What are you feeding your weanlings?

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zoon

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Just out of curiousity? Some people don't feed and just give hay if there is no grass, others give hard feed. Whats do you all feed them?
 
At this very moment she is on nothing as she and the others have just moved onto a new winter paddock with grass way above her fetlocks, so she is having good old Dr Green as she lives out 24/7. Prior to this though when on poorer grass, she was having Alfa A and D&H Foal Mix along with hay in the evenings. What I will do on their field now is that before I resort back to hard feed, if the grass gets low we will go down the mineral lick/hay route but they tend to do well on the foal mix as well. But at the moment....judging by her belly....she needs nothing lol.
 
If you mean Saracen Level Grow - then yes I do. We have fed only Saracen feeds for the past 2 years & I have to say I am totally impressed with their entire Stud range.
 
My filly's got physitis so one vet told me to not feed her at all to get her weight down which I've done then the other vet said as it could be due to a vit and min imbalance to make sure she was getting her minerals in her correct quantities so I spoke to nutritionists at a few companied and have gone with feeding Dodson & Horrell Ultimate Balancer as you only have to feed 100g per 100kg bodyweight so she only needs 250 - 300g per day although I'm giving her a little less at the mo as we are building up slowly and she has to have a small handfull of her original mix (Primero Total) to get her to eat it! Hopefully this will mean she will be getting her vits and mins without too many extra calories so that shoudl cure the imbalance without putting weight back on her! x
 
another vote for D&H suregrow fed in conjunction with surelimb.
Always used to feed baileys stud balancer but its just too expensive now.
 
D&H mare and youngstock with surelimb. Mixed with a small amt of Alf-A and non-molassed beet. We still have reasonabel grazing for about another month.
 
I personally, having had bad experiences with balancers (which tend to be too high in protein) feed hi-fi lite, speedi beet and a powder supplement (either surelimb, NAF Youngstock or good old Equivite) alternatively, access to a mineral block is a good option. Add lib hay is also a must.

Aimeetb... I would be extremely cautious of the Ultimate balancer due to the high protein content (which encourages growth) with your filly's physitis... instead you might want to look at a powder supplement similar to those listed above. It is important to make sure they get the right balance of nutrients and sometimes some of the general purpose balancers get it so wrong for growing youngstock... despite what the company's advisors might say...
 
I feed Dodson & Horrell Suregrow with great results. I feed at the recomended rate which equates to one Stubbs Round Scope split into two feeds for a weanling. Ad lib haylage at night in the stable, and daily turnout into a big field (with little grass just now) I put out extra haylage on a frosty or snowy morning.
 
CBFan said:
Aimeetb... I would be extremely cautious of the Ultimate balancer due to the high protein content (which encourages growth) with your filly's physitis... instead you might want to look at a powder supplement similar to those listed above. It is important to make sure they get the right balance of nutrients and sometimes some of the general purpose balancers get it so wrong for growing youngstock... despite what the company's advisors might say...
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! :confused::(:(:confused:

I have just seen this post!!! I am soo worried and confused - hence the confused smilies!

If I swapped her to the Surelimb and Chaff all year round how do you think she would cope in the summer when the new grass comes through?

HELP! :(
 
aimeetb said:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! :confused::(:(:confused:

I have just seen this post!!! I am soo worried and confused - hence the confused smilies!

If I swapped her to the Surelimb and Chaff all year round how do you think she would cope in the summer when the new grass comes through?

HELP! :(
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She would be absolutely fine! Mine just has a hanful of hi-fi lite in the summer with his supplements in. Job done!

In winter I add alfa a lite (a bit more nutritious than hi-fi) and high fibre cubes (for interest really) and when it gets a bit colder I add speedi-beet for bulk.

I feed the 'lite' versions as he gets a bit footy when the grass comes through and so think he's a bit sensitive to the sugar...
 
I am sooo glad to see you CBFan!

Do you think I should swap to Surelimb and Chaff then and add sugar beet if she needs more calories or maybe if she does lose condition add some suregrow and slightly lower the surelimb??

I am worried about keep swapping her food and stuff all the time but just want to get it right before causing irreversible problems!

