Weight gain need- cant feed chaff/chop

[showjump]

Hi i haven't posted in years but need so help with feeds off you lovely lot!

My mares had a tooth removed, and has some gaps that have occurred due to this problem tooth.
Dentist now recommends she has no chaff at all. Hay/ grass is fine, but the chop is just packing into the tooth gaps.

Shes a typical chestnut mare, stressy as hell and sharp as sh*t!! so can stress all her weight off in a few days if she feels the need *sigh*.

Shes was on fibrebeet and happy hooves (plus supplements).. but im not sure fibrebeet alone is enough.

So good fast weight gain feeds, that wont make her bonkers!!

Thanks

 

[ohmissbrittany]

Equijewel. Hands down favorite, was the only thing to put weight on mine after shipping fever. Its fat and fiber, and you feed like 500g/day and see results

 

[NOISYGIRL2]

I would stick with the Fibre beet, you could had Charnwood micronized linseed to it and increase the amount/number of feeds given, you could contact the company to ask how much of the fibre beet you can safely feed if she needs condition. If its to maintain her current weight you could stick with it without the chaff or try fast fibre 7.5% nsc, veteran light 8.5% from allen and page both mash, topspec do a high fibre mash 11% nsc and equerry do a cool mash 13%

 

[be positive]

I would add micronised linseed to the fibrebeet and see how she goes on that if her condition is currently ok she should not really notice the lack of the chaff based feed and make up the difference by eating more hay.

 

[showjump]

Do i feed equi jewel ontop of the fibrebeet?

 

[TGM]

If you want to stick with the Fibre Beet, you could add something with an high oil content for extra calories (for example, micronised linseed) and a balancer or vit/min supplement. The Happy Hoof is pretty low calorie anyway so can't have been adding much to her calorie intake.

When choosing a feed look at the digestible energy content of the feed, this is equivalent to the calorie count, and will give an idea of how likely it is to add condition. It is usually expressed in MJDE/kg. To give you an idea, the DE of some of the products mentioned in this thread.

Happy Hoof 8.8 MJDE/kg
Fibrebeet 12 MJDE/kg
Fast Fibre 8 MJDE/kg
Micronised linseed 20 MJDE/kg
Equijewel 18 MJDE/kg

(Obviously there are other factors to take into consideration when choosing a feed, but this is a good guide - you will see the high oil feeds (linseed and Equijewel) are particularly concentrated in calories.

 

[showjump]

Shes too skinny how she is currently, so def want to up her weight. Shes on massive net of hay which she cant finish in a night, but hardly any grass in day. Im putting hay in the field also during the day.

 

[showjump]

Equijewel. Hands down favorite, was the only thing to put weight on mine after shipping fever. Its fat and fiber, and you feed like 500g/day and see results

How long does a bag last?

 

[The Trooper]

Micronised linseed is fantastic for weight gain.

 

[ohmissbrittany]

How long does a bag last?

Well, 500g/day, 20 kg bag.... 40 days. Not sure what it costs now but when I fed it it worked out to about £1/day.

now that's assuming that's all you have to feed, the math changes if you feed more or less. Keyflow has a similar product called Key Plus, it's cheaper per bag but the bags are 15kg... literally the same price per day.

 

[StowfordPress]

I use baileys no.4 and heaps of vegetable oil for mine

 

[TGM]

I use baileys no.4 and heaps of vegetable oil for mine

Baileys no 4 certainly puts weight on but it is fairly high in cereal and can make the sensitive types rather excitable which may not be what the OP wants!

 

[StowfordPress]

I feed it to my thoroughbreds as it’s all I’ve tried that stops them being excitable! Though I think that’s largely due to not containing any alfalfa which both are sensitive to.

 

[QuantockHills]

Coolstance.... can be fed wet and sloppy, is non-heating and cheap.... my youngster has put on weight without fizz and looks amazing.

 

[Leo Walker]

Copra does put weight on if they will eat it, but the best thing I have ever used it a rice bran pellet. Just a mugful as top dressing to your current feed should be enough.

 

[Fiona]

Our 21yo ID mare had a tooth out four months ago, and though we couldn't feed her chaff directly afterwards, her gum has now filled out the cavity, so she is allowed it again.

This was confirmed by my vet who examined her teeth on a routine visit to the yard this week.

I hope this helps a little...

Ohh and she eats veteran vitality, sugar beet, and calm & condition with a handful of grass chaff to slow down her eating.

