Foal....

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evilmavis

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I still cant get my foal to eat hard feed.. before i got him i was told he was fed on pasture mix and alfalfa a so i went out and bought the same brand etc.. will he touch it.. uh no way.. so i have tried mollasses, speedy beet water, carrots, apples, leaving it in stable all night and he just turns his nose up at it.. i have had him 6 weeks now and only have managed to get him to eat 3 mouthfulls.. finally got hold of previous owner who said that they fed him on there own bruised corn with a little pasture mix and alfalfa and that he ate out of mum;s bucket so they dont actually know how much he ate!! he is 5 months old now and started to loose a bit of weight, i am giving him loads of hay and haylage mixed together but really suck in a rut with him, he is just so uninterested in feed... any suggestions???

He has been wormed and teeth are fine, he gets turned out every day with other horses and grazes happily.. I have contacted feed suppliers who are sending me samples to try and temp him...

sorry for the long post..
 
If he grazes, you could try some soaked grass nuts to start getting goodness into him, maybe with a youngstock supplement (think TopSpec do one) added in for extra nutrients?
 
Where do you feed him from? Floor level?

It sounds like there's loads of grass so maybe he's eating a lot when turned out. I wouldn't feed lots of hard feed, i'm not a fan of it. Would just try some different nice flavoured chops and sugar beet. I also think at that age they tend to look a bit gangly and skinny so wouldn't be worried if he looked slightly on the thin side. Maybe some apple juice in his feed?
 
Perhaps you should try a youngstock-specific feed? Something like Baileys Stud Balancer or stud pellets? If you started off with just a handful a couple of times a day, then once he's eating it, move him up to about 1lb per day. These feeds are designed for youngsters and should give him all the calories and nutrition he needs to hold his weight.
 
Thanks for the replies.

He is fed from floor level in a bucket, tried sprinkling it on hay but still wont eat it.. he wouldnt eat anything even when there was loads of snow and couldnt get any grass..

Have tried foal mix but just turns his nose up at it or pooh's in the bucket.. little monster
 
Providing he's warm, wormed and has access to plenty of good quality forage I wouldn't worry about hard feed at all. I don't advocate giving sugar beet to foals, perhaps a mineral lick in his stable if you're particularly worried.
 
my NF was exactly the same when I bought him at 9 months old- we tried everything, but waht worked was a dried grass - made by symple system I think it was called "JustGrass"which we first left next to the hay, and then in a bowl and then mixed in with other feeds- it genuinely took ages to get him to eat- but having him in with another pony who was big on his food helped as Howie was interested in what that pony was doing. He just didnt seem to understand it was food, but now hes the biggest pig I know 2 years down the line!
 
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