The lady at D & H said she NEEDS the protein to grow properly or her muscles and ligaments wont develop right! It's such a balancing act! x
 
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aimeetb said:
The lady at D & H said she NEEDS the protein to grow properly or her muscles and ligaments wont develop right! It's such a balancing act! x
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Aimee,

I would just cut everything down to hay + a mineral lick. She will get everything (including protein) she needs from the hay - how do you think horses have managed to survive hundred of thousands of years without supplements? They still managed to grow up to adult horses with enough muscle and ligaments to carry them over hundreds of miles and run like the wind when the mountain lions attacked :D - bet wild horses don't have OCD though!!!

In the wild, in WINTER, there is little of ANY nutritional value to be had, so horses have developed for their youngsters to slow down their growth in their first winter (when they would be 6-9 months old - when physitis & OCD & others first appear, surprise, surprise!) and even mum's milk is poor, because mum is not eating anything very rich.

There is no sense in tempering with evolution - that is what has made horses survive this long.
 
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She needs SOME protein to grow properly which she will get from the surelimb. I was advised by my vet to stop feeding the balancer altogether as it was too rich. If she needs more calories, up the speedibeet although I very much doubt you will need to feed much as she is growing so will be ribby for a while yet... she'll fill out come the summer.

Just make sure she has add lib hay over winter when in and she'll be fine...
 
GinnieRedwings said:
Aimee,

I would just cut everything down to hay + a mineral lick. She will get everything (including protein) she needs from the hay - how do you think horses have managed to survive hundred of thousands of years without supplements? They still managed to grow up to adult horses with enough muscle and ligaments to carry them over hundreds of miles and run like the wind when the mountain lions attacked :D - bet wild horses don't have OCD though!!!

In the wild, there is little of ANY nutritional value to be had, so horses have developed for their youngsters to slow down their growth in their first winter (when they would be 6-9 months old - when physitis & OCD & others first appear, surprise, surprise!) and even mum's milk is poor, because mum is not eating anything very rich.

There is no sense in tempering with evolution - that is what has made horses survive this long.
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Couldn't agree more!!!
 
OMG I am having a real head in the hands moment here!

I worry because I dont know what caused her problems in the first place, was it overloading of bones because she was too fat or a vit/min imbalance? Do I give Surelimb or will she get enough from the lick?

Ginnie you make an excellent unquestionable point I have just been scared by the nutritionists into thinking that just a mineral lick wont be enough as I wont know how much she is eating and when I ask her for the work I want from her, her muscles and bones wont be up to the job!

Also if I go down the lick route, I did have a paddock lick plus but thats got Lysine in and fish oil, is that too much protein or am I just getting ridiculous? Is surelimb really that much different to giving a lick? Sorry for all the questions - very stressed out mummy here!
 
Oooh forgot to ask Ginnie,

please dont think I am questioning you at all! Just need to know so I understand for my piece of mind but earlier on in this thread you say you feed chaff plus beet and min/vit supp, just wondered why you would think mine should be on a lick and not same as yours? That sounds awful when I read it back but I dont know how to type it so it doesnt but its not meant to read that way just am so confused I need to understand!

Thank you all for all your time!! xx
 
Aimeetb... Sit down, with the internet and a peice of paper and google all the feed options and compare the protein content. You will notice there is little difference between powder supplements like NAF Youngstock, D&H Surelimb etc and vit and mineral blocks from the likes of dengie and D&H BUT there is a BIG difference between those and Balancers from the Likes of Baileys, topspec etc. So, Steer clear of balancers and you'll be fine. The main benefit of feeding a powder over a lick is knowing exactly what your filly is getting, plus feeding a bucket feed it is easier to get medication into her if you need to. But either way, she will be fine. When My filly had OCD she was on SOAKED hay and a small amount of hi-fi lite to get bute into her. YES she did lose weight but it PILED back on when I stopped soaking the hay - just shows how much goodness there is in it!!!
 
