How much hay for minis

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kat2290

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How much hay would you be feeding 20month old mini Shetlands? So far I have just been feeding ad lib and they seem fine but I'm wondering whether I should be weighing it and giving them a certain amount each day. At the minute they are a healthy weight and look well but I don't want to waste money filling their bellies if it would be acceptable for them to have a certain amount each day and not be any worse off for it. Grass in field is very very short and they much prefer their hay!
 
I've read to maintain weight over winter you should feed 1.5% of body weight in forage...can anybody tell me if that's correct? Tricky thing is I'm not sure how much they weigh, they are mostly fluff!! They're about the same size as a large sheep...
 
if you are feeding adlib and they are not fat then continue what you are doing the weather is set to get colder it is not a good time to start being more restrictive about what you feed unless they are fat
 
Do you not feed as much as they can clear up before the next feed while keeping an eye on condition?

I can understand weighing out feed for high performance race and sports horses but surely not for natives?

A genuine question and not trying to score points! I am currently feeding haylage out of the quad trailer and if there is haylage left the next time I go around (24 hours later) they get less, if it is all cleaned up they get a bit more. But there is still a bite of grass to act as a buffer if they are hungry enough. Of course, I keep an eye on their backs and if they get too fat, I'll start to get mean.

Yes, I agree about feeding ad lib now but I don't continue that here or they definitely would get too fat. They'll stand at the hay rack all day eating given half a chance. Mine are Highlands so eating is an obsession!
 
twiggy2 said:
if you are feeding adlib and they are not fat then continue what you are doing the weather is set to get colder it is not a good time to start being more restrictive about what you feed unless they are fat
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This. Also they are still growing and believe it or not with their coats, little bodies need more forage to digest to keep warm.

1.5% is for dieting.
 
My 28in mini weighs 106 kgs on the weigh bridge at my vets if that helps. My 2 get adlib haylage which is about a wedge (small bale ) each a day ...give or take. They are on spare grazing now.
 
my mini gets a slice at night and has sparse grazing through the day. She also gets a small amount of low cal balancer with a teeny sprinkle of just grass chaff, which I believe to be very important as contrary to popular opinion they dont live on just ‘fresh air’. Since mine has been on the balancer she is less inclined to a ‘belly’. When we get a hard frost or snow she will get adlib hay along with the others.

ETA she also enjoys the hay forage blocks , one lasts her ages and keeps her busy :)
 
we have 2 fallabellas here, they r out during day and come in at night and they get 6lbs between them. they also get a feed and have their snack balls- don't know if that helps. they r aged 1 and 2
 
Thanks everybody for the advice :)

DryRot - yes I am similar in that I feed ad lib but I will judge how much to put out by how much is left. I was just pondering whether that was the right thing to do - with them being a native breed, do they really need as much hay as they can eat?!

It's certainly not doing them any harm and general consensus seems to be that it is the correct thing to do so I will just stick with it.

I have that annoying habit of constantly questioning myself and wondering if I'm doing the right thing!
 
DryRot - When you say surely it's not as important to weigh out hay for natives would it not be more important as we are trying to imitate their natural environment where grazing is sparce?

Not disagreeing with you, just wondering what your thinking is :) I love reading about this kind of thing, I find it really interesting!
 
Peoplehave misunderstood the 1.5-2% thing. You dont pick a percentage according to whether the horse is on a diet ,or for maintenance.It doesnt work like that. The level of fibre you feed is all about maitaining good gut health. if you want to get a horse to loose weight ,reduce the energy level not the quantity of fibre. This can be done for example by soaking hay,or by giving feeding straw as part of the ration. If on the other hand you want to give a horse colic ,by all means start reducing the fibre level.
 
Mike007 said:
Peoplehave misunderstood the 1.5-2% thing. You dont pick a percentage according to whether the horse is on a diet ,or for maintenance.It doesnt work like that.
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We haven't misunderstood anything - yes, it does work like that. As a general rule of thumb, an adult equine will consume about 2% of it's bodyweight daily in dry matter to maintain its weight. A horse cannot digest more than 3% of it's bodyweight daily. But I do agree that horses do always need a certain amount of fibre in their digestive tracts and that's why feed intake should never be less than 1.5%.

OP - not sure how accurate a weightape will be for minis, you could try working it out using this:
Body weight (kg) = [heart girth (cm)2 x Length (cm)] ÷ 11877

Some refs:
Frape D. 2010. Equine Nutrition and Feeding. Longman Scientific, UK
National Research Council. Nutrient Requirements of Horses, 2009
http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/+symposium/2010/files/talks/CAS29_RodiekOptimizingHayHorses.pdf
 
I don't really think it matters whether the weigh tape is accurate or not , but it gives you a figure to start with, what you probably need to know is if they are losing weight or gaining weight.
You can condition score them regardless of their size, but a good weekly guide is to rub the flat of your hand along the flanks [ribs] you should feel a nice light covering of flesh and the skin should move over the ribs.
There should be no spinal processes along the spine and no "fat gutter" along the spine.
If you are not sure how to tell, ask your vet to come out and show you, the teeth may need to be checked as well. Any experienced horseman should be able to help, the farrier for example sees all sorts and sizes, it is worth chatting to these people to gather a bit more information.
 
