knowledgeable persons feeding youngsters Please help....

Stinkbomb

Stinkbomb

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Right..... I have been confusing myself so much with this feeding lark its getting too much!!! I really just dont feel im getting it right. Inky is two this year and is fed a stud mix at the recommended amount for his weight. He is not loosing any weight and i just feel that i am feeding him too much cereals. I want to give him the correct amount of vitamins and nutrients so feeding less doesnt seem right. If i do feel less hard feed he wont be getting the correct amount.. right??? So what do i do. If i cut the hard feed out altogether how does he get his nutrients??? ( out in the day on not much grass, stabled with hay at night )

I am also worried if he doesnt have a specific hard feed he wont "grow" properly and that he will loose condition for the shows.

I have thought about stopping his stud mix and putting him on Topspec comprehensive feed balancer, as this is given in smaller amounts and still gives all the vitamins etc.

Now the questions i have are as follows:-

1. should i cut the hard feed altogether???? ( if so how does he get his nutrients? )
2. Would feeding topspec give a growing youngster all he needs for growth and condition?
3. any other ideas!!!!????

Please help i am so confused!!!
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I feed my youngster the top spec balancer without any other hard feed. Have started to add some top spec condition cubes in the last week though as had dropped some weight. I spoke to a top spec feed advisor before I swapped to this "regime" from a stud mix because I felt, like you, I was feeding loads in order to provide the right amount of nutrients.

Could you give a couple of the food balancer companies a ring (they will all be super helpful as obv want to sell you their stuff) and then compare what they've said, costs etc?
 
This is exactly the sort of scenario that feed balancers were created for! They ensure that equines can get the correct nutrients/vit/mins without having to feed largish quantities of hard feed.
 
What about just giving him just stud cubes instead? They will certainly give him all the doofah he needs as a growing lad, you wouldn't need to add anything at all; they are also a little bit better for weight gain for when you want to start getting him ready for the new showing season - but he won't get too heavy, they are probablt easier to regulate than a mix.
 
In that case I personally would go for either Bailey's Stud Balancer or their LoCal Balancer. Both of them are, as their name suggests, fully balanced, obviously the Stud B would be better geared at young growing animals and you would only need to feed a cupful a day at the very most.
 
We look long and hard at the forage aspect first, after all this is what they eat most of. So we improve their hay with lucerne first, then look to top up with hard feed. During December our yearlings coming two year old were put onto two x one kilo of D&H rearing diet. And that's it, we keep it simple, but then we work on a stocking rate of 1 horse per hectare (2.45 acres) so we always have stack of grass.
 
Just a personal opinion here, but I tend to take the recommended amounts with a pinch of salt - if I always fed what it said on the back of the bag my ponies would be obese
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I agree with what the others have said - a feed balancer specifically for youngstock sounds the way to go and cuts down on the volume.
 
I'd recommend D&H Sure Grow fed with forage (HiFi, etc). Used it for my babies for years and even the TB's have done well on it and without the need for any mixes or cubes. When extra condition is needed in winter I use sugarbeet or Alfabeet depending on the age.
 
The balancer option is the best. Feed the recommended amount of balancer then you can add what you like to provide the extra calories you feel are needed. Mixes and cubes are formulated to be fed in greater quantities to provide a fully balanced diet so, if you feed less, you're right, the horse misses out on vits and mins as well as calories. This is why balancers are so useful - all the vits, mins and protein they need but without the calories. Baileys' stud mix and cubes are designed so that the vits and mins in 3lb are the same as in 1lb of their stud balancer so you can mix and match to keep the diet balanced, if that makes sense! It's on their web site http://www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk/studareahome/studproducts/studbalancerstud.htm
 
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