Fiona

 

[Ellietotz]

Gosh, she sounds like mine! Gappy teeth so no chop, stressy and sharp but needs weight!

I feed copra, grass nuts soaked for added bulk if needed, only about 500g dry weight though, and linseed. Has worked really well and hasn't altered her behaviour.

 

[showjump]

Started her in equijewel will see how she goes. Thanks

 

[showjump]

Update on my mare.
So unfortunately when dentist came 10 days ago he decided we needed to make the troublesome gap in her tooth (the ones still trapping hay/food) larger in the hope that the food would be able to wash out easier.
Middle of last week she started to go off her hay, but still eating her feeds. (ready mash, fibre beat, linseed lozenges and equijewel) As my hay needs wetting as its a bit dusty i thought she didn't like the hay.. so got her a bale of haylage.
I mixed the hay and haylage and still wasn't eating much, tried pure haylage and she was a little better- then haylage on the floor with no net. Again not managing much.
I gave her some bute yesterday, and she maybe ate a tad more.
This morning shes had her feed and then given her more fibrebeat she was so hungry. Hubby giving her more at lunchtime.
Dentist is coming tonight to see her.
I suppose my question is- shes not right i know that. I think its def tooth/mouth related. So hoping her can sort her out today.
Once shes ok what can i feed to get weight on her rapid? She looks so poor and i cannot stand to see her like this.

Any ideas or advice?
Thanks

 

[NOISYGIRL2]

I'd get some fast fibre mash as a hay replacer while her mouth is hurting, hopefully dentist will find the problem later

 

[ihatework]

Maybe it’s time to get the vet involved as well as the dentist. It could be you have more going on.

 

[showjump]

Thanks
How does fast fibre differ to fibrebeat is it better? and how much can i feed her as a hay replacer do you know?
Dentist was a vet before doing teeth full time, but not my vet. Once hes seen her today i will be getting the vet.

 

[showjump]

Maybe it’s time to get the vet involved as well as the dentist. It could be you have more going on.

dentist was a vet, but will get my vet involved if he finds nothing later.

 

[showjump]

I'd get some fast fibre mash as a hay replacer while her mouth is hurting, hopefully dentist will find the problem later

is that spillers or allen and page? so many fibres/ mashes i dont know which ones best to try.

 

[Ellietotz]

I can't recommend Copra enough, it is high in protein and really does work. Fed as a mash and don't need tonnes for it to do its job.

 

[showjump]

I thought the linseed was a better feed for weight gain than copra from googling and reading on here.

 

[Leo Walker]

Make a big bucket of soaked grass nuts and leave them with her to eat instead of hay. I'd be finding a way to give her that 4 or 5 times a day. Use a water bucket sized bucket and fill it. It wont be particularly cheap, but it will stop her getting worse while she cant eat hay.

 

[honetpot]

If you are looking for weight gain, you need to look at the DE per kg dry weight. I have not been through them all,Spillers Super Senior has a DE of 11. Most of the manufactueres have clocked there is money to be made in mashs, just read the ingredients most are on the websites to exclude cereals. My old pony has teeth missing and wobbly teeth,and can not cope with chaff. Loves the Spillers, he gets 4kg a day and a bit of haylage to rummage through, and has put weight on. You just have to think you are buying less hay, its forage not a feed. Then if you need to give a 'feed' copra or rice bran has a high DE.
The other way to go is to buy as cheap a bagged forage as possible, I think grass nuts are the cheapest, £9 ish a bag then add in your extras.
When horses live to eat, it must be horrible for them, not to be able to chew properly.

 

[showjump]

Thanks all I’ve got her fast fibre today and grass nuts to soak.
Dentist has been and couldn’t believe she’s got another diastema in a new place and that it’s as bad as it was in 14 days. He doesn’t know what the cause is. He’s flushed and cleaned it all out and coming back in 2 weeks to check. Advised 5 days of bute to help her. She’s going to be upped to 4 feeds a day. Thanks

 

[showjump]

Make a big bucket of soaked grass nuts and leave them with her to eat instead of hay. I'd be finding a way to give her that 4 or 5 times a day. Use a water bucket sized bucket and fill it. It wont be particularly cheap, but it will stop her getting worse while she cant eat hay.

I gave her a fair sized bucket of soaked grass nut this morning and she polished the lot off in one go?! I thought she might pick at it over afew hours, so not sure giving her a big bucket (if she scoffs the lot) is a good idea?