Has anyone else's horse gone off their feed slightly?

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Ellietotz

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My mare isn't too fussed on her feed at the moment, she'll eat most of it and then leave the rest and I'm not sure why. I haven't changed anything except for I stopped the Copra Coolstance which she wasn't actually keen on at the start but did eventually get used to it. I finished the bag and decided it wasn't needed due to the abundance of grass as I was only feeding it for protein. However, that was a few weeks a go and she had been eating it without the Copra since but has decided she's not bothered anymore which is unusual for her.

She gets:
Simple Systems Alfalfa
Pony Nuts
Sea Salt, Coopers Gut Support, Vitamin E Oil, Topspec Calmer, Slippery Elm and a smidge of mint or garlic - all of which have been the same amounts

She does live out 24/7 but even so, she's never usually left her dinner. I'm not feeding her loads either, she gets one small feed a day so that she gets her supplements so it's unlikely that she is just full. She doesn't get full, she's greedy normally!

I don't want to pay £20 for a bag of Copra either to find that she just isn't that hungry!

Is anyone else experiencing the same thing?
 
Mine has a cook's ass and only gets grass and hay. If she went off her food I think I would be very worried as she inhales it!

(Not literally inhales, I mean that she eats non stop and fast!).
 
Im sure youve checked but is there any chance the feed could have mite? With all the heat we've been having there is always a chance that feed will sweat in its container and go off a bit
 
Mine will only eat her supplements if they are in enough of something that hides the taste, could it be the at coolstance was helping to mask the flavours of the supplements? Other than that there is a lot of grass ATM and she may just not be hungry.
 
Mine have been leaving the dregs of their beet for the past week or so now, whereas before they were licking the buckets clean. There's a flush in the grass here, so I'm guessing it's that. I only feed them a token to carry their salt ration anyhow.
 
MyBoyChe said:
Im sure youve checked but is there any chance the feed could have mite? With all the heat we've been having there is always a chance that feed will sweat in its container and go off a bit
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God, now I feel awful, I didn't even think of that. I'm assuming it's quite easy to see? The chaff is a new bag (now poured into the feed bin) which she eats fine on it's own when she has her handful-before-work feed and I'm at the bottom of the bin of pony nuts now, maybe it's them!
 
oldie48 said:
Mine will only eat her supplements if they are in enough of something that hides the taste, could it be the at coolstance was helping to mask the flavours of the supplements? Other than that there is a lot of grass ATM and she may just not be hungry.
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She had the same supplements before the coolstance was added but she was on the Dengie Alfa A Molasses free which is pretty much the same but with alfalfa pellets instead. She loves her regular cheap pony nuts though which is what baffles me as she'd eat anything to get to them. I just can't imagine her not being hungry but maybe she just isn't then!
 
If its the bottom of a barrel it might be. When you put a new bag in do you always have an empty bin or do you sometimes have a few left, either way, the ones at the bottom may have just caught a bit. If its only a few I would throw them out, give the bin a good clean and start afresh. Might be nothing wrong with them at all but with this heat its quite easy for feed to go off if it gets sweaty
 
My mare is a bit iffy with her food at the moment, which is unusual as she loves her food. I think it may be all the heat we have been having, and of course all the grass in the paddocks.
 
MyBoyChe said:
If its the bottom of a barrel it might be. When you put a new bag in do you always have an empty bin or do you sometimes have a few left, either way, the ones at the bottom may have just caught a bit. If its only a few I would throw them out, give the bin a good clean and start afresh. Might be nothing wrong with them at all but with this heat its quite easy for feed to go off if it gets sweaty
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Yeah I always tip any scraps out the bin before refilling it. I'll try and give it a good clean this weekend before refilling again.
 
my boy sometimes finishes his fed, sometimes doesn't. sometimes he likes it wet, sometimes he likes it dry. sometimes he likes apples in his fed, sometimes he leaves them. he definitely doesn't like sugar beat in the heat. sometimes he likes hay, sometimes he prefers hayledge - you get the picture. I have given up worrying
 
claret09 said:
my boy sometimes finishes his fed, sometimes doesn't. sometimes he likes it wet, sometimes he likes it dry. sometimes he likes apples in his fed, sometimes he leaves them. he definitely doesn't like sugar beat in the heat. sometimes he likes hay, sometimes he prefers hayledge - you get the picture. I have given up worrying
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Understandable! However, it is unlike my mare not to lick the bowl clean so I'm not sure what I can do.
 
The Trooper said:
Yup, Bonnie has been taking her time lately. Could be down to the abundance of grass which is more appealing than a bucket - I feed outside the gate most days.
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Yes, I did think maybe she'd finish it if she was brought out of the field but she just wasn't fussed about finishing the bits around the edge of the bowl and wanting to go back!
 
My fattie is right off his food at the moment. He is muzzled at night and has a token amount of hay when he is in during the day and just gets a small handful of grass chaff to carry supplements and he isn't touching it. Nothing's changed, he's looking really well with shiny coat, he's drinking enough because I put apples in his water to encourage him but he's just not bothered about eating.
 
I take it you feeding her to get the supplements? I would do away with the chaff and nuts and give her soaked grass nuts. You only need to give her a mugful dry - once its soaked it will be easy to mix the supps in.
 
The Beast is also taking some persuasion to finish her little feed and it's not roasting hot up here. Granny horse wouldn't eat any bucket feed at all at this time of year unless it was dripping in molasses, and even then she wasn't keen. It's just the grass being good I think.
 
indie1282 said:
I take it you feeding her to get the supplements? I would do away with the chaff and nuts and give her soaked grass nuts. You only need to give her a mugful dry - once its soaked it will be easy to mix the supps in.
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The alfalfa is for the protein but I suppose I don't need it really with the grass at the moment, it really is only a small handful though. She wouldn't be keen on just grass nuts. I may just soak up a cup of pony nuts instead. I did try some pony nuts from the new bag last night and she still didn't finish it all so I don't think the ones in the bin are spoiled but maybe if they're soaked, it'll have more coverage of the supplements!
 
Ellietotz said:
The alfalfa is for the protein but I suppose I don't need it really with the grass at the moment, it really is only a small handful though. She wouldn't be keen on just grass nuts. I may just soak up a cup of pony nuts instead. I did try some pony nuts from the new bag last night and she still didn't finish it all so I don't think the ones in the bin are spoiled but maybe if they're soaked, it'll have more coverage of the supplements!
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A handful isn't going to make much difference so I would cut out the Alfa A. Why do you not think she would eat grass nuts? If you really want to keep to alfalfa then you could soak Alfa A pellets and use them as a carrier.
 
indie1282 said:
A handful isn't going to make much difference so I would cut out the Alfa A. Why do you not think she would eat grass nuts? If you really want to keep to alfalfa then you could soak Alfa A pellets and use them as a carrier.
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Because I've given them to her before and she's not a fan! She likes her pony nuts.
 
indie1282 said:
I would stick with the pony nuts then.
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Tried soaked pony nuts on their own tonight with her supplements and she didn't completely finish it still. I'm going to start taking out one supplement at a time in the feed and see. It's just odd as she never had an issue eating them before.
 
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