Pasture Lick - is this normal?

[ClareMc]

I bought a 10kg pasture lick last Saturday and left it out for 1 horse and 1 pony and it was empty by yesterday.

I think the pony probably had most of it.

Is it normal for it to be used so quickly?

Does it mean a) the pony needed the supplement or b) she is a greedy guzzler?

 

[SSM]

MS had one in her stable, on her own she got through it in a month (and every jumper/jacket and her stable walls were plastered in it!!!!!!!!

 

[Fiona]

Keep a close eye on the pony if it one of the molasses based ones, we had one mare who reacted to the high sugar levels and her neck and face were covered in blisters, the other one has a sugar intolerance too and I wonder if it was trigered by the lick. Gelding was perfectly OK by the way, but maybe he just didn't lick it much.
Fiona

 

[flyingfeet]

The molasses type licks are generally so addictive that the horses will scoff them until they are gone.

Due to generally not being very healthy and the brown moustaches I have not bought any more for mine!

 

[pottamus]

I would only use these things in short doses...perhaps leave it out for an hour or two and then take it away. Unfortunately they obviously taste nice and the greedy ponies will just keep going. I gave my horse (Welsh greedy thing) a lickit for his birthday and once he realised it was nice to eat he started biting big chunks off it and eating it rather than licking it!!! So I let him have it for half an hour and then took it away or he would have eaten the whole thing!
If your lick is the molasses based one I would deffinately give it to them in small doses.

 

[CSYMolly]

If pony is anything like my greedy guts then thats all it is just being a piggy. bought mine one of those licks I think it was the 5kg one and she got through it in a night, painted the walls and herself a lovely shade of dark red/brown, she doesn't get them anymore!

 

[Marilyn]

is it molassed or not molassed? if it is molasses then it's not suprising but should be discouraged

 

[Claireg9]

~I had a breathing one which is molassesed based and Blue loves it, if she sniffs it she throws the lid off and licks away, and ends up brown instead of grey! she normally does it when im mucking out or something... i turn round see brown chops and she looks at me as if to say uh oh busted... but then thinks stuff it and carry's on. I would not give her the tub for more than half an hour or she'd guzzle the lot and get the squits as it has liquerice in it too!

Likits ive had to stop also, she devoured a whole large one in 10 minutes! She loves them, now i will only give it to her as a treat as she gets hyppo on them!

 

[ClareMc]

Thanks for the replies

I will be limiting Miss Piggy's access to the pasture lick from now on.

 

[Theresa_F]

Miss Delia used to dribble water on her pasture lick to soften it up so she could chew big chunks out of it - one crafty old TB.

I would only use them for a hour or two at a time max - the molassed ones are just too tasty for some to know when to stop

I personally prefer to provide some chaff with salt and supplement added in a small feed to give them the necessary vits to keep healthy. I save the molassed blocks for the occasional stable treat when in.

 

[parsley]

I think you need to restrict access for a while. My two have the respiratory one and would eat the whole lot if I gave them a chance - as it is they get about 20 mins per day. (Mean person that I am!)

 

[henryhorn]

Probably not!
I feed keep blocks to my lot and some horses are pigs over them.
Our blocks go out two at a time in herds of maybe 10 horses and rarely last more than a few days, but my theory being that the same horse surely can't eat 24 hours a day so they get shared between them. Certainly I see different horses at different times eating.
In your case I would stick them out for a day then remove them, possibly once a week that's all should be enough access.

 

[ru-fi-do]

I used to use horslyx but it was always gone within a week, i have now used a likit paddock lick and had it about 2 months and my girl is stabled during the day, my walls are plastered in it, but they have a lot more vitamins in. She has a lick of that then a lick of her salt lick that's on the wall and dribbles all over the place! Very lady like!

 

[Faithkat]

Oh yes, I think the record for Burtie's and mine was four days for a 25kg "lick". They used to stand and munch it in chunks!!

 

[MagicMelon]

Probably just greedy. I buy mine the Mobility licks by Horslyx. I have to limit the time the horses have on it because they will just destroy it!