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Never tried them, but I bought some "poor" hay, not mouldy, and that kept them busy, you can soak sugars out of forage but you need to add extra minerals.
I think I'd rather spend my money on that and some sort of trickle feeding strategy.
 
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kat2290 said:
Thanks everybody for the advice :)

DryRot - yes I am similar in that I feed ad lib but I will judge how much to put out by how much is left. I was just pondering whether that was the right thing to do - with them being a native breed, do they really need as much hay as they can eat?!

It's certainly not doing them any harm and general consensus seems to be that it is the correct thing to do so I will just stick with it.

I have that annoying habit of constantly questioning myself and wondering if I'm doing the right thing!
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Yes, I feed "as much as they can eat in 24 hours" but I do monitor condition in the same way that MrsD123 does. If you are regular handling your ponies it doesn't take a moment to check body condition and you do get used to the feel of what is normal. As I said, I do have some grass so if they run out of hay, they can graze. But I suspect it isn't very palatable or they wouldn't prefer hay. At this time of year, there isn't much feeding value in grass anyway as it has all gone to the roots to keep the plant alive over winter.

When I think about it, I also judge a lot from body language. If the ponies saunter up at feed time, I assume they are not that hungry and will cut back a bit, especially if I can't feel ribs! But I am also conscious of the fact that they might not be eager for food because of some other reason. (Illness? Grass growth during warmer spell?).

Challenging statements is the way to get the correct answers. It is very easy to repeat what everyone else is saying and it is certainly the way to have an easy life. Everyone has different animals that are kept in different ways and there is no single correct answer. That's what makes it interesting.

So I am not convinced of the value of weighing hay as quality can vary so widely. I think I'd rather monitor the condition of the pony.
 
Buddy'sMum said:
We haven't misunderstood anything - yes, it does work like that.QUOTE]

The amount of fibre that is required per day will vary from one horse to another ,but each has an optimum amount. Reduce the fibre intake from 2% to 1.5%of body weight and you reduce the fibre intake by 25%. In no way is that a good thing. The sane and safe thing to do is reduce the energy content rather than the total fibre intake.
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Buddy'sMum said:
We haven't misunderstood anything - yes, it does work like that. As a general rule of thumb, an adult equine will consume about 2% of it's bodyweight daily in dry matter to maintain its weight. A horse cannot digest more than 3% of it's bodyweight daily. But I do agree that horses do always need a certain amount of fibre in their digestive tracts and that's why feed intake should never be less than 1.5%.

OP - not sure how accurate a weightape will be for minis, you could try working it out using this:
Body weight (kg) = [heart girth (cm)2 x Length (cm)] ÷ 11877

Some refs:
Frape D. 2010. Equine Nutrition and Feeding. Longman Scientific, UK
National Research Council. Nutrient Requirements of Horses, 2009
http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/+symposium/2010/files/talks/CAS29_RodiekOptimizingHayHorses.pdf
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Agree.

Of course if horses and ponies are overweight it is important to reduce calories. Op stated their weight was fine. Soaking hay is my preference, even if a pain at times, in the absence of having hay tested and knowing it is low in sugars and starches. I prefer this to restricting quantity. If required, using ways to slow them down is also a good strategy.
 
Mike007 said:
The amount of fibre that is required per day will vary from one horse to another ,but each has an optimum amount. Reduce the fibre intake from 2% to 1.5%of body weight and you reduce the fibre intake by 25%. In no way is that a good thing. The sane and safe thing to do is reduce the energy content rather than the total fibre intake.
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Studies have shown that restricting feed intake to 1.5% bodyweight (or even less) is an appropriate way of promoting weight loss in obese equines without compromising health (Argo et al. Vet J 2012; Dugdale et al. J Equine Vet 2010).
Soaking hay does reduce the NSC content but even soaking for 16 hours is not guaranteed to reduce the NSC level to less than 10% (Longland et al. J Equine Vet Sci 2009).
 
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Buddy'sMum said:
Soaking hay does reduce the NSC content but even soaking for 16 hours is not guaranteed to reduce the NSC level to less than 10% (Longland et al. J Equine Vet Sci 2009).
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Tell me about it! I guess hay is very high in sugars when soaking hasn't helped my laminitic pony in the past. A second soak in fresh water has helped until I a get a different supply, but it's not a practical longer term option! lol.
For an obese/overweight horse any reduction in sugars (calories) has to be a help. Increasing exercize is also an important part of the weight loss strategy.
 
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