Supplements for my 2 year old?

[laurabaker]

Hi I have a 2 year old WBxTB who is living out and has been for nearly a year. I only recently purchased him and he is currently on Speedibeet, Hi fi and a few Pony Cubes. Any advice on feed and supplements?

Also is it ok to feed him Garlic for the Flies?

Thanks

 

[Spyda]

Yes, absolutely fine to feed him garlic if you want to. Just follow the recommendations on the packaging.

Recommending a diet at this time of year is hard as so much depends upon the quality and amount of grazing you have. Ideally your boy will be staying out 24/7 on good, adequate grazing, without the need of additional hard food for much longer.

Many people on here will say that your boy needs nothing but good grazing at this stage in his life, but if you wish to provide him with supplementation whilst he young I'd recommend one of the specific stud balancers. Dodson & Horrell's Sure Grow or Bailey's Stud Balancer are good choices. You'd only need to feed him a very small amount to ensure he was getting all the extra vits and mins he needs. If you're not keen on feeding him a pelleted balancer or are worried about the protein content of these balancers, Dodson & Horrell do a good supplement called SureLimb. You could add this powdered supplement to a small feed throughout the summer, without worrying about him gaining too much weight or getting too much protein. http://www.dodsonandhorrell.com/products/horse-ranges/herbs-supplements/vitamins-minerals/surelimb.html I must admit, when my WBxTB was young I fed the balancers during the winter months with adequate ad-lib hay/haylage and switched to the SureLimb powdered supplement during the spring and summer when the grass was good and she didn't need hard feed.

 

[Mrs_Wishkabibble]

I use Feedmark Benevit for all mine, would recommend.

 

[K27]

Mine has been on grow and win balancer- just switched him to the original one now that he's 2- just so he's getting his vits/mins to grow properly,he has some of the garlic and mint supplement that the bigger boys get, and it's done him no harm!- so the garlic should be fine for him!

 

[raspberryripple]

My 3 yr old has been on D&H Suregrow with Hifi (molasses free) since he turned 2 (was on the youngstock mix before that) and looks fab on it.

 

[CBFan]

My boy has been on Equivite Original general purpoise supplement since he was 16 months old and looks fabulous. Has grown steadily without serious growth spurts and now at 3 and a half is a strapping 17hh...

 

[competitiondiva]

I have 2, 2 year olds, out with an adult (mum to one of them!) they have free access to a badminton vit and mineral lick (lots of other companies do them, dodson and horrell, baileys, saracen etc), then I give each horse literally a handful of just grass and pony nuts just to get them to come to me each day for handling/checking over etc, not for any nutritional content, i use bucket feeds instead of tit-bits to discourage nipping etc. They both look fine and get all their nutritional needs from the grazing and the lick.

 

[Tempi]

I have a rising 3yr old - i feed all natural simple systems feeds to him as i worry about growth in youngsters and over feeding. He lives out 24/7 and was having hay at night and 1 feed a day of Simple Systems feeds which was 1/2 scoop lucerne nuts, 1/2 scoop purabeet and total eclipse supplement added. Hes just moved on to a new field so hes not having hay at night now and i have also halved his feed (but obviously kept the supplement amount the same).

I am reluctant to feed youngsters really as i am paranoid about OCD hence i am only feeding him natural feed stuffs. Hopefully once he has filled out a bit (hes looking a bit lean coming out of winter) then i can take him off his feed altogether for the summer. The supplement i feed him can be dampened and rolled into a ball and he will have that as a treat daily during the summer so he still gets all the goodness from that.

 

[AMW]

I feed my youngsters D&H Suregrow, if they need condition I can add to that but they get Suregrow all the year round at a constant level. Its reasonably priced & is a good vit & min balancer for youngsters, it can also be used for older aanimals whether breeding or not