Weight gain feed for fussy cushings horse

[Slightlyconfused]

Hi all,

Just after a bit of advice on feed. Horse is on two pracend a day, 16yrs old and has 14 kilos of hayledge (cant have hay) half scooo twice a day of TB herbal chaff, have tried others he will eat this one consistantly, and a small handful of dengie meadow grass nuts in each feed.

He is a bit too lean going into summer, i am hoping grass might come through soon but if it doesnt i need something to help him out.

He goes very sharpe and explosive on anything with alfafa otherwise i would have put him on that.


Is CoolStance copra worth a try? Not sure if linseed will heat him up or not.

He has had baileys lo cal last year but then had a huge bout of mud fever a month after going on it....might have been a coincidence but not taking chances. Can anyone recomend anyother balancer?

 

[meleeka]

Linseed is usually fine. I’ve used Cushcare and it worked well at putting condition on. Allen & Page also do one now, Care & Gain. I don’t think a balancer would be needed as well. I haven’t used Copra as mine wouldn’t eat it, but plenty of people rate it.

 

[Boulty]

My cushings horse did really well on copra and I found it to be a non heating feed and several of the poor doers at current yard are on it and have put weight on that they weren’t doing with their previous feed. Just be aware it’s deficient in calcium which you may need to take into account if you feed a lot of it depending on what else you’re feeding alongside

 

[slimjim86]

I've had to stop feeding my girl the care and gain after half a bag as she put on too much weight with it.

 

[TheMule]

If the horse does well on grass then I would massively up the grass nuts- they’re cheap, tasty, and do a good job

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Thanks all.

Have a few things to look at.

 

[MatHalTed]

I will say regarding the Copra, I tried both my rather fussy gelding (and my mare who'll eat anything if you let her) on it and neither of them would touch it. They'd just pick around it, even when only added in small quantities.

 

[Caol Ila]

My old mare, who had cushings by the end of her life, became the fussiest thing ever.

In addition to Copra, I had some success with Equi-Jewel, which is a rice bran based feed.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I've just ventured into this area of the forum to ask the exact same question.

Are grass nuts good for laminitis prone types? I kind of struggle with the idea of restricting grass and then replacing it with pure grass nuts.
I wish they sold these things like Copra and Equijewl in little sandwich bag trials!

 

[meleeka]

I've just ventured into this area of the forum to ask the exact same question.

Are grass nuts good for laminitis prone types? I kind of struggle with the idea of restricting grass and then replacing it with pure grass nuts.
I wish they sold these things like Copra and Equijewl in little sandwich bag trials!

Most of them are too high in sugar. You should be aiming for less than 10% sugar and starch combined. I think one of the Emerald ones is ok.

Eta - I just checked Emerald Meadow Magic is under 10%

 

[rhino]

I wish they sold these things like Copra and Equijewl in little sandwich bag trials!

You can get trial packets of coolstance copra, you just pay £1 postage. I think you can get up to 5 little bags.

CoolStance Copra Sample | Boomerang Nutrition

Try before you buy. Most horses and ponies love the taste of CoolStance, others can take a little longer to get used to the taste. If you would like to try CoolStance before purchasing a 20 kg bag we offer samples of 150 grams. The samples are free to Mainland UK only, we only ask for a small...

www.boomerangnutrition.co.uk

 

[poiuytrewq]

You can get trial packets of coolstance copra, you just pay £1 postage. I think you can get up to 5 little bags.

CoolStance Copra Sample | Boomerang Nutrition

Try before you buy. Most horses and ponies love the taste of CoolStance, others can take a little longer to get used to the taste. If you would like to try CoolStance before purchasing a 20 kg bag we offer samples of 150 grams. The samples are free to Mainland UK only, we only ask for a small...

www.boomerangnutrition.co.uk

Oh amazing thank you!

Most of them are too high in sugar. You should be aiming for less than 10% sugar and starch combined. I think one of the Emerald ones is ok.

Eta - I just checked Emerald Meadow Magic is under 10%

Can you feed them dry? Just a handful, literally or do they need soaking

 

[meleeka]

Oh amazing thank you!

Can you feed them dry? Just a handful, literally or do they need soaking

They need soaking.

 

[ElleSkywalker]

My cushings shetland who is massively underweight is having Spillers senior super mash for a bit of weight gain on advice of my nutritionist. She's very very fussy but so far is happily snarfing it down

 

[paddy555]

I will say regarding the Copra, I tried both my rather fussy gelding (and my mare who'll eat anything if you let her) on it and neither of them would touch it. They'd just pick around it, even when only added in small quantities.

I fed copra to my cushings very successfully.
I thought he may turn his nose up at it so I put him in a position to steal it. He found his way into the feed room and nicked it. All perfectly set up for him and he thought it was great and tasted far better when stolen.
That solved the fussiness problem and got him established on it. Then I moved onto the rest that I wanted on copra. Fed him and they got very peeved when they didn't get fed so tried to nick his.



Dr Kellon did recommend cushings should have 5000iu vit e per day which I did and decided it was well worth it.

 

[poiuytrewq]

They need soaking.

I figured probably so. I'd wondered if i could use them as a hand fed treat with a prascend hidden in!

 

[poiuytrewq]

My cushings shetland who is massively underweight is having Spillers senior super mash for a bit of weight gain on advice of my nutritionist. She's very very fussy but so far is happily snarfing it down

We give this to racehorses at work on box rest. They absolutely love it!

 

[splashgirl45]

I would think a lean horse going into summer is a good thing, why not post a picture on here as most of us have our horses too well covered.. if he is thin then something like fast fibre is easy to eat and my cushings mare loved it

 

[Kirstd33]

My cushings shetland who is massively underweight is having Spillers senior super mash for a bit of weight gain on advice of my nutritionist. She's very very fussy but so far is happily snarfing it down

coblet loved this over winter when he was out 24/7 and in work, it smells of apple pie!

 

[meleeka]

I figured probably so. I'd wondered if i could use them as a hand fed treat with a prascend hidden in!

You’d probably be better with a handful of High Fibre nuts, but I doubt a few unsoaked would cause an issue. They do swell, but not as much as sugar beet.

 

[poiuytrewq]

You’d probably be better with a handful of High Fibre nuts, but I doubt a few unsoaked would cause an issue. They do swell, but not as much as sugar beet.

High fibre nuts work well. I just wondered if it may be a healthier alternative!