Stopped eating his hard feed

J_sarahd

J_sarahd

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Shadow has just stopped eating his hard feed the past couple of days and I was wondering if there was any recommendations of things I can add to it to make it more enticing?

I’ve just ordered 2 bags of the mash so don’t particularly want to come off it!

He is just on:
A&P Muscle and Focus
Dengie Hi-fi Molasses Free

Not the most exciting but he’s been fine on this for the past 3 or so months.
 
Weirdly Dex has started doing the same over the last week, he eats maybe 1/3rd of it and leaves the rest, but it's then gone before morning so he's eating it at some point
I will follow this thread with interest as I'm wondering if I need to change it up for him, he;s on topline & shine and rowan barbary fibre mash
 
Mine has that same mash and is sometimes fussy about it! Weird, the soothe and gain is almost identical you just get less in a bag, he eats that no problem! Wonder what it is they aren’t keen on.

I mix it with thunderbrooks healthy herbal chaff which is quite yummy I think! Perhaps try that instead?
 
if he will tolerate it-mollassed sugar beet.

my TB will eat anything mixed with this, currently gets the beet + bran, barley, linseed and conditioning cubes soaked to a mash.
 
I recently asked on here for recommendations as I'd like Bon to clean his bucket better. Had a few things in mind and in the end I've gone with grass nuts (soaked) which are doing the job at present
 
a couple of mine who are total pigs really hate and gave up on hi fi mollasses free. However they reckon Dengie Meadowsweet with herbs is much nicer. That is very suitable for EMS type horses.
 
I've found fenugreek good for fussy eaters, or splitting into multiple smaller feeds (if possible, not everyone can be at the yard to feed 3+ times a day!)
 
My rising 2 year old eats his feed in stages - when I first put the bucket in he'll munch for 10 to 15 minutes before going to his haylage, then around 10pm at night (when late night checks are done by yard owner), he'll munch on his feed for another 10 to 15 minutes and then around 4 am he'll finish off whatever he has left. But recently he has been doing the same, so I've slightly reduced his portion sizes, added in some garlic and a few crushed polo mints and we are back on the above schedule 😆

My retired lad who is literally a pig in horse form, will dive into his bucket and not come up for air has gone the complete opposite and won't eat all his feed - I'm guessing he knows the grass will be growing soon.

If you are worried about him not munching his feed, is it possible to split it down to an even smaller size than you currently are feeding and add something to entice him such as a few hidden polo mints/ shredded carrot etc? :)
 
I've put mint in feeds to persuade my horse to eat his antibiotics and it worked well. I think I bought a tub of NAF mint and remember it wasn't expensive
 
My boys are the same!! They will eat about half. They did move fields on to more grass last weekend so I think it's that. Grass might also be growing a bit with the raised temps.
 
Thankfully he’s eating all of his haylage and most of his hay so it’s more the waste of money that’s an issue than him not eating anything. He’s fine in himself. I gave him a handful of chaff before our ride today and he turned his nose up at it so I think it’s the chaff. I’ll see if I can find a more palatable one at the feed shop and/or any of the suggestions given!
 
I've one who at this time every year decides ahe no longer likes her food. (She is on a one cup supplement and one danilon just now because it's all she'll eat).
I tried apple juice, apple sauce, honey and she refused to eat each of those alone lwt alone in her food.

Does he eat the muscle and focus without the chaff?
 
fidleyspromise said:
I've one who at this time every year decides ahe no longer likes her food. (She is on a one cup supplement and one danilon just now because it's all she'll eat).
I tried apple juice, apple sauce, honey and she refused to eat each of those alone lwt alone in her food.

Does he eat the muscle and focus without the chaff?
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That’s what I’m going to try tomorrow. I tried the chaff on its own today and he just will not touch it. So I’ll see if he will eat the mash on its own. I hope he will because otherwise I’ve just got two bags of it for no reason
 
You may find after a couple mo ths he'll eat it again. My mare has the same feed all year but for a couple months decides not to eat it and then she'll be trying to scrounge from the others - that have the exact feed she refused so I know when to put her back on it. 🙄
 
Domirati said:
Have you checked teeth are okay? My elderly pony has stopped eating hard feed and has a bad tooth. She is gobbling down Releve at the moment as it is damp but not mushy.
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Yes …I wondered that too. Joker stopped eating his hard feed. Which is very out of character. Had vet out to look in mouth. Found issues.
 
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