Help - hay demolisher!! Sorry - long and lots of questions

F

Flicker

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 January 2007
Messages
4,004
Visit site
Just bought a gorgeous big 16.3 gelding. He has had laminitis in the past and his previous owner and our vet (after extensive trial and error) have recommended restricted turnout and plenty of work to keep on top of it, as well as how much hay I should be feeding him. No problems there.
However, the big lad just demolishes his hay nets - I put a full one in this morning and YM phoned at 11:30 to tell me he has hoovered every scrap!
Previous owner did warn me that he would just eat and eat, whatever was there and it was not unusual for him to flatten his hay in a matter of hours, but I feel really badly for the boy. I don't like thinking of him standing without hay, but I am loathe to give him more than what she told me to feed him. How do I get him to eat what's there more slowly? Or should I split his hay net into two and ask someone to drop the second one in at lunchtime, so he's not stood for as long without? I also thought of getting him a lick-it, but can they be used for horses who have had laminitus (just worried about sugar levels) or a treat ball (but what would I fill it with??). I usually get up around 5pm and give him another little one while I'm mucking out and getting him ready to ride (that one is usually gone in about 15 minutes!).
I've never seen anything like it! He gets the same as the mare (she's 15.3) and she's always got some left over by the end of the day - he is just a hoover!!
Aaargh!!!!!
confused.gif
confused.gif
confused.gif
 
My mare also hoovers hay, I sometimes put one haynet inside another this slows her down not a lot but a bit, also maybe split the hay over say 2 or 3 nets and dot them about the stable?? or what about a hay ball hanging from the center ? my mare would stand and eat all day so i can sympathise with you.. (I assume you are soaking his hay?? )
 
My horse is the same and so I feed him hay out of a very well stuffed large haylage net which has much smaller holes and so takes far longer for them to eat. Also keeps them pretty occupied. Have you tried one of them?
 
Are you using the smallest holed haynets you can find?

I've found the miser nets from iv horse the smallest, and hardest for greedy horses to eat from:

http://www.4horse.co.uk/product.php?code=TE42

You can make them normal haynets harder to get hay out by putting one haynet inside another.

If you can split his hay so he gets another net at lunchtime then that would be ideal for him.
 
Love the hay ball idea or dotting them around - that would really keep him occupied!
Actually not soaking the hay - previous owner always fed it dry and actually gave him hayledge when he was competing so am following her example and, touch wood, he seems to have fared ok just with being kept off the grass. I am very fortunate because I've known him for about 2 years so have all his history first hand.
If I soaked his hay, would I be able to give him more?
 
This may not work, but have you tried feeding from the floor? It can get messy with those who don't hoover every scrap, but if he looses some in his bed he can then spend the time looking for it.
smile.gif
 
Are you using haylege nets? We find they're pretty good for our 2 and if your worried about the hay putting weight on then soak it for at least 12 hours to get all of the nutrients out of it, he might turn his nose up at it for a while, but if he's hungry he'll eat it!
As for the licks, it didn't think they had that much in them to cause a problem, but i may be wrong and as for the Treat ball, try putting a lo-cal feed mix in, Top spec do a special laminitis pellet feed, it's a bit expensive (30quid for either 10 or 15 kilo), but does the job! Or try Mollichop lite, that has pellety bits in, but don't know how it would fair coming out of a ball, just put a bit in at a time see how it goes! He'll get a bit of exercize at the same time that way!! It's a bit long, but hope it helps!
smile.gif
 
Only thig you have to watch out for is them shreding the haynet - my mare just tears the haylage nets to pieces if she can't get at the hay easily enough !!
 
I would avoid likits like the plague- the amount of sugar in them frightens me, and you are not supposed to feed carrots to laminitics because they contain too much sugar, so likits I would think are a no-no.
What about the Badminton High Fibre nuggets- the ones that have 'hay replacer' on the bag? They are the same nugget as is sold in the big tubs by Badminton for 5 or 6 quid but you can get a whole 20kg sack for £6.50. My horse loves them, but they are quite big, prob about half the size of my thumb (how is that for a totally useless measurement!!
tongue.gif
). The point I was trying ineptly to make is that it would depend how big the holes in the treat ball are.
This feed doesnt have the laminitis society approval badge on, but as it is labelled as a hay replacer, I would be surprised if a couple of handfuls in a treat ball would hurt. My laminitic hoovers up that many a day and is just fine
laugh.gif

Oh, and yes, if you soak your hay for several hours before you give it to him, this will reduce the levels of nutrients and he will safely be able to eat more.
Hope that helps
x
 
If the Badminton high fibre nuggets are too big for a snack ball try Spillers high fibre cubes, they are the width of a pencil and I use them in my snack ball.
 
Ah, you guys have all been great - thank you so much! So glad to hear I'm not the only one with such a greedy boy!!
grin.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top