Weight loss on copra!

[Meep92]

So I swapped from feeding topspec to coolstance copra about 2 weeks ago and my mare has actually lost weight! I've increased to 4 top spec cups per feed twice a day so works out at around 2kg and she gets 3 cups of thunderbrook meadow nuts in a seperate feed which is about 750kg. She's on a balancer and is fed ad lib hayledge.

I don't know whether to swap back go topspec or whether I should increase or add anything.

She's looking very ribby!

She has cushings but levels are normal and she has pracsend for this. She needs a low starch/sugar diet.

 

[NOISYGIRL2]

Solution mash is good for weight gain and low sugar/starch 5.4% nsc, they also do a feed called sumo which is only 3% similar to micronized linseed very calorie dense but safe for ppid/laminits risk, when my horse used to eat copra I think they recommended 1kg dry weight for weight gain so as yours is getting more than that I'm surprised at weight loss, when were her her levels last checked ? you could also try veteran light 8.5% or pure feeds are good as the balancer is included and a lot of their feeds are under 10%

What topspec were you feeding ?

 

[Meep92]

Thank you for this! Yes that's right the usual is 1kg for a horse in light work, so I'm feeding double which Stance recommended and she is actually losing it!

I've popped into my feed shop and they for me to put her back on what she was on, but with Fibre Beet and see if I can get her back to where she was. They said she shouldn't have dropped as much as she has, so it must just not be agreeing with her. She came to me very skinny in December as she wasn't being fed the right quantities for her size, so I could kick myself for changing her feed!

I was feeding Topspec Conditioning cubes 7/8th of a stubbs scoop, Topspec fibre plus cubes 1kg and Senior Balancer 500g. She was gaining weight slowly and looked really well, I was advised to swap to something without the GM's, Alfalfa or Mollasses for her hooves. But I really regret not sticking with it now!

 

[Ellietotz]

I feed copra with a Top Spec balancer cup too but I worked out that 1 cup only holds about 300g so 4 cups is only 1.2kg so perhaps maybe try a bit more or measure it out with scales just to be sure?
My mare does really well on it and I feed 3 cups a day.

 

[Meep92]

I was feeding 4 heaped cups per feed! So that twice a day, plus the Meadow Nuts in a separate bucket overnight, with her balancer. Appreciate it works for most people that's why I went for this, but not my mare for some reason!

She used to do really well on Allen & Page Calm & Condition, but I can't feed that now with it being higher in sugar and starch than she can have.

 

[Ellietotz]

I was feeding 4 heaped cups per feed! So that twice a day, plus the Meadow Nuts in a separate bucket overnight, with her balancer. Appreciate it works for most people that's why I went for this, but not my mare for some reason!

She used to do really well on Allen & Page Calm & Condition, but I can't feed that now with it being higher in sugar and starch than she can have.

Oh, my bad! I thought you were feeding 4 cups a day not 8! Surprised it isn't working.
Could you add linseed instead?

 

[southerncomfort]

How recently were here ACTH levels tested? Is she very elderly?

To be honest I'd be a hit concerned that she's losing weight on that much Copra.

Is she definitely eating it all? She's not throwing it around is she? Or does she have a buddy that might be helping themselves? Is she definitely taking her Prascend?

I found Solution Mash to be the absolutely best for putting weight on my old cushingoid pony.

Hope you find something that works for her. I know how hard it can be keeping weight on them and how worrying it is.

 

[honetpot]

Last time I fed Copra I used to give one Stubbs scoop dry weight twice a day( obviously it was soaked after being weighed out), with conditioning mix, 1 scoop and then fibre oil feed for snacking a half a trug tub. With forage which was 2/3 of a large bale. He would eat the lot. This was maintain his weight.
Sometimes Prascend makes them loose.
I like soya flour because you can up the energy content in a small amout, I had one extreemly fussy old Connemara mare who would only eat her favorite food, then spike it with soya.
I think is the time of year that they natrally lose weight, I always find they lose more Jan/Feb, no matter what you do.

 

[SEL]

I think is the time of year that they natrally lose weight, I always find they lose more Jan/Feb, no matter what you do.

I find this too - I think it's coat change using up their reserves. My retired native has an impressive molt.

Linseed good for condition

 

[NOISYGIRL2]

Fibre beet is good for condition too which you already mentioned. When was the ACTH last checked, it could be the level of meds needs tweaking. I've recently put my 41 yr old on the BOVA paste, he didn't have much of an appetite on the pills and the dose he was on so he would eat wasn't controlling the ppid so I swapped Nov 2019 he was diagnosed Nov 2015 so was on the pill up until then. He is like a different horse, back to how he was character wise pre diagnosis, skin issues clearing and eating all I'm giving him and gaining weight/condition. He also has old horse syndrome which showed up in a blood test when I had them done to check everything so that could be something you could do. He doesn't absorb all the nutrients from what he eats so I have to get as much into him as possible. His last ACTH test was 22.6 so well happy. The OHS is normally treated with a course of steroids which is obviously a no no with ppid horses