Weight Gain?!

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skyesthelimit1

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I have a 16hh irish TB who I am struggling to keep weight on this winter. Heres the dilemma...

He weaves like ive never seen anything weave and stresses about being in. He is getting better with coming in every night... but once hes in, hes not eating all of his hay and the weight is still not picking up...

He is being fed molli-chaff and spillers conditioning cubes (1 big stubbs scoop chaff 1 1/2 nuts) at night and half that amount in morning, has 2 HUGE haynets at night and ALWAYS has some left over. In his stable, its only got half walls so he can see his friends next door who are both settled in the stable. He has a jolly ball, lik-it, salt lick and ball you put nuts in as well as his 2 big hay nets and his big feeds but hes still not putting on the weight and i think it may be to do with the weaving? I cant keep him out as hes also now got a bit of mud fever and also as its so cold and our grazing is not amazing... so all im asking is... how else can i get him to put on more weight/condition? I have seen a supplement called "365 complete" but it sounds too good to be true? i dont really want to feed him haylage as being TB he can get a bit 'hot headed' and is currently on a calmer supplement from equine america so dont need anything heating... please dont comment on the weaving as this is under control as much as i can do... hes getting better every day!! :)
 
I've only heard good things about Micronised Linseed from Charnwood Millings (I think..). Alot of people with poor doers feed this, and the results are fantastic.

I've never used it myself, but I'm sure a lot of people on the forum will recommend it! :)
 
The cubes are prob starchy which won't help. I have an extremely feed sensitive TB who's been on haylage for yrs, it never hits him up so may be worth a try? I find spillers slow release cubes,top spec cubes or ERS pellets suit him,he also has speedibeet,linseed & conditioning chaff as well as plenty of turn out & ad lib haylage whilst he's in. He's a very poor doer with highly strung tendencies,a picky eater with a small appetite & has also recently had gastric ulcers but this diet seems to suit him.
 
I would also suggest giving the linseed a go. I'm just about to buy a bag myself from Charnwood. You can get a bag for around 26 but that should last months. I have a arab mare who is very highly strung and stresses about every little thing and she is the same, she doesn't keep condition very easily. Combine that with the need to have a low starch and sugar diet and it becomes a right pain in the bum. Oh and lets not forget the fact that she is a fussy mare when it comes to food. I've just put her onto allen and page fast fibre and the linseed will be added for extra protein when she runs out of her balancer. Have you tried adding hot water to the feed. It sounds simple and I stumbled across it by accident. My girl never eats breakfast, never has in the two years I've owned her (unless I turn her out, let her burn off energy and then go out and feed her an hour later which I don't have time to do) but on these cold days I decided to add hot water to the ff to warm her insides a bit and I have never seen her eat so fast. It might work you never know.
 
i keep harping on about it but pure feeds!! they do condition version and you can add linseed too - Mine is looking fab since being on pure feeds - and no i dont have anything to do with the company but wow their feed is fab!
 
I feed oil and linseed.

I've also heard good reviews on Top Spec feed balancer.

I would also cut out the lik-it's - full of sugar and cr*p.
 
Is he warm enough? (have you got enough rugs on him?)

I always found Blue Chip feed balancer to be brilliant for sorting out TB's in particular. You could probably drop the calmer too and save a few quid, BC does have magnesium in it. I would cut out the mollichaff in favour of something like Alfa A Oil, the sugar/molasses in the mollichaff is probably not helping him chillax. Also don't replace the Likit when its finished for the same reason. The Linseed would do no harm at all.

Can't you keep him out and give him hay overnight? Just bring him in in the worst muddiest weather to keep his feet dry?
 
Totally with you on the Pure Feeds front haha! contact the team they are lovely :)

All you can do with a weaver is try to minimise the time they are stressed, I always have a friend with my horse and make sure she is fed/out first etc...havent seen her weave in a while and she used to be AWFUL!
 
I asked for feed advice of Allen and Page (I do love em:D) about my old boy - bare with me....
He had dropped a load of weight which he doesnt and they said use Veteran Vitality - keep with me...:D

They also said it was a great feed for putting condition/weight on in all horses, and I can say it worked liked a miracle. Your chap might not be old, but def worth a shot!
(PS mine are Arabs, so I dont want feed that heat them up either)
 
Are you using mollichaff original? Change to mollichaff condition ... I put my old boy, who is a VERY poor doer, on this and found it to be AMAZING! I also agree with the A&P Veteran Vitality.
 
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