Unintentionally achieved the impossible - she's full

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chaps89

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Horses have been turned out onto a rested field and Madam is basically stuffed. She came in and didn't even touch her haylage the other night which is unheard of.
I'm trying to limit how much time she has out and she is muzzled.
It means she's stopped eating her bucket feed though- a very small handful of plain chaff with equimins advance complete and salt. She sweats alot and won't touch electrolytes so I do like her to have the salt. She will however eat it with the YO molasses chaff :o I've tried 2 bags of my chaff so I dont think its a bad batch, but she just isn't interested.
I was going to swap to speedibeet anyway when this ran out so I could swap now and rehome the chaff? Or the downside to giving just speedibeet was when everything freezes it will be a PITA so I was thinking of hi-fi lite as a compromise in low sugar but something she will still eat (I know the molasses aren't ideal but I'm struggling to find options and it seems a happy medium compared to the chaffs with all sorts of things added)
Or I could just stop giving her a feed for now, try her on my current chaff again when she's hungrier and deal with what to swap to when I actually need to worry about it.
I'm over thinking this I know! But thoughts?
 
I wouldn't worry too much for the next couple of days. I'd be more concerned about her getting lami or coliking. She'll eat again when she is hungry. What is your thinking between speedibeet and chaff? If doesn't sound like you are giving more than a token feed?
 
She is probably getting enough salt from the grazing for now, or she would eat it when she comes in. Is she wearing her muzzle all the time she is out? She is doing well if she can stuff herself to that degree while wearing a muzzle!
 
Very much on lami watch, so far totally cool feet and no pulses. I'm working the socks off her too!
She only gets a token feed to carry the supplements- at coat change time she gets a teeny handful of re-leve as she goes very flat without it but otherwise it's certainly not a feed as such as she doesn't need one!
Thinking with speedi beet was I just want a very plain lo-cal carrier. Virtually every chaff marketed as lo-cal has a horrendous ingredients list or is not actually that lo-cal at all. The ones that are super lo-cal (ie plain straw etc) she just won't really eat (picks at it) even when she is hungry.
She is very accomplished at eating with a muzzle on- she can even eat hay from a haynet with it on. I've never known anything like it. The only time she doesn't eat through it is when the grass is short, and I can tell as that's the only time she either pulls her muzzle off or her droppings go a particular way. I've never known her get full before, I had to stop ad lib hay (tried it to see if it stopped the guzzling/helped her self regulate) once she got up to a small bale of hay in 24 hours...
 
Pearlsasinger said:
She is probably getting enough salt from the grazing for now, or she would eat it when she comes in. Is she wearing her muzzle all the time she is out? She is doing well if she can stuff herself to that degree while wearing a muzzle!
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The opposite is much more likely to be true. The more grass they eat, the more salt they need.
 
I wouldnt worry about a tiny bit of molasses or similar when you are only giving a token handful unless you have active lami or real metabolic issues. It really is a negligible amount.
 
I wouldn't give away the chaff - stored properly it'll last those few weeks until winter arrives and she's hungry again! Speedibeet is good for hiding powder supplements in.
 
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