Help please with feeding leggy sec d foal

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juevans

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Hi I have a sec d 7 month old colt had him 2 months now since he was weaned hes very leggy looks more like a tb foal is quite ribby Im concerned about him as he hasnt put any weight on since he ,for the first month I tried blue chip with ready mash extra he did loose his horrid foal coat but thats it no weight gain, so I changed him to calm and condition and even added foal milk but still no weight gain hes been on adlib haylage but have changed him to hay over past few days see if that makes any improvement, does anyone have any suggestions as Im out of ideas, he seems ok in himself he gets a couple of hours turnout a day due to being a colt my intention is to have him castrated as soon as possible but would really like to get some weight on him first especially as we are coming into winter
thanks for reading
ps he wont eat alf a oil at all only likes a chop with taste too it
 
I think the biggest thing you could do to help him is to give him more time out in the field. Grass is much underrated! He may be a colt, but surely hes not so "forward" that he's pestering the girls already?

Has he been wormed? This will make a big difference.

My NF colts (6 months) are out during daylight hours in the field, in at night with good hay, condition wise they are fine. No feed from a bucket of any kind, and they are a good size. They were weaned about 6 weeks ago. My NF fillies who I only bought at the sales 10 days ago are in almost 24/7 at the moment whilst they are "tamed" and on adlib hay. They were wormed before they came off the trailer at my yard and they are already gaining weight since they shed that unwelcome load!. They won't eat food from a bowl, but will eat as much hay as they are given. I would just give it time, perhaps he is just all growing upwards at the moment, rather than outwards...

You must be careful what you feed these native foals, too much protein can cause growth problems...
 
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I have only ever had one this age but he was a ribby thing when we got him.

First of all are you sure he is underweight. I thought mine was but the vet was more than happy with his weight and over the last two and a half years has always counselled that he should be lighter rather than heavier. Also I was strongly advised by vet, breeder and physio that too much weight gain too quickly would be a very bad thing for his future soundness.

Is he wormed? If not I would address that first.

Lastly if possible he is so young try and keep things simple - fibre in the form of grass or ad lib hay/haylage. A friend for company and as much turnout as possible.
A good stud balancer will provide everything else he needs. Mine also had a handfull of dengie and a scoop of speedie beet in the winter twice a day with the balancer. At just turned 3 he is starting to look like a proper horse but still is gangly as he is not yet in regular work.
 
Hi thanks for replies should have said yes hes been wormed with eqimax didnt see any even though i would have expected too with regards to turn out its not about the girlies and him being a colt I m on a livery yard and theres no fields available to turn colts out I put him in the grass paddock but as ppl ride in it I cant leave him there if Im not on the yard once hes gelded he can have loads of turn out
 
Please be careful about what you feed him. He sounds very typical of a youngster that would be prone to growth problems. Tall and skinny.

I would personally stick to a high fibre, low protein diet. At the moment you are feeding quite high protein products in the form of balancers which are promoting rather than supporting his growth.

Leave him with add lib hay and add a powder supplement like D&H surelimb or Naf youngstock to his 'chop'. Add some speedi beet to this for a few more calories and some high fibre cubes for interest. All these have a protein content of under 15% as opposed to feed balancers which can be 25% or more. the powder supplement will provide him with all the vits and mins he needs without overdoing him.

You will find that as his growth slows (maybe not until he is a yearling) he will put on condition. Feeding him more food will just make him grow more not put on weight.

Remember welshies survive on rough scrub on the side of the welsh mountains in the depths of winter... they DO NOT need protein rich feeds.
 
I'm with CBFan completely. This young man is growing upwards not outwards and that is exactly how it should be. Plenty of fibre and plenty of playtime and in 4 years time you will be wondering why you were ever concerned.
 
Thanks CB fan that sounds like good advise as when looking at him yesterday he is rather bum high so it does seem like Im promoting height, would I be ok using original codlavine supplement powder to ensure he gets all vits and minerals as my riding pony is on that so would save me buying something else it does say foals can have it and am sure I probably am worrying for nothing just he looks so rubbish at the min.
 
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