Weight gain barley

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chole2020

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What barley have you guys used? How much a bag? What effect how quickly does weight come back on? Being told by lots older generations barley is the way forward after trying a lot I'm going to give this ago heard the one you cook yourself is cheaper please bear in mind I've no idea about this hence why asking on here appartly it can send some nuts he's very laid back anyway not in work!
My boy had liver problems few months ago really struggles with his weight but always has since he was young bu not this bad! currently feeding A&P weight gain mix which is barley, wheat syrup, peas, beans, calcium carbonate, expelled soya oil, salt, mint, linseed expeller, di-cakcuim, phosphate, mint, herbs, also has hi fi original, sugarbeet, pink powder 3 feeds a day, turnout daytime stabled at night ad-lib hay soaked however I put 3 nets in evening pretty much untouched he'll eat 1 max
He can't have anything high in oils
Ive seen these....
*Barley ring
*Flaked barley
*The one you cook yourself

What would I feed it with I make 1 big feed up & split into 3

TIA
 
Also the A&P he's only been on a fortnight I did notice a difference last couple days been dropping again all well in himself vet says he's fine just need weigt also told another old tsle potato peelings boiled?
 
I was shocked at the 45% starch in the weight gain mix and think in a horse that has had liver problems that may be proving far too high for him to benefit from and may be doing more harm than good, potentially compromising his liver function and contributing to him failing to gain weight.

I would contact a nutritionist and get advice rather than listening to well meaning people who express opinions on what may work without knowing how it will impact on his liver, personally I would go right back to basics, grass, forage and high fibre feeds with a balancer or vit/ min supplement and stop feeding so much cereal.
 
Copra Coolstance one stubbs scoop wet

One stubbs scoop alfalfa (mole valley alfalfa plus)

Tumeric

Two feeds a day.

Ab lib hay

30 years old!!!

She was almost PTS for just no longer holding weight before I changed her feed.


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I'm another Copra Coolstance fan

if the sugarbeet you are using is unmollassed I would try the molassed version and just rinse it through to remove some of the sugar

As for the barley - where I work we sell a lot of flaked barley for putting condition on show horses but like some of the others above it wouldn't be my first choice
 
Be Positive is right about the high starch levels being a problem. It would be worth speaking to a professional nutritionist. The thinking on the management of horses with compromised liver function appears to have shifted and the advice now appears to be to restrict starches to no more than 1g per Kg of bodyweight. 1.5kg of weight gain - which is the rest / light work recommendation for a 500Kg horse - will contain about 675g of starch (if my maths is correct?!). On the current advice for feeding a liver compromised horse that would be sufficient for a horse weighing 675Kgs - a very heavy horse indeed! And then you add the starch from forage.

Might be worth going back to basics and get some good professional nutritional advice.
 
To be honest, for a horse with liver issues, you want low protein and low fat.
I spent ages arguing with my vet that he can't have certain foods, and once she spoke to her nutritionist who agreed with me, we settled on straight maize and full molassed sugarbeet - it's the highest calorie with the lowest oil and protein I could find that he would eat

I put it down to his diet for his quick turnaround, never had any issues with the starch with him at all, my mindset is keeping his liver healthy..
 
Thanks guys I contacted a&P they recommend fast fibre/mollichaff/sugarbeet/pink powder I thought he couldn't have much fibre I must read this wrong on another thread somewhere! Low oils & low protein they told me to dampem his hay rather than soak it liffwee93: do yo soak your hay? ours is dusty but I've seen a lot worse he eats hardly any when stabled in the evening would love to put a bale in the field with him as well as grass thanks everyone for your advice I've also contacted other companies to see what they say too, what are people's experiences with a&p fast fibre?

They recommend x2 scoops fast fibre before soaked
X1 scoop mollichaff
X1 scoops sugarbeet
Make into 1 feed then split into 2 morning/evening
 
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We didn't soak his Hay no, he wasn't wrapped Hay for the period :) he would have Been on a diet as above, but he will not touch fast fibre! He was also on tonnes of steroids,milk thistle,pink powders and mycosorb :) xx
 
Boiled Barley is great for weight gain and easily digested. If you have a large crock pot it's so easy to cook. Leave it cooking all night. If you don't like the smell you may want to cook it in the garage.
Copra is also good for weight gain, improves the coat as well.
Add Chaff to the mix and you have a lovely yummy feed.
 
chole2020 said:
Thanks guys I contacted a&P they recommend fast fibre/mollichaff/sugarbeet/pink powder I thought he couldn't have much fibre I must read this wrong on another thread somewhere! Low oils & low protein they told me to dampem his hay rather than soak it liffwee93: do yo soak your hay? ours is dusty but I've seen a lot worse he eats hardly any when stabled in the evening would love to put a bale in the field with him as well as grass thanks everyone for your advice I've also contacted other companies to see what they say too, what are people's experiences with a&p fast fibre?

They recommend x2 scoops fast fibre before soaked
X1 scoop mollichaff
X1 scoops sugarbeet
Make into 1 feed then split into 2 morning/evening
Click to expand...

All horses need plenty of fibre, more so if they have any dietary issues, it is the basis for every good diet, I think that is better but I would not feed molichaff as it is covered in molasses, I would use a non molassed chop or a light one such as Dengie molasses free or hi fi light in preference, if you can feed 3 or more times a day that will be better than one although if he is in at night and is not greedy you can leave him with a large feed so he can eat it as and when he wants because it is all fibre it will act as a partial hay replacer as he is not eating much hay.

Rather than soaking try steaming it, it is a bit more faff to do so and you need access to a few kettles of boiling water but many will prefer it, or just give a really thorough rinse through to remove the dust if he is not coughing, also if he is fussy and you need him to gain weight use haylage for a while.

I have fed fast fibre and my horses looked well on it but a few went off it so mine now get grass nuts and are very happy with that, they could be an option but are higher in protein.
 
Mollichop is the one that's coated in molasses, mollichaff isn't as bad.

Whilst I agree you could probably find better than mollichaff, beware of a lot of chaffs with alfalfa in it, they will be fairly high in protein.

Ideally you'd want a plain straw/hay chaff, but they are hard to get hold of, so on that basis I'd go to your feed shop, look on the labels and see what they've got in stock that suits. Mollichaff original isn't really that bad.
 
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