Getting pony to eat minerals/salt

Michen

Michen

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I feed mollichaff calmer as its alfalfa free, but however much I give (even with speedibeet or fast fibre) pony won't eat his minerals.. regardless of how slow I build up the amount. He's just not that interested in the chaff.

He's hot, doesn't need an ounce more weight and is doing very little work but can anyone suggest an easy to get hold of feed I can add to the chaff to get him to eat the minerals? Mint didn't work. Thinking of getting a bag of cool mix, I know it's not the ideal barefoot diet but I think a little of something like that would probably be better than no minerals?
 
I once read somewhere that if a horse is deficient in salt it tastes nice and sweet to them but when the levels are ok it tastes bitter - maybe he doesn't need it at the moment?

Could you try him with a balancer? My mare is very sweaty but only ridden around 3 times a week. I add a bit of table salt to her feed every night and she loves it. She is fed Topspec light balancer and HiFi chop.
 
Agrobs grass nuts seem to work for pretty much everything. Mine gets Pink Mash and loves it. I find something that you can soak works better. I put them in before I soak it so they are mixed through.
 
Beth206 said:
I once read somewhere that if a horse is deficient in salt it tastes nice and sweet to them but when the levels are ok it tastes bitter - maybe he doesn't need it at the moment?

Could you try him with a balancer? My mare is very sweaty but only ridden around 3 times a week. I add a bit of table salt to her feed every night and she loves it. She is fed Topspec light balancer and HiFi chop.
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Hmmm interesting, he's licking my hands like mad at the moment!

I've got 3 months supply of forage plus so it'll be a little depressing to change it haha!
 
What minerals are you feeding and why? Might it be possible to chnage the supplement? If you mix it right through and then damp the feed does he leave the entire feed?
 
Grass chaff with a handful of oats sprinkled on the top? Mine can't resist oats, even just a few. Maybe cut the minerals fed to a half dose and feed two small meals to them bring you back to the full dose?
 
Shay said:
What minerals are you feeding and why? Might it be possible to chnage the supplement? If you mix it right through and then damp the feed does he leave the entire feed?
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Im feeding forage plus balancer, it's just a general mineral balanced so nothing specific- about to take shoes off so just want to help him as much as poss.

Yep he leaves the whole thing, he did eat it until he got bored of fast fibre!
 
Some just will not eat the minerals (I have one now, she's a greedy pig but will not touch anything with even a pinch of supplement in), so I will usually give in and give them linseed and maybe some suregrow instead, which is enough for most hooves I find (as long as the rest of their diet is decent).
 
Have you tried mixing with a herb mix? My fussy little mare would turn her nose up at her mineral balancer on its own but mixed with dried herbs she scoffs the lot. I just use a bog standard hedgerow herb mix and dampen with a handful of chaff.
 
agrobs aspero does it for frank, though he also likes pure feeds (used to nick it from a friend!)
most do fine on pony nuts, soaking them also works here.
Although most grass chaffs are relatively high DE weight wise you are feeding very little so it's not a massive issue.

what are you using? the equimins pellets might be worth a try, I have used them intermittently and he is eating them again at the moment.
 
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