Veteran - Loosing weight

[Mbronze]

I have seen tonnes of these posts before, but alas when i look for them i can't find them....!!

My old boy Frankie has recently started dropping loads of weight, i have had him wormed, his remaining teeth checked etc..

I currently feed him on readigrass in the day (as limited turnout) a net of hay or haylage at night (which he normally has a bit of, but quids most of it) and two feeds comprising sugabeet and readimash xtra soaked.

Can anybody recommend any wonder products that may help my boy stop loosing weight and put some back on!!

 

[BigBird146]

My old mare always went really skinny at this time of year, went right off her hay at the first hint of spring. You just have to hang on in there really until the grass comes through, it should only be a few weeks now!

 

[Shilasdair]

Barley rings are quite good for conditioning...I think Dodson and Horrell do some...with linseed oil too.
Then you could keep him on his readimash and beet, etc, but add barley rings or decrease them again if he puts weight on with the spring grass.
S

 

[jewel]

bailey no 4 conditioning cube really put the weight back on my old boy. phone baileys they will send you a sample. also they can be soaked into a mash if need.

 

[oofadoofa]

I would definitely recommend Topspec balancer, it seem pricey at £30 a bag, but a bag will last 6 weeks. I use it on my 22 yo tb, it is the only thing that keeps the weight on him at this time of year.

 

[Mbronze]

Its just in the last couple of weeks, all his ribs are really pronounced and i feel so helpless, he still has a good appetitite though so at 29 he's not giving up the ghost yet i hope!!

 

[Nailed]

Bloom chaff by molichop.. it is AMAZING!

lou x

 

[spaniel]

My 30 year old has also frightened the living daylights out of me for the past 5 springs by doing this.

I have found that the best thing for him is to add in Topspec condition flakes and pray the grass comes through quickly.

He has turned the corner again in the last few weeks and is certainly more covered than he was. It can be a bit deceptive though as once they are out of work the muscle drops back and they can look quite puny because of it.

 

[Scarlett1980]

winergy equilibrium senior or growth - honestly is amazing stuff. call them, i promise you, you won't ever look back. Ask anyone on here about the winergy feeds and yo'll get such a positive response.

 

[Marchtime]

Another vote for conditioning cubes. I use Spillers as I find Baileys heats my boy up, but both come recommended from me. As jen said you can soak them easily if he has trouble chewing. I feed my TB two scoops a day spread over three feeds.

 

[Grumpy Herbert]

Another vote for barley rings! You can soak them first if his teeth aren't up to chewing them. I used to give my oldie some pink powder at times like this, too. It seemed to help.

 

[Cuffey]

Alfalfa nuts soaked or grass nuts soaked (grass in a bucket) with Speedibeet or maybe Alfabeet
Top Spec balancer
If teeth are very poor then you may be on soaked feeds through summer as well but lots to choose from as above
YeaSacc helps feed to be digested
I used to steam hay to soften fibres--the hay tea was drunk with gusto.
My lot dont like Readigrass prefer Alfa A
Alfa Oil is supposed to be good never tried it my boys

 

[Puppy]

Spillers senior conditioning mix and topspec senior do WONDERS for my older girl who can be hard to keep condition on. (with sugar beet and ab lib haylage) I would certainly recommend that as a mix and balancer though

 

[PennyJ]

We used to give our oldie (sadly PTS last Wednesday) a big bowl of Hi Fi as a hay replacer at night. He had started quidding his hay too, but coped really well with that.

We just made his feeds (nuts and HiFi) quite sloppy. He had done OK this winter, but had been getting recurrent bouts of colic which is what did for him in the end.