how to avoid colic this weather~anyone feeding bran mashes???

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ponypops

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read hh article on increased colic and laminitus and now in a panic that one of ours will succumb!!!!!! we are trying to turn out every day despite the rock solid frozen ground. we put haylage in the field each time we turn out~~to make sure it doesnt just freeze too and are bucketing regular water along with doing the use hot water routine to make sure all the stable buckets stay defrosted. we have 9 ponies between 12.2 and 15 hh ,all but one retired boy should be working but have not really worked for 3~4 weeks because of the state of the weather. they are being fed ad lib haylage and a few horse and pony nuts but am just wondering if hot bran mashes might keep their digestive systems moving in this period of inactivity. even when they are out they do not seem to move about too much(at least they are relaxed!) and only do gate to haylage and back to gate really!! should i cut all hard feed completely~~~~bearing in mind a couple generally need fed to keep condition or because they are getting on in years so need a bit extra.
my idea of feeding them ad lib haylage was because this was most natural way of feeding and they were already on the same haylage before winter set in.

anyone any thoughts on the bran idea?
 
The best thing to keep everything moving is turnout and lots of fibre!!

So long as your old boy is being turned out then the movement will keep his gut working properly. Perhaps spread the haylage across the field so that he has to move about to get it.

I read an article by a nutritionist that High fibre cubes and sugarbeet is a much more nutrionally superior alternative to a bran mash.

A good digestive supplement may help too.
 
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sadly no school to turn out in either as rock solid same as field and everywhere else. we are considering shipping 2 of them to local temporary big centre with indoor facilities for christmas so they can get to work while children are on holiday. great keeping them at home but can see it being worse than last year when we were snowed in for 6 weeks!!
 
oh also forgot to say~~~our old quite stiff boy has his stable door left open so he comes and goes as he pleases. he wanders about the garden and follows his pals to field if he feels like it. it seems to avoid him completely seizing up and fortunately he has been "free range" for a number of years so is perfectly safe. am most worried about those who should be working.
 
ponypops said:
anyone any thoughts on the bran idea?
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be very careful about feeding bran mash as this can cause more problems than it can prevent. This is due to the calcium/phospherous ratio is completely different and people feed bran mash because you can feed it hot. This is not a good enough reason. The introduction of any new food should be done over 7-10 days. If you want to prevent colic at all the best line of defence is to have your horse regularly wormed, give it breakfast with plenty of fibre and a small amount of hay/haylage prior to turn out in icy weather so the horses stomach is lined with food before it attempts to eat frozen grass. If you use speedy beet as part of your horses ration for breakfast make sure you drain it well as it will form ice crystals in your horses feed bucket overnight.

Just taking sensible precautions will help towards preventing colic, although this is not an entirely preventable disease anyway. Just last week we lost a much loved horse off our yard to colic. RIP Chyna x
 
I personally prefer to make as little change to diet as possible. Just keep it high fibre and maybe spread your haylage in several piles around the field to encourage more natural grazing, thus keeping them moving....
 
The rise in colic rates during cold spells is mainly impaction colic, caused by horses eating lots of hay, but not drinking enough water. Many dislike very cold water, so offering water with enough hot enough to remove the chill. I give mine warm water twice a day to encourage them to drink.
I would not be feeding bran.
 
I agree with the posts above. A friend of mine lost a pony to colic at the weekend so it is a worry for everyone, but I would avoid making any unnecessary dietary changes.

Plenty of water and forage - that's what I'm doing with mine and he lives out.

On the bran front, I'm old school, and while I wouldn't see the need for feeding it regularly (as has been mentioned above there are much better nutritional alternatives) it does have the occasional use. :)
 
i warm the water in field too i also put peppermint cordial in the water and it encourages them to drink more because they like the taste of it (although the oldie prefers apple cordial) if you can may be walk them round the field each day too that will just keep them active ect. i do feed mine bran mash (warm) every 3 -4days so about twice a week. as a treat. only a little bit and they all like it. bran fed all the time could be bad for them as mentioned above but a little doesnt hurt xx
just keep aware and look for the signs (if they show any) then you can be ready just incase. xx
 
Bertthefestivefrog said:
Peppermint cordial - what a great idea!
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that is a really good idea~~~~am onto it!!!! they certainly seem to drink the lukewarm water so will continue using up all the hot water for ponies!!!!
have just fetched 3 of them in and given hot bran mash with carrots and apples ~~~~they are absolutely loving it so will go with earlier posters thoughts on perhaps every 3 ~4 days rather than mashes every day.i have been using a little bran so it is not a sudden diet change to find bran in their feeds. i have been putting haylage well out into field and in lots of small heaps to encourage movement although just in from shopping to find 3 little dears dwelling by the gate pleading for in!!!

i think best advice is to keep a close eye on them for changes~~~~am very impressed with my children who are reporting on droppings and monitoring water as well as mucking out almost nonstop it seems and dragging builders sacks of haylage to the field. they have been on the yard for 630 every morning for the past month so if nothing else the problems of winter and ponies will be character building!!!!
 
I really do think water is key. Lots of horses won't drink enough when the water is too cold and some won't drink at all if there's ice in it. It also tends to be drier when it's below freezing and obviously the horses aren't getting any moisture from grazing if they're in or there is snow cover, so in fact they might need to drink MORE than normal in cooler temperature. It's very difficult to get enough liquid into a horse through feed and you have to be careful you don't "short circuit" their thirst reflex by giving them just enough to feel like they've had a drink but not enough to drink fully. My personal experience is pouring hot water into the buckets a couple of times a day at least and making sure they drink, although bucket heaters are obviously a better option.
 
our field troughs had frozen solid so no water on that score, think they're finding some now it's thawed a bit bit be back to square 1 again soon! I dump a kettle load of water in each water bucket every day when really cold to keep them from freezing and to stop the shock of cold water stopping him drinking. He gets two big trugs of water too and drains them nearly (usually 1/4 left in second bucket) so know he's getting enough to drink. Also give him a warm feed at night- use warm water to damp down his feed. and then he gets breakfast before he goes out. Very conscious that they don't have forage in the day (YO doesn't allow stable liveries to have hay in field) so like to put lots of fibre in his brekkies to make sure his stomache is lined before he goes out and he's not trying to fill up on frozen grass!!
 
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