Palatability of Baileys No4?

[anuvb]

My horse is a fussy eater and as his work has increased I'm finding I need to feed him a conditioning feed even during the summer on 24/7 grass. The difficulty is that the feed needs to suit his fizzy temprament whilst still being tasty enough for him to want to eat it.

We've tried Baileys No 4 and outshine and up until recently the combination of the two has meant he has kept his condition and temprament wise it's worked well. However, the problem is he's started eating only two thirds of his meal and then leaving the rest (on a good day) on other days he's picks it up and spits it out. He's just not interested in it, which means I'm throwing away lots of feed which I can't afford to keep doing, and he's losing weight again.

Has anyone else had similar problems with No4? What else did you try?

Am thinking of trying D&H build up cubes next as they're easy enough for me to get hold of, but are they any more palatable? And what about cereal/starch content - are they noticeably higher than No4? What about allen and page calm and condition?

 

[mattilda]

I fed Baileys No 1 to my tb to help keep his weight on. I also added chopped up carrots and apples. Alternatively try changing your feeds weekly to keep his interest.

 

[Silmarillion]

I'm assuming you've ruled out having opened a bag and it being off or different from the last batch you had..? Or anything else of what you feed? I've never had a horse just go off food like that so other than that, I wouldn't know. Mine loved her No4 cubes when she was having them!

I had a stressy, fizzy Welsh D at one point - Calm & Condition did exactly the opposite of what it said on the bag and sent her more nuts and she stressed even more weight off. I took her off it and put her on something else (it was a long time ago - might have been Bailey's No4, actually) and she calmed down within a couple of weeks.

Instead of changing the entire feed, can you not dress it with something, like apple cider vinegar? Lots of horses like that stuff (though if yours is fussy I'm not guaranteeing that he will like it too! and it may help make it more palatable and appealing.

 

[anuvb]

S. - yup ruled it out by buying bags of feed from two different store same result each time. Feed looks and smell okay and is well within date and my friends horse likes it. Have even tried 'hiding' it with apple juice over the top as well but I've discovered over the last few months that he doesn't like his feed wet (!) and so this was always going to be a bit of a long shot and subsequently I had no success with the apple juice either. Thanks for the warning about C&C though!

Mat - can you do this? I'd be worried about always introducing a new feed but may be I'm being paranoid?

The only feed he has ever consistently eaten has been D&H pastire mix/cubes. He loves it, but it doesn't contain enough to keep the weight on.

 

[[69117]]

My horse went off Baileys No4 after about 2 months - he's an extremely poor doer and very fussy, I also found it didn't actually make any difference to him condition wise.

Try Red Mills Cool n Cooked Mix - I have never had a horse not eat/go off it, and it is fantastic for condition without fizziness. I add in Blue Chip Original, Mollichaff Showshine, Corn Oil, and Kwikbeet depending on the needs of the horse.

Good luck!

 

[Vickijay]

My anorexic horse wont touch no4. She would pick at build up cubes but not the amount needed she didnt like either of the mix versions either. She also wont touch any other mixes, hifi, alpha a, ready grass, sugar beet and numerous samples I have been sent!! I honestly thought there was nothing she would eat. Then spring came and she wouldnt touch anything.

In despiration I tried calm and condition (which I had disregarded as it looked like slop, I thought she wont touch that) and she is OBSESSED about it!! She eats whatever I give her, at any time of the day (morning was prime anorexic time!!) She even scrapes and kicks the door now!! She also gets vetran mollichaff as its soft and tasty.

It is just like a anorexic desperatley wanting burgers now!!!! Total reform on the eating front!

 

[mattilda]

Mat - can you do this? I'd be worried about always introducing a new feed but may be I'm being paranoid?

Well maybe not constantly change it but alternate a couple that he will eat. One week on, one week off kind of thing. That shouldn't cause him a problem and may hold his interest a bit more.