keep it high fibre - don't worry about mixes etc... maybe just add a broad spec vit and min supplement to her diet to help her along... she might look light now but come the spring I'm sure she'll bloom...
 
My first youngster was unhandled and had just been living out half-wild at grass when I got him. I really struggled to get good advice about feeding him, everyone seemed to have different ideas. I found that some feeds that had been recommended to me by so called knowledgeable people actually should not be fed to youngsters eg; some balancers. Lots of the feed names can be confusing as some 'yearling cubes' can be fed up to 3 years old, and there doesn't seem to be much feedstuff named specifically for youngsters that would make them an obvious choice.
I found some of the feed company helplines to be the best help. I liked what Baileys recommended and followed their guidance initially.
Personally I would include a yearling cube (suitable for his age group) or stud cube or stud mix in with his feed as these contain all the nutrients required for healthy youngster growth for bones etc and are aimed at broodmares, stallions and youngstock too.
Hope this helps?
 
Keep her on the high fibre diet but give her a good equine balancer for young horses - this will ensure that she gets all her vitamins and minerals.

Remember that sudden change in feed will often cause scouring as the gut needs time to develop the flora to digest the food.

Mix a small amount of haylage with her hay gradually increasing the amount over a couple of weeks. My youngsters often winter on haylage alone - I leave a big round in the paddock and they feed themselves. Do the same with the sugarbeet which is a great source of calcium, just start with small amounts gradually increasing it.

You are very right not to push the quantity of feed as over weight puts stress on developing limbs. Youngsters are better off light than heavy in weight.
 
Thanks guys
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have started adding a tiny amount of sugar beet back in feed today & will do the same with haylage as soon as i can get my hands on some! I hadn't even given feed balancers a thought, which was a bit silly as my old boy was on Bailey's Lo Cal balancer!
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Will have a hunt around for a good one for youngsters.
 
I feed my youngster Baileys Stud mix, Stud Balancer, Hi Fi & Sugar Beet, go on the the Bailey web site and you can down load and print of a Growth Monitoring Chart VERY helpful in keeping on the right lines, you can also email Baileys free help line from there site, again Very helpful.
 
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