How to get him to eat his medicine in his feed?

Flicker

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As per the title really... My boy can sniff bute at 50 paces and turns his nose up. I am covered in Happy Hoof from trying to hand feed him using polo's and apple / carrot slices to tempt him.
Any brilliant ideas? I thought maybe apple juice or high juice... Can they have these?
 
You could also try Apple Cider Vinegar
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You could try hollowing out a piece of apple and puting it in, or mixing somthing like honey or treacle in his feed.
 
Cook up apple sauce - stewed apple, sweetened if necessary. Stir in the medicine and mix it into the feed.

Lots of windfall cooking apples around at the moment.
 
Make up feed as usual, take out a very small quantity and mix medicine in with it. Offer feed to horse. With mine they all take a big mouthful and then look at me in utter disgust. I make some comment along the lines of "Oh dear was that horrid" and then take it away and mix it in with the rest of the hitherto unadulterated feed. Horses then take another more tentative mouthful of the much more diluted feed and medicine, realise it doesn't taste as bad as the first lot and eat up nicely.

I tried all sorts of subterfuge on mine and they just got suspicious of unusual objects being offered them. I've not had the trick described above fail yet.
 
Marmite sandwiches - never fails. make sure you put plenty of marmite on both pieces of bread so that when you sprinkle the bute on top and then rub the pieces of bread together you get marmite over all the bute to disguise it. I've tried everything with my boy, marmite was the only thing that worked. You can also mix the marmite with bit of warm water (just enough to make it easy to pour) to make a sort of tea and pour it over feed - that can work as well although not as well as the sarnies.
 
Well my lad has to have 1 x Danilon twice a day every other day. I don't want to feed him any hard feed as he leaves it. So 2 slices of bread, pour on about 1 tablespoon of veg oil spread with a knife put on half the Danilon on each slice (only on half of the slice so when you fold it, it doesn't go all over). Add 2 slices of apple fold and hand feed. then give rest of the apple. He come looking for it every day no problem
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Tescos El Cheapo apple juice - I think they're on offer at the moment, 4 for £3 or something. Slop a cupful in after the feed is made up. Don't stir it in. Never known it to fail though you sometimes have to start with quite a high concentration.
 
I made a mix of 1 handful Happy Hoof, 1 little scoop garlic granules, some carrot pieces, and apple juice. Oh, and danilon and antibiotics!
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It got hoovered up no problem.
 
I used to grate apple in to the feed, depends on the horse, some of mine don't like apple.

Syrup works too, the horrid gloopy stuff that comes in a squeezy bottle not the Golden variety you get in tins.

None of mine will go within sniffing distance of molasses.

Also mints crushed up in the feed does the trick at times (NOT precious polos, the horses that eat them, and most of my horses won't, get Life Buoys, that's a soap in the UK isn't it?)
 
Feed a couple of extra strong mints before offering the feed. I think they confuse their taste buds a bit so they get half way through the feed before they realise that something isn't quite right.

Then feed them a couple more mints, take the feed away round the corner out of sight, then return with it. Hoesey thinks oh good new feed and finishes it off.

Works for mine anyway!
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try danalion in stead he will eat his feed like nothing his in there. Or if you dont want o use danalion and keep to bute try apple juice mint molasses ribenna you could try all sorts in his feed honey as well there are loads!
 
Are you using bute long term? My mare can't have it and I use Metacam which is a liquid. Old Fussy Chops isn't greedy and can smell something different at 50m but I have no trouble getting Metacam into her. It is slightly sweet. Unfortunately it is also quite expensive compared to bute, but if you get the full dose in...
 
Why not mix the bute powder in a syringe with a little water enough to make a thick paste and squrt it down his throat like you would a paste wormer much easier than mixing it in the feed. At least you know he has had all of the bute powder. I would have to do this with my TB he would just not eat his feed even if you put apple juice he would smell that and run a mile.
 
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