Hello!!! Recommend me a weight gaining feed

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Always-Riding

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Hello to everyone on here! Never knew this forum existed until this morning :confused:

I have a poor doer who I've managed to keep weight on throughout the winter by feeding Speedibeet, soaked grass nuts, micronized linseed, high fibre nuts, biotin and brewers yeast.

Anyway the last 2 weeks his weight has dropped a little too much for my liking and as spring seems a little way off still I need to put the weight back on.

Can anyone recommend a weight gaining feed that's low in sugar/starch (laminitic) that isn't Coolstance Copra?
 
Hello - and welcome!


Was going to recommend Dodson and Horrell conditioning cubes before I read low sugar, low starch doh! I've had some really good results with that though as found mine have dropped a bit more than usual this winter. Forage quality not quite so good after our delightful summer last year ;)

I'm sure someone will be along soon with some more helpful advice :D Good luck with it
 
Ad lib hay worked wonders on a toastrack Hanoverian I took on after winter:
Boomerang-Copy_zps2c10e72f.jpg


He also had Bluchip, lunging to build up the muscles, sugar beet and pasture mix. We had the fattest mouse who lived in the Bluchip bag!!

You might also find tha being turned out works wonders because there is grass coming through despite the rain and mud!
 
Second ERS Pellets (D&H)
Also Saracen Releve is very good, especially for fussy eaters!
You could also try something like Falcon Feeds Omega Rice
 
Slobbermash!!
They LOVE it - I managed to get two bute twice a day into my super fussy lad using Slobbermash
Hugely calorific too :)
 
Sorry, but pasture mix and sugar beet should be banned imho, far too much sugar in it.

Fibre, good quality and plenty of it. As someone mentioned before ERS pellets or re-level, micronised linseed, a good vit & mineral supplement and soya/rice bran. Copra is milk pellets and good for fat but most horses dont like it and really horses shouldnt be fed lactose.
 
I couldn't get my horse to eat Saracen Re-leve or EquiJewel, so if you have a fussy feeder like I do, might not be a good choice.

I am now going to try Rowen Barbary's Solution Mash and see if my mare will eat it.
 
Delicious_D said:
Copra is milk pellets and good for fat but most horses dont like it and really horses shouldnt be fed lactose.
Click to expand...

Actually it's coconut, no lactose at all.


Most of the conditioning feeds suggested are going to be far too high in sugar/starch for a laminitic.

Going down the forage route have you thought of Timothy haylage to supplement his hay. As it's not ryegrass laminitics do alright on it.

Or could you give him an additional feed daily of what you are already giving.
 
Just a thought have you wormed him? And also are his teeth ok? If all ok readigrass and also barley rings are good and also build up cubes! Also welcome!!!
 
criso said:
Actually it's coconut, no lactose at all.


Most of the conditioning feeds suggested are going to be far too high in sugar/starch for a laminitic.

Going down the forage route have you thought of Timothy haylage to supplement his hay. As it's not ryegrass laminitics do alright on it.

Or could you give him an additional feed daily of what you are already giving.
Click to expand...

maybe im thinking of buildup pellets :) oop sorry!
 
My horse had been looking a bit poor over the past few months. Tried various different feeds but he always seemed to end up having huge bucket feeds morning and night just to get 'enough' of the feed into him. But nothing was working. So I cut out all the feeds and stripped It back to a basic high fibre feed of fast fibre and chaff just to give him something to chew and high fibre cubes. But then added the micronised linseed (he is now up to two mug fulls a day) he has been on it for just two weeks and already looks so much healthier. His ribs are becoming more covered and he is just generally looking in better condition. He will prob only need to be fed the high dosage for another week as he has already improved so much in a short space of time, then i will drop it down so it acts as just a maintenance feed. Wish I had found Micronised linseed months ago!

How much are you feeding of the micronised linseed? As it has everything in it for weight gain if fed at the correct levels to do so.
 
sam72431 said:
Just a thought have you wormed him? And also are his teeth ok? If all ok readigrass and also barley rings are good and also build up cubes! Also welcome!!!
Click to expand...

