Getting weight on

[Henmen]

She on a BIG scoop of Conditioning cubes, speedibeat & HIFI , with pink powder in morning, twice a day, as much hay as she can eat, out 8 hours most days on good grass, but you can still see ribs

Its been 6 weeks since she came in to be fattened up, but hardly any change, can anyyone suggest anything?
Do you think its worth a vet visit? She is well wormed and otherwise quite fit and healthy, bright shiny coat, bright eyes, just still very skinny!

 

[Maeshowe]

I've been trying to put weight on my TB since I got him and its taken me about 18 months to get him to the weight I want.

I've had him on mix Allen & Page Calm & Condition, Alfa Beet, and a general coarse mix with sunflower oil and biotin(for his feet) with as much grass and hay as I can get down his throat.

He was starved when I got him and I didn't want to throw the weight on too soon, but I've had no complications on this mix and it doesn't get him too silly either

 

[_daisy_]

I had the same problems with my youngster. She rapidly loses weight and can be very ribby. I was giving her as much haylage, turnout and feed as she could possibly get but didnt seem to be helping. She used to be fed Alfa oil, A&P calm and condition, sfibre beet, tonnes of haylage both in stable and in field. Then she stopped eating so changed her feed to D&H Build up cubes.
Cant believe the difference in a matter of a couple of weeks. Shes gained weight and looks really well but certainly not fat. Im so pleased with it, if only id thought about putting her on it sooner. She also loves eating it rather than the A&P which she picked at as it was sloppy.

 

[Henmen]

I thought about A&P, but hadnt heard good this

Not thought about Build up cubes

Thanks,

 

[sleepingdragon10]

Saracen Equijewel maybe?

 

[AmyMay]

It may help to break the feed down in to three, as it's quite possible that a lot of the food is going straight through her. Also the addition of oil may help.

 

[samp]

Build up is very good. And feeding little and often as too much feed to be digested will mean that not all the nutrients are correctly absorbed

 

[_daisy_]

Since changing her off it ive heard loads of people who feed it but dont get the result they expected and also that the horse soon goes off it as its sloppy!

Cant recommend the build up cubes highly enough. I didnt even feed loads of it to her to get the required gain- she got 1/2 scoop in a morning and 1 scoop on an evening - shes 4yo 17.2hh WB

 

[Evil_Cookie]

[ QUOTE ]
She used to be fed Alfa oil, A&P calm and condition, sfibre beet, tonnes of haylage both in stable and in field. Then she stopped eating so changed her feed to D&H Build up cubes.
She also loves eating it rather than the A&P which she picked at as it was sloppy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wierd, I have the exact same problem as you had, I've just bumped my mares feed up to 2kg A+P C+C and last night she was distinctly unimpressed, picking at it and then went of to eat the other mares HIFI lite instead. She's quite ribby at the moment so, we went to buy some new conditioning feed and just happened to have brought 3 bags of build up cubes. I hope they work as well for us

Just thought it was spooky thats all...

 

[dwi]

Calf powder, smelly but very effective

 

[fizz-tally]

*whispers* sunflower seeds

 

[Kezza]

takes a good 3 months to see a real difference I think, maybe give it a bit longer. I assume you're rugging up well as that helps? x

 

[Henmen]

Really?? How much?? Where do you buy huge quantities from??

 

[Weezy]

A big scoop of all three? Or all three mixed = a big scoop?

If it is the former then that is way too much feed and is prob going straight through her. Mine was in poor condition when she came, you could see her ribs and she looked pretty poor, but with hay 4 times a day (2 sections per feeding time), 1 feed of 1x level scoop Just grass, 2 handfuls of pasture nuts and half a scoop of cool conditioning mix and daily exercise to build her up, she is looking MUCH better already - I do think, as well as feeding, exercise it vitally important.

 

[Henmen]

Honestly, compared to yours weezy, yours is fat!!

 

[Weezy]

Christ, mine had sticky out hip bones and everything when I went to view her - I would have given her a 4/10 condition wise

Have you got a pic?

 

[Henmen]

She coming on monday, you can pop up and see her if you like.
I am thinking 1 level scoop HIFI, 1 Speedibeet, 1/4 nuts, and 1/2 bale hay a day??

 

[Weezy]

Yes, a visit is long overdue! Not much nutritional value in the above, do you mind if I sit on the fence until I see her?

 

[Henmen]

Also maybe looking at sunflower seeds??

 

[Henmen]

Yep thats fine

 

[vickers22]

try topspec conditioning flakes-they are really working for my boy after i have tried everything. He has only been on them for about 5 weeks and he is starting to cover his ribs really nicely. I have started on the sunflower seeds-after everyone in here raves about them so much!

 

[Sags_Deer]

try feeding 3 times a day instead of twice if thats what you currently do. linseed oil.

 

[TGM]

First ring the manufacturer of the conditioning cubes and ask how much they suggest to feed a horse of that size and workload. Secondly, I suggest swapping the HiFi for Alfa A Oil as it contains more calories.

You could also try changing from hay to haylage if that is possibly. Presume you have had teeth checked as dental problems could slow down the consumption of hay.

 

[laurag]

I've had same prob with my mare. turned away while I'm fat and pregnant and as she's lost her muscle her condition has dropped off too. Not too bad but I don't like to see ribs!
She had been on chaff speedibeet and build up cubes but I don't like to feed too much cereals. Have started Baileys Outshine which is a high oil supplement and it seems to be doing the trick so far and plus a lovely shiney coat.

 

[Petrie]

I swear by A&P calm and condition.

And this is probably going to cause controversy, but 8 hours a day over the winter is a long time to be out on grass that has very little nutrition in it. I know you said it's good grass, but over the winter, no grass has much goodness in it. And it's been really wet, and we had that cold snap.

But, the spring grass is already sprouting through now, and that's absolutely the best thing for gaining condition!

 

[Twiglet]

Can't recommend soya oil highly enough.....can't feed my TB anything approaching cereals, alfalfa or sugar but a healthy splash of soya oil and he holds weight brilliantly. It's non heating, cheap and must be reasonably palatable as he's a very fussy eater. Added bonus of it improving the coat condition enormously.

 

[fizz-tally]

black sunflower seeds,anywhere that sells big sacks of bird feed,our local feed store has them,cost me just over £7 for 12.5kg,he gets 1 mug per feed.

have a look at my pics on here,on fao tia & other sunflower seed users