GinnieRedwings said:
Aimee,

I would just cut everything down to hay + a mineral lick. She will get everything (including protein) she needs from the hay - how do you think horses have managed to survive hundred of thousands of years without supplements? They still managed to grow up to adult horses with enough muscle and ligaments to carry them over hundreds of miles and run like the wind when the mountain lions attacked :D - bet wild horses don't have OCD though!!!

In the wild, in WINTER, there is little of ANY nutritional value to be had, so horses have developed for their youngsters to slow down their growth in their first winter (when they would be 6-9 months old - when physitis & OCD & others first appear, surprise, surprise!) and even mum's milk is poor, because mum is not eating anything very rich.

There is no sense in tempering with evolution - that is what has made horses survive this long.
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I take your point (and I do not claim to be any sort of expert on feeding weanlings), but surely horses in the wild were not weaned at 6 months old, and therefore would continue to get some protein from their mums' milk?

I am assuming that all these supplements and so on for weanlings are designed to replace this protein (and other nutrients/vitamins/etc from milk) that we take away from foals by artificially weaning them?

Absolutely no disrespect or offence intended, but if you wean your foals, surely you are 'tampering with nature'?
 
htobago said:
I take your point (and I do not claim to be any sort of expert on feeding weanlings), but surely horses in the wild were not weaned at 6 months old, and therefore would continue to get some protein from their mums' milk?

I am assuming that all these supplements and so on for weanlings are designed to replace this protein (and other nutrients/vitamins/etc from milk) that we take away from foals by artificially weaning them?

Absolutely no disrespect or offence intended, but if you wean your foals, surely you are 'tampering with nature'?
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htobago, you are absolutely right - by definition we are all tampering with nature when keeping domesticated animals and I am absolutely not suggesting that we should keep them in a "wild" state all the time. I accept that our horses need to fit into our lifestyles and the purpose for which we keep them & I am certainly not suggesting we keep a hunter in full work unclipped, unrugged, outside 24/7 with no extra feed because that's the way nature intended.

I feel however that we should be exercising a bit of caution with completely turning our backs on the nature of the horse, because it has been shown, time and time again, to create imbalances that affect the physical and mental health and welfare of generations of sports horses: Cribbing and weaving by denying horses enough turnout time when they are designed to walk for miles; stomach ulcers by denying them the need to browse-graze poor nutritional value fodder for 16 hours a day and replacing that with large rations of short feed, to name but a couple. Overfeeding youngsters is just the newest stage of the same process.

As for weaning at 6 months... well, that's one of my favourite soap box subjects :D
 
CBFan & GinnieRedwings - You 2 are wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help and advice and not losing your rags with me, I know I must come accross as a proper stress head, I am, but its only because I want the best for my baby! I am going to post a thread in yours (and some other peoples) honor so what out for it! xxxxx
 
aimeetb said:
CBFan & GinnieRedwings - You 2 are wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help and advice and not losing your rags with me, I know I must come accross as a proper stress head, I am, but its only because I want the best for my baby! I am going to post a thread in yours (and some other peoples) honor so what out for it! xxxxx
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Haha! A pedestal! Loving it :D ;) :rolleyes:

htobago, if you are really interested in one of my other favourite soapbox subjects (weaning too early) ---> http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=416195&page=2

:D :D
 
GinnieRedwings said:
Aimee,

I would just cut everything down to hay + a mineral lick. She will get everything (including protein) she needs from the hay - how do you think horses have managed to survive hundred of thousands of years without supplements? They still managed to grow up to adult horses with enough muscle and ligaments to carry them over hundreds of miles and run like the wind when the mountain lions attacked :D - bet wild horses don't have OCD though!!!

In the wild, in WINTER, there is little of ANY nutritional value to be had, so horses have developed for their youngsters to slow down their growth in their first winter (when they would be 6-9 months old - when physitis & OCD & others first appear, surprise, surprise!) and even mum's milk is poor, because mum is not eating anything very rich.

There is no sense in tempering with evolution - that is what has made horses survive this long.
Click to expand...

Wild horses move to find the best and richest of pasture and get fat on it. We are told not to let our horses get fat. Fat reserves keep them warm and they gradually lose condition over the winter. We don't treat domesticated horses like that we want them to stay the same all year.
 
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