ribby welsh D - putting on weight

[cob&onion]

My rising 3 yr old welsh colt had his op approx 2 weeks ago, rig operation - the testicle was in his abdomen so needed the whole shabang on the table. He is very happy and well in himself however i noticed shortly after he returned home (vets was a good 2 hrs away and he had over night stay) he has dropped a fair bit of weight. He went looking well covered now He is looking very lean and ribby. The grazing is rubbish as fields are wet and very muddy. He has been sharing hay with his field mate who is rather greedy he is fed chaff and sugar-beet in one feed of an evening. This has been his routine all winter and he was doing very well.
I have now put him on the bigger field where there is a patch of grazing , also will up him to ad-lib hay and keep him separate from the fatty. There is probably around 1/2 acre of grass and 2 acres of mud - however the muddy bit is drying out and there are signs of the green stuff. Also i will be upping his feed to 2 x per day. He is already rugged up.
So is there anything more i could be feeding/doing to increase his weight or is it just a case of doing the above and waiting for DR Green to make an appearance?! i know as soon as the grass comes he will be fine

 

[*hic*]

Stand him up in the same place each week and take a photo from side and rear. He's a youngster and unless he's still dropping weight I'd be reluctant to alter his feeding too much as, as you point out, Dr Green will be on his way very soon.

 

[mcnaughty]

Personally, I would be delighted that a 3yo welsh cob was looking a bit ribby at this time of year. Dr Green will soon be coming through and mark my words that 6 weeks from now you will be worrying about him being too fat!

 

[frozzy]

Most will go backwards after castration, and yours had a lot more intervention. The good news is he will start and pile it on once the grass arrives so I wouldn't worry about his shape just now and overdo the weight gain feeds.
I usually castrate mine whilst on their mothers as they seem to do better and not go backwards so much.