Yes fully wormed this month and had teeth done by a EDT in September and recommended she is done yearly. She does have a slight parrot mouth so finds some feed hard to eat. I did have her on micronized barley but she seemed to get a bit tense and hot on it and as soon as I stopped feeding she calmed down.

Bustalot said:
How much are you feeding of the micronised linseed? As it has everything in it for weight gain if fed at the correct levels to do so.
Click to expand...

Roughly 500g daily - can I safely increase this?

Delicious_D said:
Sorry, but pasture mix and sugar beet should be banned imho, far too much sugar in it.

Fibre, good quality and plenty of it. As someone mentioned before ERS pellets or re-level, micronised linseed, a good vit & mineral supplement and soya/rice bran. Copra is milk pellets and good for fat but most horses dont like it and really horses shouldnt be fed lactose.
Click to expand...

Thankyou to everyone who has recommended ERS pellets.

She seems intolerant to alfalfa due to being barefoot so try to avoid that as well.
 
Hi, Have a chat with the Top Spec people. Have recently been seriously impressed with their Conditioning Cubes; easy to feed and source, no effect on personality and the price wasn't that bad!
 
What about just upping the levels of micronised linseed and beetpulp (Kwikbeet/speedibeet) for additional calories and fats?
 
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Here's the ingredients of the ERS pellets to check

Grass, Wheatfeed, Oatfeed, Unmolassed Sugar Beet, Full Fat Soya Bean Meal, Vegetable Oil, Fructose, Limestone
Flour, Skimmed Milk Powder, Salt (0.9%), Dicalcium Phosphate, Vitamin/Trace Mineral Premix, Calcium Gluconate,
Powdered: Blackcurrant, Carrot, Beetroot and Tomato (0.15%)
 
topspec cool conditioning cubes and alfa oil have put loads of weight onto my elderly pony. I was genuinely worried he wouldn't make it out of winter this year...
 
My horse has been swapped over onto Pure Feeds Easy, and it has helped put weight onto her. Also add some sugarbeet into it (please note that unmollased sugar beet is not full of sugar!) She also has a really lovely shiny coat, although this could also be down to the Baileys Outshine she gets two or three times a week.

Personally I rate the Outshine far more than Linseed for weight gain. Having previously used linseed, it didnt make a blind bit of difference.
 
I've been giving my boy winergy conditioning mix, its low sugar and starch and designed to promote positive behaviour.
I've had my horse on a really low starch diet but found he dropped to much weight, and we have good grass and I give lots of hay. I've used winergy for years and its great.
Its also very rare for a horse to be allergic to Alfa-a so it could be something else you've given him.
 
The solution mash has no alfalfa whatsoever, and a combined value of sugar and starch of less than 6%...
 
I can strongly recommend Allen & Page Fast Fibre - my elderly mare needed to gain weight after a bad case of stomach ulcers and this product did the job really well, and she was being very fussy about what she would eat. You soak it for 30 seconds, it makes up like a porridge - very palatable and ideal for laminitics - you could give them a call to discuss - they were extemely helpful and had loads of advice.
 
retired eventer said:
I can strongly recommend Allen & Page Fast Fibre - my elderly mare needed to gain weight after a bad case of stomach ulcers and this product did the job really well, and she was being very fussy about what she would eat. You soak it for 30 seconds, it makes up like a porridge - very palatable and ideal for laminitics - you could give them a call to discuss - they were extemely helpful and had loads of advice.
Click to expand...

FF has a low DE level, and as such wouldnt really be classed as a weight gain feed.
 
FinkleyAlex said:
topspec cool conditioning cubes and alfa oil have put loads of weight onto my elderly pony. I was genuinely worried he wouldn't make it out of winter this year...
Click to expand...

I too have started using cool conditioning cubes and over 2.5 weeks have slowly built up to a scoop per feed ( 3 a day) and now seeing the results without upsetting him. I have had him on 3 mugs a day of linseed ( micronised) and except for a lovely coat have seen no weight gain. bee:Dn thru 3 bags ! Maybe its just my guy !
 
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